Circle Maker Series: Experiencing the Breakthrough

I want to close our Circle Maker Series by sharing a story about breaking the sound barrier as shared in the Circle Maker book.

 

photo source

In the world of aviation, the sound barrier was once considered the unbreakable barrier. Many engineers believed that Mach 1 (the speed of sound) represented an impenetrable wall of air, and dozens of pilots who died trying to break the barrier solidified that belief. At low speeds, the shock waves are a non-factor, but as an aircraft reaches higher speeds, new aerodynamics is introduced.  When a plane approaches the speed of sound (or Mach 1), shock waves increase and cause the pilots to lose control. The buildup of air pressure in front of the aircraft causes a wave drag.  And because the air on top of the wing is traveling faster than air on the bottom, it basically results in a catastrophic nosedive.  The British, among others, put a hold on their attempt to break the sound barrier when their prototype self-destructed at Mach .94

But that did not keep a young American pilot named Chuck Yeager from attempting the impossible. On October 14, 1947, a four-engine B29 took off from the California desert.  As his plane hit Mach .965, the speed indicator went haywire. At Mach .995, the g-force blurred his vision and turned his stomach. Then, just as it seemed as if the plane would disintegrate, there was a loud sonic boom followed by an almost instantaneous and eerie silence. As the plane crossed the sound  barrier, 761 miles per hour, the air pressure shifted from the front of the plane to the back.  The shock waves that had buffeted the cockpit turned into a sea of glass.  Yeager reached Mach 1.07 before cutting his engines and coming back down to earth. The unbreakable barrier had been broken.

Just as there is the sound barrier, there is also the faith barrier. That is the point where we have seemingly reached a wall in our spiritual journey. The point when we start to feel that our prayers are not going anywhere. Breaking the faith barrier often times feels like breaking the sound barrier.  Difficult to almost impossible. 

If we want to experience supernatural breakthroughs, we need to pray through. It may often feel like we are about to lose control and things are falling apart, but that is when we need to press further and pray harder. If you allow disappointments and doubts to stop you from praying through, then we experience a nosedive in our spiritual journey and our dreams end there.

If you want to experience a Supernatural breakthrough, you need to pray through

Do not give up. If there is one thing that we need to remember from the Circle Maker series is that giving up on prayer should never be an option. You never know when you're just a prayer away from the promise. 
 

Just like the story of Chuck Yeager, we need to wait for that ‘Sonic Boom’ experience in our spirits.  It may be the moment when the Lord answers your prayer or the moment when we have peace knowing that our prayers are in the Lord’s hands and will be answered in His perfect time. That is the moment when your frustrations turn into quiet confidence.  That is when we know we have experienced a breakthrough.

 

As we enter the holiday season, remember that the best gift that you can give yourself is the gift of hope. Prayer develops our faith, and with faith comes a renewed sense of hope. Never give up on the Lord, because He will never give up on you.

 

Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer"

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Circle Maker Series: Think Long

As we end our Circle Maker series, I want us to learn one last concept:  Thinking long. We have already learned how to dream big and pray hard, now we need to practice thinking long.

 

We live in an instant-reward, instant-gratification world these days. We microwave frozen meals for dinner and eat instant noodles for lunch.  Even information is now easily at our fingertips via internet through our smart phones. Gone are the days when we had to trek to the library to get the information that we need or find a dictionary to get the meaning of a word.  Although the advancement of technology has its perks, it is also training us to be more impatient.

 

There is this pedestrian traffic light near our office that takes 99 seconds of waiting time before it turns green. The pedestrians usually start out by staring at the countdown.  99, 98, 97, 96, ...and then they start to get restless.  Little by little, the pedestrians would attempt to cross the street. Some will do a little back and forth marching, akin to playing patintero with the cars. The braver ones will just run for their dear lives, wishing and hoping that the cars would stop just in time. The fearful minority, which if often just me, would be left on the other side, continually staring at the countdown...36, 35, 34, 33...

 

Then one day, as I was left all alone waiting for the light to turn green, i realized something. 99 seconds is just a minute and a half. That's not a long wait, to be honest. Why do people risk their lives just to avoid waiting a minute and a half? Our quick-fix mindset teaches us that 99 seconds feel like an eternity and so we try to escape it if we could.

