Messages

Praying prayers that move God's heart is a great thing, but if that's all we ever do we've just reduced God to a cosmic Santa Claus, and that's not a role God is willing to play. The reality is prayer is much more than just praying those big, bold prayers. And, it's only by understanding that bigger picture of prayer that this whole process works anyway.

This week we're finishing up Circle Maker by looking at the story of one of the greatest circle makers in the Bible, Daniel. While he's most famous for his encounter with lions, the real secret to Daniel's life was something else entirely. As we look to his story we'll see the key trait that makes a circle maker a circle maker, and form a simple plan to unlock the power of prayer in our own lives.

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Sometimes we dream big, we pray hard, and God doesn't come through. That can be a real challenge when God promises that he moves promptly if we pray for persistence. How do we reconcile God's promise of moving quickly with what seems like inaction for long periods of time? For some this question has destroyed their faith.

This week we'll tackle this issue head on and look not only to the Bible, but also to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity to gain insight to better understand God's actions. And hopefully, by the end, all our faith will be strengthened in the moments it seems like God isn't moving quickly enough.

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If we're going to be people who pray prayers that move the heart of God we have to dream big, but we also have to pray hard. We can't phone it in, and we can't pray just because we're supposed to. There has to be something more, something deeper that drives us to go to God.

This week we'll look at a parable Jesus told, and also at a story of one of the geatest prophets in Israel's history – sometone Honi the Circle Maker was likely inspired by. As we do we'll learn what it really means to pray hard, and we'll also talk about what it looks like in a practical way.

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What kinds of prayers move the heart of God? That's a question many of us have never thought about, but, if we're going to pray prayers that move God's heart, it's an important one for us to ask. Unfortunately for many of us the reality is we don't see God move because we don't pray prayers that require Him to move.

In other words, for many of us, our prayers aren't God-sized prayers. They're "safe". They don't require any risk on our part, which means they don't require God at all. And if our prayers don't require God they aren't going to move God's heart. It's as simple as that.

This week we'll look to three short stories in the Bible of people dreaming God-sized dreams and moving the heart of Jesus to respond in miraculous ways. Plus, packed into the third story is a question at the very center of our faith, and a question that, if we don't settle it in our hearts, will prevent us from ever praying the kinds of prayers that move the heart of God.

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We hear stories of prayers that move the heart of God to do miracles. We read about these kinds of things in the Bible. We know God CAN do miracles, but for so many of us our prayers don't ever seem to move the heart of God to do much at all. Why is that? Why is it that for so many of us we just can't seem to move the heart of God at all? What does it even look like to pray prayers that move the heart of God?

This week we kick of a new series, called Circle Maker, where we'll learn how to pray big, bold, God-sized prayers that move His heart to action. Today we'll lay a foundation for what's to come, and look at two important truths we have to understand before we can pray God-sized prayers. We'll also talk about how to combat the fatal flaw built into all of us that, whether we like it or not, makes God not want to do what we ask Him for.

So join us as we start a new journey together toward praying the kinds of prayers that move the heart of God, and watch as those God-sized prayers become God-sized miracles that only He can get the credit for. Let's learn how to pray for rain.

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