The Circle Maker Bible Study Participant's Guide: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears - Softcover

Batterson, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310333091 ISBN 13: 9780310333098

Verlag: HarperChristian Resources, 2011

Inhaltsangabe

Bold prayers honor God and God honors bold prayers.

Do you ever sense that there's far more to prayer than what you're experiencing? This four-session video-based Bible study (DVD/digital video sold separately) is for believers who love God with a passion, but have slipped into a spiritual rut. It's time to enter a whole new level of extreme faith...it's time to become a circle maker!

Through the story of Honi the Circle Maker—a man bold enough to draw a circle in the sand and not budge from it until God answered his prayer for his people—bestselling author and pastor Mark Batterson will help you see that who you become is determined by how you pray. Throughout this guide, Batterson:

• Clearly and practically lays out what prayer looks like and how it shapes and changes us.
• Shows you the powerful results and modern-day miracles that come from a courageous prayer life.
• Helps you, your group, and your entire church begin to identify dreams and future miracles to draw prayer circles around.

This Participant Guide provides individual and group activities, between session personal studies, and additional background material that will enhance the experience of the video on The Circle Maker DVD (sold separately).

Sessions include:
1. Becoming a Circle Maker
2. Little People, Big Risks, and Huge Circles
3. Praying Hard and Praying Through
4. Praying is Like Planting

Designed for use with The Circle Maker Video Study (sold separately).

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. One church with multiple locations, NCC owns and operates Ebenezers Coffeehouse, the Miracle Theatre, and the DC Dream Center. NCC is currently developing a city block into the Capital Turnaround; the 100,000-square-foot space will include an event venue, a child development center, a mixed-use marketplace, and a coworking space. Mark holds a doctor of ministry degree from Regent University and is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty books including The Circle Maker, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Wild Goose Chase, Play the Man, Whisper, and recently released Win the Day. Mark and his wife, Lora, have three children and live on Capitol Hill.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

The Circle Maker Participant's Guide

By Mark Batterson

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2011 Mark Batterson
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-33309-8

Contents

A Word from Mark Batterson................................................7Session 1 Becoming a Circle Maker........................................11Session 2 Little People, Big Risks, and Huge Circles.....................33Session 3 Praying Hard and Praying Through...............................51Session 4 Praying Is Like Planting.......................................71Small Group Leader Helps..................................................91

Chapter One

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 Christians 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?

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

The Legend of Honi the Circle Maker

The Jericho miracle

Identifying your Jericho

Wayne and Diane's circle makers' story

Know what to circle

Learning from Daniel: finding a time and place

The 21-day challenge

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.

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?

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 and draw a map or picture 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 drawing of your neighborhood or workplace.

Next, write down three or four prayers you can begin to pray around this territory.

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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.

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:

Names of persons who prayed:

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.

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?

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?

What might be an example of something we would miss because we make a choice not to pray?

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?

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.

Think about the map you drew earlier in this session and the list of prayers you wrote down. Look at the map and read the prayers. Now, rewrite those 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?

Next, rewrite some examples of how you can circle this person, need, thing, or situation in prayer. Be bold and precise!

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Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: HarperChristian Resources
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2011
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0310333091
• ISBN 13: 9780310333098
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 96
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: EDITIONS GALLIMARD; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8.; Assago Milano; 20090; Italien