 

Don't we also have the same attitude towards prayer sometimes? We pray and we expect God to answer us immediately. We want quick answers and solutions to our problems. And after waiting with no word from the Lord, we get impatient and question the Lord. 

 

But you see, God answer our prayers at different times. Sometimes it takes a day but sometimes it can also take years. Other times, it can take even longer than our lifetime.

Towards the end of his life, Honi (the Circle Maker) was walking down a dirt road when he saw a man planting a carob tree. Always the inquisitive sage, Honi questioned him.  “How long will it take this tree to bear fruit?” The man replied, “Seventy years.”  Honi said, “Are you quite sure you will live another seventy years to eat its fruit?” The man replied, “Perhaps not.  However, when I was born into the world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather.  Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees”

Prayer is the inheritance that we receive, and the legacy that we leave.

 

Praying is very much like planting. Some plants grow fast while others may take a while. Those prayer that seemingly never gets answered in this lifetime are just like Carob trees. You may not see the fruit now but the generations after you will reap the rewards of your prayer.

 

While I was reading the book about ‘Thinking Long’, I remembered my maternal Grandmother. She is one of the most prayerful women I have ever known. My cousins and I would always ask her to pray for important things in our lives because we often say “When Amah prays, God answers!”.  And as I read about prayer being an inheritance, I started to wonder how much of the blessings that our family is reaping now is due to my Amah’s prayer some 50 years ago. 

 

What legacy do you want to leave your children? More importantly, what lives do you want your future generation to live? We need to start praying now for our children and the generations after them. Prayer is the best legacy we can leave our family.

 

I want to share a story with you that the Mark Batterson, the author of the Circle Maker, shared in his book. When he was 13 years old, Mark got very sick and was taken to the ICU. At that time, their family just started attending Calvary Church – a church with thousands of members. One Sunday prior to the day Mark was admitted to the ICU, their family met Mr. Shmidgall. Mark's parents remembered how hospitable he was and decided to give him a call at 2am to request for prayers for Mark. In less than 10 minutes, Mr. Smidgall was already in the ICU praying over Mark.

 

And this is what Mark said “When he laid his hands on my head, I remember thinking there is no way God won’t answer his prayer.  He had a familiarity with God that was disarming.  He had a faith in God that was reassuring.  He could have called a staff member to make the visit. He didn’t. he could have waited until morning. He didn’t. He settled for a short night’s sleep on a short notice to pray for a thirteen-year old kid who was fighting for his life. Little did he know that this thirteen-year old kid would one day marry his daughter. Little did he know that this thirteen-year old kid would one day give him his first grandchild. There is no way he could have ever known. But that is the glorious mystery of prayer”

 

Little steps of obedience will give big pay-offs in the future

 

I want to believe that Mr. Smidgall was already praying for his daughter’s lifetime partner even when she was young. Little did he know that when he prayed over Mark that day out of obedience for the Lord, God was already at work in answering his prayers for his daughter’s lifetime partner. The act of obedience may totally be unrelated to the answer that you will get in the future, but that’s how God works. He loves surprising us. We just need to be sensitive to His leading and obey.

We can never tell how the prayers that we offer today, will be used by God greatly to mold our lives and those of our future generations in the years to come.

Think Long.

 



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Circle Maker Series: Step Into Your Next Miracle

 Are you still waiting for that miracle you have been praying for? Let me fill you in on a little secret I discovered recently. Some miracles require a step of faith. 

 

Allow me to explain. Remember the Israelites? They have been walking around for 40 years and have not reached their destination. When they finally reached the land that the Lord has promised them, there was a problem. A huge wall protected it. God tasked them to take a step of faith. Circle the wall for seven days. After they obeyed, the miracle happened. The wall fell and they were able to conquer the land. But you know what? They already had some practice as far as stepping into a miracle is concerned.

 

Joshua 3:11-16

 

Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead across the Jordan River. Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.  The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall."

