Skip to main content

Praying Circles around Your Children


 Praying Circles around Your Children by Mark Batterson


Mark Batterson, author of The Circle Maker and pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C. has written a timely and insightful on prayer and your children called Praying Circles around Your Children.  Batterson in the opening chapter spells out for parents in practical ways some basic truths: one, you will make a lot of mistakes and second, “your worst mistakes double as your greatest opportunities” (10-11).  Batterson goes onto state that “every blessing, every breakthrough, every miracles traces back to the prayers that were prayed by you or for you” (12).  In other words, prayer is the heartbeat of what it means to be a parent but also to be a believer.  I think his advice at the end of the chapter was very good in that you don’t become a praying parent by a whim but by constant determination, desire to and discipline.  Lest we forget, the discipline of prayer is not to be taken lightly.

While I am not crazy about the legend of Honi the rain maker, I think from a broader perspective that Batterson is trying to instill the truth that prayer is not to waver with circumstances but be offered faithfully and boldly.  He writes, “There is nothing magical about physically circling something in prayer, but there is something biblical about it….Drawing prayer circles is a metaphor that simple means “to pray without ceasing.” It’s praying until God answers” (29).  While I don’t necessarily think that our prayers are prophecies that pave the future for our family, there is something powerful and transformative about unceasing prayer.  Praying for our kids can be a dangerous thing too, as we pray that they will make a difference in the world.  Even more, as we study the Scriptures and pray for our kids, we begin to see what the most important things God says about our children and their future. 

I also thought the chapter on prayer mantras was good.  Finding what makes our child tick, what is their heartbeat of life alongside finding a life verse or verses for them reminds us of God’s work in their lives.  Finding where our children’s God given gifts and God ordained passions intersect is definitely part of our duty as parents (71).  The difficulty is today’s world is finding out what are their gifts and passions are and what piques their interest for other reasons that are not necessarily their gifts and passions.  Having our kids pray with us involves us seeing how God is already working in their hearts. 

I’m not sure exactly what Batterson was trying to say when he said that “Our prayers are prophecies and that we can write our children’s future through prayer.”  I don’t think prayer is prophecy but rather a relationship with the Triune God that seeks to align ourselves with the values of the kingdom.  Yet, I do think that our prayers for our children help us to see a vision of how our children might serve him, use their gifts for his glory.

Thanks to Zondervan for the review copy of this book in exchange for review.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Rise of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman

  The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman Navigating the culture that we take up residence in, with its laser focus on sexual identity, tolerance, and an individualism that raises its head at every corner, Christians need a robust account of how we got to this point in our Western culture without retreating to our churches nor morphing with the latest trends.   Carl Trueman, professor of religion and theology at Grove City College, brings his keen historical research to bear on this issue in his new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.   Part historical survey and philosophical analysis, Dr. Trueman traces the trajectories of key thinkers such as Rousseau, Freud, and Marx, while also incorporating the insights of Charles Taylor and Phillip Rieff to form a cogent argument as to how we got to this point in our history, both in our expressive individualism and sexual freedom outlooks.   The book is surprisingly insightful and yet demands from the reader the pa

The Conditioned Mind

The Conditioned Mind: Overcoming the Crippling Effects of Sin and Guilt by Michael J. Mannia Counselor and author Michael J. Mannia knows firsthand how the spiraling of sin and guilt can eat away at life.  His new book, The Conditioned Mind, is a look into how believers can overcome the effects of sin and guilt and live in the freedom that we have in Christ.  Through a careful look into the patterns that we develop and the mindsets that we get ingrained in, Michael is able to offer ways through guilt that bring freedom and healing.  I think this is not only a timely but a book that aims toward bringing real healing to its readers. In the first chapter Michael looks at two needs that we have: our need for love and our need for security.  Love isn’t something optional for the human race, but something it needs at its core.  “Additionally, we need to reciprocate love.  We need to feel loved as much as we need to love others (8).”  Love is a two-way street that inv

Passover and Jesus

The Messiah in the Passover , Edited by Darrell Bock and Mitch Glaser Why should Christians celebrate and remember the Passover?   This is a striking question that needs to be understood as well as the historical and theological context of the Passover.   However obscure we sometimes view the Old Testament, there is some significant reasons why we should reach back and study the Passover.   Mitch Glaser in the Introduction states, “When Christians celebrate the Passover, they grow in their understanding of the Old Testament, affirm the Jewishness of the Gospel, deepen our understanding of the Lord’s Supper, and build community with fellow Christians…” (20).   This book is answer to why celebrate the Passover but even more importantly an answer to what the Passover is and what it signifies to us today.   The various contributors of this book, Messiah in the Passover, bring a wealth of ministry experience in relating the Jewishness of both Jesus and the Old Testament to