How it all began

As we dive into the topic of prayer, let me ask you a question.... What are you praying for? Previously we spent weeks going through the promises of God and I believe that standing, believing and praying those promises is a fantastic way to build the kind of faith that can move mountains.

So what promise are you praying? What miracle do you need to see happen? What dream does your life need to see come to fruition? These are all tackled in prayer.

I am reading a book entitled, "The Circle Maker" by Mark Batterson. I picked up the book while I was out of town about a month ago. It seemed to be the perfect selection for me at the time and a natural progression from studying God's promises. Prayer is something I've done, but it's not an area of strength for me.... it's surely an area I want to be better at and for me, getting better at something means studying up on it and this book is a great resource on the topic of prayer. I highly recommend it.

I was standing in the Christian bookstore with my mom and we were thumbing through books and glancing over titles. I know Mark Batterson's books are always good so I naturally gravitated to this title. However, as I turned the book over to read the back cover's synopsis, I saw this question...

How big is your God?

I almost put the book down... but my mom caught sight of it and mentioned that it seemed like something I should read.... and how can you say no to mom? You see, as I stood there in the isle of that bookstore, I was carrying a weight I needed help with. The problem was I wasn't truly ready to believe God was big enough to take my problem and turn it around. I even told my mom, "I know I need to read this and I know my attitude needs to change, but I am just not ready to do it yet."

Wow.  What an honest statement. Something inside wanted to hang on to the very thing that was wearing me out, weighing me down and wasting my energy. What's funny about the internal fight over this book is that I came home, put the book on the shelf and didn't read it for a few weeks. What finally changed my attitude, what finally released my heart from the burden it carried was a surrender to the promises of God. Trusting in what He has told me He wants to do for me, give me, take from me, bless me with, carry for me, forgive me of, love me through....

The weeks of study on God's promises prepared my heart for what I would be facing. I picked up this new book, started reading and realized that God was moving me forward. I had laid a foundation of His promises in order to fall back on truth when my heart could have been decieved with emotional lies. Now, as I have a resolve to trust in His promises, I am going to equip my heart with the tools to pray bold prayers.  I think God has some exciting things in store for me and for you in this online series on prayer.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. I laughingly tell people I talk to that what you read on this blog site is an indication of where I am at personally. It's raw and real and I am here to tell you that I am flawed yet forgiven. But in the end, we will learn together how to tackle the tough stuff and I think this time spent stretching our prayer muscles is going to build strength in us like we haven't ever experienced before.