 

So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenent went ahead of them.  It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river's edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan.  And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry.  Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

 

Now let's focus on the Lord's instruction in verse 13. He asked that the priests get their feet wet in order for the water to part. Don't we often want it to happen the other way around? "Lord, part the waters first before I will step in!" We lack the courage to obey before the Lord shows us a clear way.

 

God required a step of faith from the priests. A lot of times, He also requires the same from us before our miracle happens. Have you been asking for a friend's healing? Well, pray over that person. Take a step of faith. What has the Lord been prompting you to do lately? Listen carefully and obey. It is often our unwillingness to take a step of faith that prevents us from reaching the miracle we have been asking for.

 

The Israelites were just a river away from the promised land. Had the priests not taken that step of faith, they will not have been able to conquer God's blessing.

 

Here's something from the book that I want to share with you. "Some people spend their entire lives on the eastern shore of the Jordan waiting for God to part the river while God waits for them to get their feet wet. We're so close to the dream, so close to the promise, so close to the miracle. But we aren't willing to get our feet wet"

 

Think about it. What has God been asking you to do? Are you willing to get your feet wet? Are you willing to take that step of faith? Obey.  You may only be a step away into your next miracle.

 

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Circle Maker Series: When God Says No

Do you remember a time in your life when God said No? I do. Most of you who have been following this blog knows our journey with Tyler back in 2006. We prayed hard for his healing for over two months. We fasted and prayed, prayed and fasted. But God said no.

Receiving a No answer can be a test of trust. Do you still trust the Lord even when you did not get what you want? Do you still trust the Lord even when He does not reveal His reasons to you? Do you still trust that His plans are better than yours? The hardest part about receiving a No answer is enduring all the unresolved questions that we have in our hearts. Sometimes, we may not admit it, but deep inside we may even feel betrayed and hurt by the Lord.

But you know what? Someday, when we finally understand God's reasons for saying No, we will start thanking Him for those seemingly unanswered prayers. Maybe the reason will not be clear at first or even a few years later. In fact, maybe it will never be clear in this lifetime! But here's what we need to remember.

Our Heavenly Father is far too wise and loves us far too much to give us everything we ask for

Do you know the story of Balaam and the talking donkey found in the book of Numbers chapter 22? Balaam was tasked by the King of Moab to curse the Israelites. The Lord already told him not to do it. But he was persistent and he went anyway. While on his journey, his donkey saw an angel of the Lord with a sword on his hand.  The donkey suddenly stopped and turned off the road. Balaam started to beat the donkey several times for he did not see what the donkey was seeing. He did not see the angel in front of them. After several beatings to get the donkey back to the right path, the donkey started to talk. Yes, seriously! The donkey said to Balaam "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in front of them with his sword. And this was what the angel told him "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.  The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by  now, but I would have spared it"

Isn't this a funny story? I can easily see it as a Disney cartoon show. A talking donkey!  But you know what the real miracle is in this story? It wasn't the talking donkey. The real miracle is a God who loves us so much that He will get in the way when we are already going the wrong way.  The angel of the Lord would have killed Balaam had the donkey continued walking. 

Divine Detours often get us to where God wants us to go

Many times, what may seem like a No answer to us only means that God has a better answer for us. He gets in the way to show us the way.

Remember the time when the Egyptian army was chasing the Israelites? They were already at the border of the Red Sea and they can see an angry army charging after them. They cried out to Moses, their leader. But the Lord's instruction to them was to just stand still and stay calm. When you're at a dead end in the midst of charging army, probably the most difficult thing to do is to stand still and stay calm. But that's what the Lord asked of them. And as most of us know, a few minutes before the Egyptians got to them, the Lord parted the Red Sea.

A lot of times we want the Lord to part the Red Sea while the army is still far far away. But sometimes the Lord waits. And then He waits longer. But once again, the God who provided the Israelites with just enough (meat to eat), parts the Red Sea just in time. Yes, God's timing is perfect.

Keep Calm and Be Still

There is no need to panic. Praying hard is trusting that the Lord's got our back. I will end this post with a statement from the author of the Circle Maker. If the Red Sea is a scene from the movie, this can very well be Moses' line to the Israelites as they feared the charging Egyptian army.

"I don't know what we're going to do, but I do know what we are not going to do.  We're not going to be afraid. We're going to stand still.  And we're going to see the deliverance of the Lord"

Wait for it. His deliverance is coming. 

