The other book that I'm spending time with is The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. It talks about our prayer life. Often, we pray once and then "leave it in God's hands." BUT...We should rather be persistently praying for the impossible to happen.
Batterson talks about drawing prayer circles around your Jericho, or rather the miracle or dream that your life revolves around. He says: "You've got to define the promises God wants you to stake claim to, the miracles God wants you to believe for, and the dreams God wants you to pursue" (pg 22). This also is emphasized in the Gospel when two blind men call out for Jesus and Jesus asks them, "What do you want me to do for you?" It seems silly to ask that since it is obvious that they are blind. Batterson says, "Jesus made them verbalize their desire...It wasn't because Jesus didn't know what they wanted; He wanted to make sure they knew what they wanted" (pg 22).
So, here I am. Attempting to define what I believe God has called me to in this life and claim God's promises for me. Some of these, I believe, will be for now. Some of them will be for later. Some of them I may not receive it fully until heaven. But regardless, I know that I have a God of the impossible. God likes it when we can believe for the impossible because He knows that we are completely dependent on Him when it comes to the impossible. If we can do it ourselves, it isn't big enough. When Nichole and I got together, or even before that...when we were merely friends...I always told her "Dream BIG." It wasn't because she had small dreams, but I wanted her to be able to reach for something out of her reach, beyond what the human in her could do. Thus, I never ask anyone to do anything I won't do myself. This is my "Dream BIG" moment or my drawing prayer circles around my Jericho.
I believe God has given me the passion to work with people who have disabilities, but I also believe He has called me to dream bigger than a support staff at a day center. I believe I can dream to allow the Ultimate Teacher to teach me, through school or whatever, to go further.
I believe God has called me into the ministry, I don't know where, but I know that He has called me to earnestly search for Him and in that, I will find my call.
I believe God will take my marriage deep and far beyond where we are now. I believe our marriage covenant will last. I believe God will take us places we never could imagine because we're trusting in Him. I believe that He will give us children. I believe He will manage our finances to allow us to buy a house. And I believe these things will happen sooner than later. I believe Jehovah Jireh will provide us with the ability to tithe and get out of debt!
I believe God will heal me. This one seems the most impossible right now, but I'm claiming it! I want full healing from my mind to my body. No more lupus. No more fibromyalgia. No more migraines. No more bipolar. No more depression. No more anxiety. No sickness needed! I believe God honors this huge prayer and as both books said before, "Prayers never die." I never really had thought about it, but it really makes me think about what I'm praying for. Am I praying for the things that stick? Or am I praying for temporal things? That doesn't mean I don't pray for the bills to be paid and food to be on the table, but it reminds me what is important.
"Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well." - Matthew 6:33
So, Dream BIG! Write out some of your dreams, all of them if you can! These are just a few of mine, there are several that I keep deep within my heart and share only with my wife and journal. But, dream impossible dreams. God is glorified by our impossible prayers because that means we see Him as a God who is able rather than small.
DREAM! Circle your Jericho with prayers.
"Well-developed faith results in well-defined prayers, and well-defined prayers result in a well-lived life" (Batterson, pg 23).
 |
| Walls of Jericho |
No comments:
Post a Comment