Praying Circles

In December we found out that our Sunday School class would be taught from the book "The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears." I was really excited. Not only because it gave me an excuse to buy a new book, but it also sounded really interesting. The first chance I got I went out and bought the book. I immediately started reading it, and it was so good...but I also felt convicted! I was surprised, but I also knew/know that I do need to work on my prayer life...I won't give a lot of details about the book, but you should definitely pick up your own copy, sit down with your highlighter and start reading.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago today, our class started the discussion. The couple who are teaching the class challenged us to a 21 day Challenge:

• Identify a time you will pray everyday
• Pick a place you will go everyday (be sure to pick a place you feel connected to God)
• Identify a specific person, promise or problem you will circle in prayer everyday for the coming 3 weeks
• ***Be sure to keep this appointment with God everyday and see what He accomplishes in and through you

I have to tell you that I took this challenge to heart. I don't pray at the same time everyday, it's too hard for me to nail down a set time, but I do make a point to do it everyday. I have a set place and I have my prayer journal there and a Bible. I identified several people who had specific needs that I knew about and started circling them in prayer. I also circled Matt, Kayla, Elijah and our home school in my prayers.

 

The awesome news is....God answers prayer!! Not always in ways we would expect, or necessarily a yes, but within the last week I have gotten five "yeses" to my prayers.

 

To protect people's privacy I won't tell you what the first two prayers were, they were not members of my family, but I will tell you when I got the answers. Last Sunday, 1 week after I started praying for someone, I found out she got an answer to the prayer. The second person got her answer to prayer on Friday the 18th and I found out about it on the 19th.

The third answer "yes" I got, was with Elijah. On Thursday he woke up with  fever of 101.2. When my kids get fevers we settle in, knowing it will be at least 4-5 days of being home and sick. My kids never have a fever less than four days. That night I was praying for Elijah and I prayed "that his fever would leave as quickly as it had come." He woke up Friday fever free :) I checked him several times throughout Friday, and checked him again Saturday morning and he remained fever free. God is so good.

 

The fourth "yes" I prayed was that Matt would have no travel delays or bad weather while he was away. It was supposed to snow in DC and in North Carolina Thursday/Friday and Matt was scheduled to return home Friday night. God answered this prayer as well, neither place got the snow they were supposed to! (Sorry if you were really wanting snow, but I was really wanting my best friend back home with me!)

The fifth "yes" I received was praying that Matt would make it back home safely Friday night, and he did! Again, God is so good.

 

There are many times that God answers our prayers and we forget to thank Him or even forget that we prayed for it. I am thankful for all these "yeses" and again, sometimes He says "wait" or "no." But I am so thankful for immediate "yeses" to my prayers. And, they may seem like small prayers, but not all of them are. Nothing seems to small for God. I enjoy writing down my prayers and then seeing how they are answered.

 

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

 

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot chang, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.