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Circle Maker Series: Praying Through

Every night before going to bed, I would pray and lift up my concerns to the Lord. I have a number of prayer items that have been there for as long as I can remember.  Do you also experience drought in your prayer life sometimes? When it feels like you are just going around in circles and nothing is happening? Well, you need to read this.

I will start this post by sharing two stories. One from the Bible and one from the Circle Maker book.

Story 1: Luke 18: 1-5    

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

One day Jesus told his disciples of a story to show that they should always pray and not give up.  "There was a judge in a certain city," he said, "who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, 'Give me justice in this dispute with the enemy.'  The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, 'I don't fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I'm going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!'"

Story 2:  In standardized math tests, Japanese children consistently score higher than their American counterparts. While some assume that a natural proclivity toward mathematics is the primary difference, researchers have discovered that it may have more to do with effort than ability. In one study involving first-graders, students were given a difficult puzzle to solve. The researchers weren’t interested in whether or not the children could solve the puzzle; they simply wanted to see how long they would try before giving up. The American children lasted, on average, 9.47 minutes. The Japanese children lasted 13.93 minutes. In other words, the Japanese children tried 47 percent longer. Is it any wonder why they score higher on math exams? Researchers concluded that the difference in math scores might have less to do with intelligence quotient and more to do with persistence quotient. The Japanese first-graders simply tried harder.
 

Now do these stories tell us? Success is, more often than not, a product of persistence.  In the story of the persistent widow, the Bible was silent on what sort of injustice took place. Maybe her son was falsely imprisoned or maybe a man who molested her daughter was still walking free. Whatever injustice she was facing, it is apparent that the widow will not stop until the judge grants her the justice she is looking for. That is what makes her a circle maker.

In my previous post, i talked about dreaming big and praying bold prayers. Now here's the question we need to answer. How desperate are we for God to fulfill those dreams? How many times are you willing to lift that request up in prayer? How long are you willing to wait?

We all know that God is sovereign and the answers to our prayers do not depend on us. Ultimately, the answer will still be God's decision. But it is also up to us to show the Lord how serious we are with our request.

Pray like it depends on God (because it really does!)

 

If I tell you now that I know a person who can grant your deepest request, wouldn’t you be curious and immediately schedule an appointment with him?  Stop for a moment and consider this.  God CAN answer that desperate dream that we have.  Why aren't we constantly seeking the Lord for the answer?   If we do not pray and seek God like the miracle depends on Him, then our answers will always be out of our prayer reach.

In 1 Kings 18: 41-46, the Bible talked about a story of drought. Very similar to Honi's story.  Elijah went up to Mount Carmel to pray for rain. After each prayer, he would ask his servant to go and look out toward the sea and check for rain. When there was still no sign of rain, Elijah would pray again. He did this for seven times before God sent a terrific rainstorm.

This story reminded me of a story I previously shared about the Jericho Wall. The Israelites had to circle the wall of Jericho for seven days before they were able to break through the wall conquer the promised land. Similarly, there was no tangible difference after Elijah prayed for the first, second, third, until the sixth time. But he persisted until the Lord answered his request for rain after his seventh prayer.  Just like the Israelites, Elijah would have forfeited the miracle had he stopped praying on the sixth time.

Now in my prayer list, there are big and small items. I have a few friends who tell me that they only pray the big-ticket items so that God is no longer bothered by the smaller ones. Here's the next point that i want to share with you.

 

God is great not only because nothing is too big for Him.  He is also great because nothing is too small for Him.

The bible said that there is no sparrow that falls to the ground that the Lord does not know about. I recently found out that the maya bird is a type of sparrow. I guess the reason why the Lord used a sparrow to explain this point is because there are just a lot of sparrows in the world. With all the seemingly more important world events, can you imagine why God would even bother knowing each one of the sparrow?

A few weeks ago, our Pastor shared something with us that made me understand God's heart more.  The Bible says that the hairs on our head are numbered. The Lord did not say they are counted, but that they are numbered.  This means that when a hair falls, the Lord does not say "Minus 1 hair from Fan's head", the Lord will say "Hair #2546 has just fallen". Our hairs are numbered.

