Welcome back to The Circle Maker book club. Today is what I would describe as "getting ready for take-off" kind of day!! So let's get going!
Chapter 2: Circle Makers
"Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. . . If your prayers aren't impossible to you, they are insulting to God. Why? Because they don't require divine intervention."
I don't think I have ever thought about the level of boldness I have in my prayers. I pray for protection, wisdom, healing, divine appointments, etc. I think it is important to pray these. But if we only pray these, it seems we are missing the "Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven". (Matthew 6:9-13)
What impossible situations are you facing that you have been scared to pray for? What could never happen unless divine intervention took place?
Can I be real with you & share the ones that come to mind?
- The healing of a destroyed relationship in my family due to psychological problems.
- Complete freedom from debt incurred during a time of living beyond our wage.
- My dream of becoming a New York Times best selling author and nationally-known speaker to put the fingerprint of Heaven on the lives of men, women & children all over the world so that they live relentlessly for Jesus Christ until the day they die!
What are your "never could happen" situations?
"God is for you. If you don't believe that, then you'll pray small timid prayers; if you do believe it, then you'll pray big audacious prayers. And one way or another, your small timid prayers or big audacious prayers will change the trajectory of your life and turn you into two totally different people. Prayers are prophecies. They are the best predictors of your spiritual future. Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life."
Small timid prayers. I don't like the sound of that. But big audacious prayers is a daunting concept, isn't it? When I think of the difference, I always think of the underdog in a high profile football game. I love cheering for the underdog. There is just something about believing that they "really can beat the odds and win this thing"! If I can do that for a football team I care nothing about, then surely I can do that for my life and my legacy!
Trajectory is defined as "the curve described by a projectile, rocket or the like in its flight". It is best illustrated by a plane that was intended to land in Dallas, Texas but was a few degrees off course and thus landed in Kansas City, Missouri!
So are your prayers sending you in the direction that will get you to your desired location? What if you have been praying to arrive in a place you have already been and God has a once-in-a-lifetime destination planned for you?
Oh, I can hear the moans already. . ."No, that probably means He wants to send me to Africa on the mission field!" Why is it that we tend to be fearful and distrusting of God's wonderful plans for our lives? Do we really want to settle for the small boring stories that we can plot? Or do we discover the mysterious plot full of thrills and heart-stopping adventure that He has planned for us?
For some, it feels too hard to imagine that. We don't even know where to begin with our prayers. A friend told me recently, "I don't know what I want in a husband so how can I pray for him?" My answer was "then figure out what you don't want!" She giggled but I think she realized that was probably pretty easy. So many times we are afraid to dream big because we fear disappointment. But I believe it is time for us to fear getting what everyone else is getting. A life full of complaints, hurts, hopelessness and despair.
So let us start dreaming by determining what we don't want.
I don't want a life of mundane and normal. I don't want the story of my life to begin & end with "she was a nice person who loved Jesus and lived a good life."
I do want my funeral to be packed out by people who felt loved and inspired by me. I want there to be incredible stories about my life of adventure and so funny that they have tears streaming down their faces. I want books to be written about the risks that I took and the people that I took along with me on those 'crazy journeys with God'!
Now, take a few minutes to answer these questions. Did you know that good change is 90% more likely when you take time to write things down? It is true. So go ahead & do it now!
Relentlessly,
Angela Billups Smith
Photo Credit http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2070
So are your prayers sending you in the direction that will get you to your desired location? What if you have been praying to arrive in a place you have already been and God has a once-in-a-lifetime destination planned for you?
Oh, I can hear the moans already. . ."No, that probably means He wants to send me to Africa on the mission field!" Why is it that we tend to be fearful and distrusting of God's wonderful plans for our lives? Do we really want to settle for the small boring stories that we can plot? Or do we discover the mysterious plot full of thrills and heart-stopping adventure that He has planned for us?
