Dear Big!
THE CIRCLE MAKER – Part 1
August 12,
2012 · Chris Goins
Suggested Reading: The Circle Maker, Chapters 5-7 (The First Circle – Dream Big!)
Prayer: A Working
Definition
Prayer is constant
communion with God.
Through
prayer we…
…come
to know God and understand His heart;
…align
ourselves with God’s purposes and plans;
…access God’s incredible power!
“Nothing honors God more than a big dream that is way beyond our
ability to accomplish. Why? Because there is no way we can take credit for it.
And nothing is better for our spiritual development than a big dream because it
keeps us on our knees in raw dependence on God.” — Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker
“If you’ve never had a God-sized dream that scared you half to
death, then you haven’t really come to life. If you’ve never been overwhelmed by the impossibility of your plans,
then your God is too small. If your vision isn’t perplexingly impossible,
then you need to expand the radiuses of your prayer circles.” — Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker
Thought: Big dreams are often born out of great desperation…
Two People with a God-Sized Dream Born Out of Desperation:
(Mark 5:21-43; Matthew
9:18-26; Luke 8:40-56)
Mark 5:21-23 (NLT), Jesus
got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a
large crowd gathered around him on the shore. 22 Then a leader of the local
synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his
feet, 23 pleading fervently with him.
“My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her;
heal her so she can live.”
Mark 5:24-25 (NLT), Jesus
went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. 25 A woman in the crowd had suffered
for twelve years with constant bleeding.
THOUGHT: It’s interesting that we’re told
that Jairus’s daughter was twelve years old and that this woman has been
suffering… She has been sick for twelve years… Her sickness began the same year
that Jairus’s daughter was born…
Mark 5:26-28 (NLT), She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she
had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In
fact, she had gotten worse. 27 She
had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched
his robe. 28 For she thought to
herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
…if you aren’t willing to put
yourself in “this is crazy” situations, you’ll never experience “this is
awesome” moments. — Mark
Batterson, The Circle Maker
Mark 5:29 (NLT), Immediately the
bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of
her terrible condition.
Mark 5:30 (NLT), 30 Jesus
realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around
in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
Mark 5:31 (NLT), “But Master, Look at this crowd… The
people are crowing and pressing against you… What do you mean, ‘Who touched
me?’” (Mark 5:31; Luke 8:45)
Mark 5:32 (NLT) But he kept on
looking around to see who had done it.
Mark 5:33-34 (NLT), Then the frightened
woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell
to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter,
your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
Mark 5:35-43 (NIV84), While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house
of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother
the teacher any more?”
36 Ignoring
what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
37 He
did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of
James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler,
Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.
39 He
went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and
wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But
they laughed at him.
After he put
them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were
with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He
took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you,
get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl
stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were
completely astonished. 43 He gave
strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her
something to eat.
Two Attitudes That
Keep Us From Dreaming Big:
1. I have God completely figured out! (Jairus)
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT), “My thoughts are nothing like
your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And
my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For
just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my
ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher
than your thoughts.”
“Visions are born in the soul of a
man or woman who is consumed with the tension between what is and what could be…
Visions form in the hearts of those who are dissatisfied with the status quo.” — Andy Stanley, Visioneering, page 17
Examples: Promises I’m “Circling”
Isaiah 43:5-7 (NIV), Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the
east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back. Bring my sons from afar and my
daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom
I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."
Isaiah 54:1-3 (MSG), “Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby. Fill the air with song, you who’ve never
experienced childbirth! 2 Clear lots of
ground for your tents! Make your tents
large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent
pegs deep. You’re going to need lots of
elbow room for your growing family.”
2. I’m not worthy of God’s attention. (Unnamed Woman)
Romans
8:31-32 (NIV84), What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for
us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son,
but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Next
Steps:
· Practice the discipline of daily,
continual surrender to the purpose and plan of God.
· Learn to listen by asking two
questions:
-
What
does God want to teach me about Himself? (Jairus – I’m bigger than you think…”)
-
What
does God want to teach me about myself? (Unnamed Woman – You are loved!”)
· Take your next step of obedience.
Faith is active, not passive.
· Expect God to blow your mind with His awesome activity!
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