Draw The Circle devotional group

[Granny Nogg]

This group is for sharing the insights we gain by doing the daily prayer devotional, "Draw The Circle" by Mark Batterson.  You can find the book at most major book retailers or on Kindle.  This is a 40-day Christian prayer devotional with the focus on getting us into regular, daily quiet time with God.  The goal is to submit more of our lives to the direction of God.

 

If you'd like to participate, just jump in.  Find what day we're on and pray for God to speak to you.  Read that chapter in the book, then share your personal insights with that day's lesson.  I highly recommend keeping a personal journal to record your insights, as oftentimes God reveals something to you in a slow progression, and you only realize it as you review what you'd written in your journal.  You can keep track of your prayer requests in that journal as well -- it's another way that God will begin revealing His will to you.   

[Granny Nogg]

Draw The Circle: Day 19

 

 

Some days I think the author is brilliant and I'm writing down almost everything in that day's devotional.  Other days, not so much.  Today was one of the latter.  But the effect of what I read kindof surprised me. 

 

So he's talking about how God always answers our prayers.  Some of them won't be answered this side of eternity because God's timing for the answer is not the same thing as our timing.  Right.  He's weaving people and circumstances together in accordance with his master plan. 

 

I liked the story about the woman who'd prayed for her children.  And this is what I got out of the day's lesson the most.  I pray for my kids, their spouses, their kids... but not daily and not with the prayer journal in mind, tracking how God answers my prayers for them  I do let them know that I'm praying for them and trust that God is going to pop them into my mind when I need to pray.  But maybe that's just laziness on my part, not wanting to spend the extra time to pray for an additional 13 people.  <snort> probably is the answer. 

 

So this morning I texted all my kids and their spouses and asked them what their prayer requests are.  Most of them have replied; a couple are at work.  One deflected in her codependency and said nothing, what can I pray for you?  LOL -- we know we're both codependent so she wasn't offended when I said that I really wanted to know.

 

I wrote their requests in my journal, and I'm looking forward to seeing how God moves in these areas.  Maybe it will be no more than to let my children know I'm praying for their concerns, not just being MOM and praying for their souls.  Of course I'm praying for that, too -- there's a big difference between believing God exists and being submitted to him.  

 

But it opened up a conversation with one of my sons about God's will in his life and that -- that was precious.   

[Bekah]

Day 19: God has Infinite Answers to Finite Prayers.

Collect our prayers like keepsakes and build a foundation of Intercession in our lives and the lives of those around us with them.

One of the things that struck me hardest, was the story about Johnny, bc my mom is like that Grandma...except not quite as earnest I think, but in her heart she wanted me in the church, for the last 25 years...and it isn't a coincidence that I started questioning God's truths and met some people who influenced me and ended up going to a church that is an offshoot of the one I was raised in and that I felt like I had come home.

It's not a coincidence that last night I was led to fast and pray for a job offer today and felt pulled to contact a woman who Is responsible for a Christian charity organization to volunteer my time again this year and that she happened to overhear a conversation about the perfect job opportunity for me and recommended me to the hiring director and that I have lost enough weight recently that I was able to wear the only nice outfit I could find. Or that Walmart had nice comfy skirts on sale today or that I felt led to pray for healing of relationships in the family of a friend. These things are not "me". I have been trying to get a social services job for FOUR years, and five days after I cried at the altar on Sunday morning and let God handle it, the perfect job falls in my lap. These things are the keepsakes to remember, to write in a journal and look back on when you don't hear God that day...so you can see his infinite answers to our finite prayers.

I cant wait to go journal about this day

[Granny Nogg]

Popping in to say I'm still doing the devotional, just hadn't had time to add any comments about it in here while the tournament prep was going on.  But I've taken notes so I'll probably post this one big long thing and hit one or two highlights from each of those days.