For some, it feels too hard to imagine that. We don't even know where to begin with our prayers. A friend told me recently, "I don't know what I want in a husband so how can I pray for him?" My answer was "then figure out what you don't want!" She giggled but I think she realized that was probably pretty easy. So many times we are afraid to dream big because we fear disappointment. But I believe it is time for us to fear getting what everyone else is getting. A life full of complaints, hurts, hopelessness and despair.
So let us start dreaming by determining what we don't want.
I don't want a life of mundane and normal. I don't want the story of my life to begin & end with "she was a nice person who loved Jesus and lived a good life."
I do want my funeral to be packed out by people who felt loved and inspired by me. I want there to be incredible stories about my life of adventure and so funny that they have tears streaming down their faces. I want books to be written about the risks that I took and the people that I took along with me on those 'crazy journeys with God'!
Now, take a few minutes to answer these questions. Did you know that good change is 90% more likely when you take time to write things down? It is true. So go ahead & do it now!
- What impossible situations are you facing that can only change with divine intervention?
- What you do not want for your life?
- What kind of script do you want for your life? Use 3-5 words to describe it.
Now, be sure to share in the comments section below.
Relentlessly,
Angela Billups Smith
Photo Credit http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2070
Wow! That was awesome!
ReplyDeleteWell, you already know the impossible *to me* situation that has turned a corner (thank you very much)!
I don't want to be a "go through the motions just to survive" kind of woman.
I want my life to scream-She walks with the Holy Spirit! AND YOU CAN TOO!! She walks in surrender!!
I love you precious friend. Thank you for today and your blog and your friendship. Mwah!
Love, Jules
YEAH! I am still celebrating what God is doing in you, for you & through you!! Walking with God is certainly EXCITING, especially when it includes friendships like ours!! I LOVE YOU & greatly appreciate your support & encouragement--you truly sharpen me in ways I don't even know that I need!
ReplyDeleteWow! I know that I got to hear a little about this before but wow! I am so encouraged. I love praying big prayers because I know God has room to show up BIG!
ReplyDeleteI like the elimination process, don't think I have ever looked at praying specific through that process. I am, like most others, not looking for a mundane life!! I know that one thing that has kept me alive was the thought that if I died I might miss something really awesome! Even in my deepest dispair as an emotionally, physically and sexually abused teenager with many health issues from childhood, who wanted to disappear off the face of the earth every day of my life before I met Jesus (even a few times after), the thought was always there to keep me going one more day. Something awesome that will turn my life around might happen tomorrow! And it did . . I accepted Jesus as my Savior at age 29, but it wasn't until 4 years later that I was healed and delivered and have not looked back on that old life since (except to give God glory for His protection and delivering me into His rightousness).
ReplyDeleteI believe in miracles, I've seen and been affected by many of them; miraculous healings, death to life experiences, words of knowledge and obedience that have saved peoples lives.
I believe I started this bold act of 'prayer circles' over the summer last year and into the fall before I started reading this book and had already seen some 'big walls' fall. But my faith has increased to see the total 'stronghold' come tumbling down through this book. Relationships healed and becoming even stronger has been one major victory. Debt being wiped and healing of arthritis (stiff joints and joint pain that hinder my activities)out are the two big circles that I am standing in right now. Arthritis meaning "the flame within", brings a bold prayer of getting a manuscript written this year on my disease studies and publication of it and the 10 children's stories that I have written (they could even be made into Christian animated media), I am staking claim to fame in changing peoples lives!!
So I'm loving the big audacious prayers! I'm praying them myself and working on not being afraid to pray them out loud.... You and I share similar dreams regarding writing and speaking, so those are a few. But others include praying for my children to walk in holiness all the way to their marriage beds (especially in this current culture) and launching a faith-based consulting firm that revolutionizes the way people approach leader development. The real challenge is not being overwhelmed every time I think about them. I've figured out I can't pull them off by myself so my prayers have to be big and bold...whoo hoo!
ReplyDelete