Prayer

Here are 12 prayer maxims from Mark Batterson’s newest NY Times Bestseller, The Circle Maker.

• Prayer is the difference between YOU FIGHTING FOR GOD and GOD FIGHTING FOR YOU.
• Prayer turns appointments in DIVINE APPOINTMENTS.
• Pray like it DEPENDS ON GOD and work like it DEPENDS ON YOU.
• If you don’t establish a PRAYER HABIT you’ll never break the SIN HABIT.
• Prayer is the difference between THE BEST YOU CAN DO and THE BEST GOD CAN DO.
• The more you HAVE TO DO the more you HAVE TO PRAY.
• You are only ONE PRAYER away from a totally different life.
• The MORE YOU PRAY the MORE YOU DREAM and the more you dream the more you HAVE to pray.
• WHO YOU BECOME is determined by HOW YOU PRAY.
• 100% of the prayers you DON’T pray WON’T get answered.
• God honors BOLD PRAYERS because BOLD PRAYERS honor God.
• The greatest tragedy in life are the prayers that go UNANSWERED because they go UNASKED.

My Book Shelf – Primal by Mark Batterson

My Book Shelf – Primal by Mark Batterson

Every now and then in my blog to the church I like to share with you the books that I’m reading that really challenge and inspire me. My hope is that these books do the same for you.

I have a new favorite book and no surprise it comes from our long time friend Mark Batterson. I have enjoyed Mark’s previous books including ID: The True You, In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, and Wild Goose Chase. His latest book is called PRIMAL, A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity. Mark’s premise is that our generation of Christianity needs a reformation, but not a reformation to create something new but rather a reformation that rediscovers the old.

In Primal, we are challenged to look back at the first Christians and the early church that had to strive to simply exist. It was a time when numbers were insignificant, worldly influence was little, being a Christian was illegal, and the church had to meet in underground graveyards. Batterson asks us to remember their creed, the Great Commandment, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” Mark 12:30 (NLT)

In the four sections of the book Mark takes each point of the Great Commandment and reveals...

• The heart of Christianity is primal compassion.
• The soul of Christianity is primal wonder.
• The mind of Christianity is primal curiosity.
• The strength of Christianity is primal energy.

Through the use of story and Scripture Mark paints a picture of what the renewed believers will look like. That, in reality, they’ll actually look a lot more like the believers of old and that our new reformation will not only be built on creeds but more so on our deeds.

My Book Shelf – Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson

I want to start something new in my blog to our church. Every now and then I want to share with you what I’m reading that challenges and inspires me. My hope is that these books do the same for you.

Right now I am reading Mark Batterson’s latest book, Wild Goose Chase. You may remember Mark from our Chase the Lion series. He is the author of In A Pit, With A Lion, On A Snowy Day, which was my favorite book so far this year but may be replaced now by Wild Goose Chase. You can check it out at www.chasethegoose.com.

Mark has a way of communicating that excites your spirit and gets you longing for all that God has for you and your life. Let me share with you some of Mark’s words from the introduction.

"Most of us have no idea where we’re going most of the time. Perfect. Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–‘An Geadh-Glas’, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something…. Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure."

Here's another quote from chapter 1...

"Here's a thought... Do angels yawn? I know it seems like an inane theological question, but I seriously wonder if angels have the capacity to get bored. More importantly, I wonder if some of us are living such safe lives that not only are we bored, but so are our guardian angels."

It only gets better from there. I don’t want to give away the surprises in the coming chapters, but I’ll just say this book will release you to follow the God as you never have before. I hope everyone reads and allows themselves to challenged by this book. I was so captivated I read it in one sitting! I would love to see it in all of our small groups. Allow this book to dare you to chase God and His plan for your life! Hey college students, I’m going to put a copy in the Christian Life College library. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.