Day 7-The Circle Maker Prayer Challenge

We are continuing our 21 day prayer journey based on Mark Batterson’s book, The Circle Maker. Check out the first post in this series to get a daily email in your inbox from National Community Church. I pray that God will continue to bless us all as we Dream Big, Pray Hard, and Think Long and begin to draw prayer circles in our lives.

On Tuesday of last week we experienced a crazy miracle.  Glen Echo Baptist Church signed over the deed to their property to National Community Church. Not only are they gifting a piece of property worth north of $1 million dollars. They are giving us the cash that is left in their checking and savings accounts.  And they are selling another property valued at $400,000 and giving us the proceeds.  Are you kidding me?

How does something like that happen?  My one-word answer: prayer.  Every miracle, every blessing, every divine appointment has a genealogy.  If you trace them back, you’ll find agenesis prayer that set in motion the Sovereignty of God.

Wait, are you saying that God can’t do it without us?  I’m not saying He can’t. I’m saying Hewon’t.  God has decided in his omniscience and omnipotence that there are some things He will only do in response to prayer. In the words of Jesus, “You have not because you ask not.”  If you don’t ask, God can’t answer.  The greatest tragedy in life are the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.  I don’t pretend to understand where theSovereignty of God and free will of man meet, but it motivates me to work like it depends on me and pray like it depends on God.

Back to the miracle genealogy. Here’s the prayer genesis.  It was nearly two years ago that I felt like God put a prayer in my heart: “Lord, do something unprecedented.”  It was a scary prayer because it means giving up a measure of control, a measure of predictability.  But it’s become a prayer mantra for us.  I believe the miracle of Glen Echo Baptist Church can be traced to that specific prayer.  I have no other explanation!  Let me state the obvious: Baptist churches don’t give their church buildings to non-Baptist churches. It’s unprecedented.  And that’s precisely what we prayed for!

*Taken from National Community Church. Day Seven.