“I have good news and bad news. The bad news is we are lost; the good news is we’re making great time.” (The Circle Maker page 29). Is not much of life this way? We go-go-go through a moment, day, week and month. We feel like we make great time and accomplish a lot. Soon, it is almost Christmas! It is less than 50 days until Christmas by the way. When we get to the end of the year, or even to the end of our life, we aren’t always confident that what we have accomplished actually got us to where we wanted to go. Mostly because we didn’t know where we wanted to go in the first place.
Mark Batterson calls us to draw specific circles and sit. “God does not answer vague prayers.” (page 27). I think of the material possessions that fill my kid’s rooms. The girls have dolls and horses and barbies and legos and art supplies and dress up clothes and McDonald’s toys and books and… What does their stuff have to do with drawing spiritual circles? Some of what my girls have wanted for Christmas through the years was a whim. My Pretty Pony was a one hit wonder. They thought they wanted it but have never played with them. The art supplies are the same way. The legos, on the other hand, have been and always will be played with. The books are also always read. They have circles around those two areas of life. We as parents have come to know that if the girls ask for legos or books for a present that we can confidently get them more because it will be used over and over again. When a new item comes along, Erika and I have to ask questions. “Is this a fad?” “Is this a new stage in becoming a teenager?” “Will they even want this come 50 days from now at Christmas?” I think God is the same way with our prayers. He sees some of them as vague prayers that are impulsive and not thought through. Other prayers He knows we are passionate about and glad to quickly say ‘yes’ to because He has seen us use his previous answer all the time.
All of the gift ideas my girls have put on their list are circled. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have made the list. Only a few of those items have they sat on though. What prayers are you sending to God? Are you sitting in them long term or are you sending them on a whim?
“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2. We as a family are entering a new season of life. This is a verse that God gave to me about 6 months ago. 6 weeks ago our church started to use it as well. I think this verse will last, so I am circling it in the context of reaching students in their school.
Peace,
Brad
