Aaahhh. The good ol’ summertime. That blessed time of year when I can do stuff like…nothing. Well, not really nothing because that’s not how I roll. But for me, sitting on a couch, or even in a chair, for more than the length of a 30-minute piano lesson counts as “doing nothing.” Even if I am doing something while I sit there, the mere act of staying in one place for a length of time long enough to create a warm spot when I leave is classified as “doing nothing.”
Part of my “to-do” list when I am “doing nothing” involves reading. I don’t have time to do this during the school year because I’m too busy moving from place to place all day long and when I finally do sit down to “do nothing” I usually end up falling asleep from sheer exhaustion…or watching back episodes of “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” to decompress. But in the summertime, when I’m not waking at the crack of dawn and spending the next 14-18 hours going full-tilt in about 60 different directions, I get the privilege of diving into that ever-growing stack of books by my bedside.
First up is a book I actually started about a month ago. I discovered Mark Batterson when I was last in Uganda, as part of an impromptu book-swap that Mike “Survivor Man” Doud and I enjoyed. He recommended Wild Goose Chase to me and I’ve read that book at least 3 times since that trip. It’s powerful. Inspiring. Thought-provoking. Deep. And it has changed my spiritual life in ways I probably don’t even realize.
So I was truly excited when a friend handed me her copy of The Circle Maker and said, “Read it.” As I read the opening chapter, I was sucked right back into that place of wide-eyed wonderment at the incredible power and sheer awesomeness of our God. His words make my heart tingle with anticipation, my mind reel with possibility, and my soul yearn for more. More faith. More dedication. More God. Always more God.
This book is about prayer and he summarizes what prayer should be in three simple phrases:
Dream Big.
Pray Hard.
Think Long.
In essence, prayer is not merely a desperation shot, tossed heavenward with no real assurance of victory. It is a discipline, cultivated and developed with purpose and passion. It is a direct line to the very core of God’s character, and coupled with a dash of faith and a heavy drenching of Biblical promises, a very real and literal mountain mover. But because we don’t understand the importance – or the how-to – of dreaming big, praying hard, and thinking long, we shortchange God and end up with prayer lives that are anemic, undernourished, and weak.
Dreaming Big requires big faith in a big God. It requires bold prayers, audacious goals, ridiculous petitions – backed by scripture and in line with God’s will and character – that move an infinite, omniscient, omnipotent God to act. Praying hard provides us with the discipline to develop calloused knees, tender hearts, and minds that are conformed more and more to His. Through praying hard we learn important character traits such as self-control, faithfulness, obedience, and holiness. Thinking long gives our finite minds the opportunity to glimpse the infinite as we allow God to transform us to His image.
The Circle Maker is not a name-it, claim-it theology book. It’s not a “prayer of Jabez” mentality. It doesn’t preach a prosperity gospel, nor has he taken a page from the Bruce Almighty school of answering prayer. The principles detailed in The Circle Maker are based in reality, grounded in scripture, and verified by the character of God Himself. And once again, I find myself inspired, motivated, challenged, provoked, and hungry for more God.
I’ve never been particularly good at art, but somehow I think I’m going to become quite an expert at drawing circles.