Read an Excerpt
The Circle Maker Participant's Guide
By Mark Batterson ZONDERVAN
Copyright © 2011Mark Batterson
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-69217-1
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Becoming a Circle Maker
God loves to make promises. He invites us to draw a circle around those promises and pray until we see them become a reality. God is inviting you and me into the adventure of seeing His dreams come true in this world. This happens as we make the decision to become circle makers.
Introduction
People today love extreme sports!
We live in a world where the boundaries of human ability and capacity continue to be pressed and stretched. People compete in Ironman Triathlons where they swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run a full marathon of 26.2 miles.
Freestyle motorcycle riders used to dream of doing a backflip and landing it. Few dared even try it. That move is now commonplace ... riders are expected to do it. So, in 2006, a rider named Travis Pastrana attempted and landed a double backflip on a motorcycle in the X Games. No doubt, someone out there today is trying to figure out how they will land a triple backflip on a motorcycle.
Extreme sports like ice climbing, wingsuit base jumping, kayak skydiving, snocross, and a myriad of other surprising options are cropping up as people look for a new rush of adrenaline and a greater challenge.
Something in the human spirit pushes us to climb higher, drive faster, and push the boundaries. Into this world of risk-taking adventurers God whispers an invitation, "Try drawing a prayer circle!" Into the lives of Chris tians who have become bored with the same old religious practices and routine spiritual lives, the Spirit of God says, "Take a risk, draw a circle, and engage your faith at a whole new level." For believers who love God with a passion, but have slipped into a spiritual rut, it is time to enter a whole new level of extreme faith ... it is time to become a circle maker!
At the end of the day, and the end of your life, you will look back and discover that one of the most extreme things you could ever do is draw a circle.
Talk About It
Tell about a time you did something risky or extreme. What moved you to do something adventurous like this?
[Your Response]
Video Teaching Notes
As you watch the video teaching segment for session one, use the following outline to record thoughts and reflections that stand out to you.
Drawing a prayer circle around Capitol Hill
[Your Notes]
The Legend of Honi the Circle Maker
[Your Notes]
The Jericho miracle
[Your Notes]
Identifying your Jericho
[Your Notes]
Wayne and Diane's circle makers' story
[Your Notes]
Know what to circle
[Your Notes]
Learning from Daniel: finding a time and place
[Your Notes]
The 21-day challenge
[Your Notes]
Video Discussion
1. Mark shares his story of feeling under qualified and overwhelmed when he started National Community Church. Tell about a time you faced a real-life situation and you felt under qualified and overwhelmed.
[Your Response]
2. Read: Numbers 13:26–33. Describe the territory God called Joshua and the people of Israel to enter and take as their own. What was the nature of this task and why would prayer be such an essential part of accomplishing it?
[Your Response]
3. Mark tells the story about prayer-walking a specific area of Washington D.C. He marked an area; he made a map; then he circled it in prayer.
Take a moment to describe of an area, relationship, goal, or something else that you believe God wants you to circle in prayer. It could be as simple as the name of a person, or a description of your neighborhood or workplace.
[Your Response]
Next, write down three or four prayers you can begin to pray around this territory.
• [Your Response]
• [Your Response]
• [Your Response]
• [Your Response]
You may want to share with your group the place, situation, or person you feel God drawing you to and invite them to join you in drawing this circle.
4. Describe a time you prayed about something and God did far more than you expected.
[Your Response]
5. Write down a specific time in your life when you experienced great blessing, a spiritual breakthrough, a miracle, or the fulfillment of a dream. Then, reflect back on the persons who were praying for you. Write down their names ... create a prayer genealogy.
A blessing I experienced, breakthrough, miracle, or dream:
[Your Response]
Names of persons who prayed:
[Your Response]
Briefly share this story with your group, and then pause as a group to lift up a few focused prayers of thanks for these people who are in your spiritual genealogy and who circled you in prayer.
6. Why is it important that we have people in our lives who draw circles of prayer around us? Who is praying for you right now and how can you help them stay informed so that they can continue to pray in specific and powerful ways? This might be a great time to thank them in some tangible way.
[Your Response]
7. Who are you praying for regularly and how are your prayers impacting the lives of these people? How can you increase the intensity of the prayer circles you are drawing for these people?
[Your Response]
8. Read: James 4:1–3. Mark says in the video: "God has determined that certain expressions of His power will only be exercised in response to prayer. Simply put: We have not because we ask not. Put another way, we have not because we circle not."
How do you respond to this idea that some things don't happen because we choose not to pray and circle these things?
[Your Response]
What might be an example of something we would miss because we make a choice not to pray?
[Your Response]
What is something you have not been circling in prayer that you now feel you need to engage with a whole new level of seriousness? What steps will you take to circle this matter in prayer and how can your group members come alongside of you?
[Your Response]
9. When Honi prayed, and then the rain began to fall ... he did not stop praying! He began to pray with greater specificity. First, he prayed for more rain ... rain that would fill cisterns, pits, and caverns. He asked God for an outpouring that people would remember for decades. Then, he prayed for a rain of God's favor, blessing, and grace. Wow! What boldness! Sometimes we pray small and unfocused prayers when God wants us to draw circles that are big and specific.
Reread your responses to question 3. Then, with your "territory" in mind, rewrite your prayers with two things in mind:
(1) How can I be bolder and dare to ask even more? (2) How can I be more specific and detailed in how I circle this territory in prayer?
• [Your Response]
• [Your Response]
• [Your Response]
• [Your Response]
Next, rewrite some examples of how you can circle this person, need, thing, or situation in prayer. Be bold and precise!
• [Your Response]
• [Your Response]
• [Your Response]
• [Your Response]
Share your new prayer direction with your group members and invite them to pray with similar boldness and precis
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Circle Maker Participant's Guide by Mark Batterson. Copyright © 2011 by Mark Batterson. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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