Isn't it amazing how God is into the details of our lives? There is nothing too big for him and yet there is also nothing too small for Him.  The Lord listens to all our concerns. May it be our parenting struggles, healing from a serious illness, career choice, or finding the love of our life.  The Lord is interested in all of them.

I urge all of you to pray through the tough times and not give up.  Because, who knows? You may just be a prayer away from the miracle you have been waiting for.

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Circle Maker Series: Dream Big

Think of this series as a book club. As I learn from the Circle Maker book, I would like to share my insights with all of you. There will be no specific outline but just random ideas that I am gathering as I read along. Before you proceed, i encourage you to read the legend of the circle maker first.

 

The first time I heard the story of Honi several years ago, it did not appeal to me so much. I thought Honi was discontented and kind of rude to demand from the Lord. And this was my recent revelation. 

“God is not offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less."

 

Don’t we often limit God? We analyze too much and reason that what we want is logically impossible. So we adjust our grandest dreams and make them mediocre.  We do away with the bigger dream and settle for a small dream that we know can be accomplished without divine intervention.  But you know what? God is robbed of the glory when we limit our dreams!  God is honored by big dreams. Why? Because once the dream is fulfilled, there is no way we can take credit for it! Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. Big dreams bring us to our knees, praying and depending on the Lord. And as we pray, we grow closer to the Lord and know His heart. In fact, you may even start to change your dream as your personal will aligns with His will. 

Remember when the Israelites prayed for meat as they journeyed to the promised land?

 

Numbers 11:31

 

"Now the Lord sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and let them fall all around the camp. For miles in every direction there were quails flying about three feet above the ground."

When quail started to fall from the sky, imagine how the Israelites felt. I am sure they were in awe. Each Israelite gathered no less than 10 homers of quail. With 600,000 men, there would be a total of 6 million homers of quail that fell. And if one homer is roughly 200 liters, then we can statistically figure that it rained 105 million quails that day. Imagine that. When God answers, He does not only provide in a dramatic fashion, He can provide in dramatic proportions.

 

I challenge you to spend time with the Lord in prayer and wait on Him.  As you spend time with the Lord, write down promises that He will reveal to you.  Maybe the promises will come through Bible verses or words from your devotional book. Or it may be an impression that the Lord places in your heart.  Whatever it is, write them down and pray for the Lord to reveal more of Himself to you. And i guarantee that as you get the know His heart, you will see Him for the loving Father that He truly is.

 

I will close this post with a phrase from the book that i love.

If you keep circling your dream in prayer, God will get bigger and bigger until you see your impossible prayer for what it really is: An easy answer for an almighty God.

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The Legend of Honi, the Circle Maker

thecirclemaker.com

I have been reading one of the most inspiring books i have ever read. I learned so much about prayer and investing in my relationship with the Lord.  Join me in the next few weeks as i share my insights with you. To jump start this series, please read the story that founded this book.

The Legend

It was the first century BC and a devastating drought threatened to destroy a generation, the generation before Jesus. The last of the Jewish prophets had died off nearly four centuries before. Miracles were such a distant memory that they seemed like a false memory. And God was nowhere to be heard. But there was one man, an eccentric sage who lived outside the walls of Jerusalem, who dared to pray anyway. His name was Honi.1 And even if the people could no longer hear God, he believed that God could still hear them.

When rain is plentiful, it’s an afterthought. During a drought, it’s the only thought. And Honi was their only hope. Famous for his ability to pray for rain, it was on this day—the day—that Honi would earn his moniker.

With a six-foot staff in his hand, Honi began to turn like a math compass. His circular movement was rhythmical and methodical. Ninety degrees. One hundred and eighty degrees. Two hundred and seventy degrees. Three hundred and sixty degrees. He never looked up as the crowd looked on. After what seemed like hours, but had only been seconds, Honi stood inside the circle he had drawn. Then he dropped to his knees and raised his hands to heaven. With the authority of the prophet Elijah who called down fire from heaven, Honi called down rain.

“Lord of the Universe, I swear before your great name that I will not move from this circle until you have shown mercy upon your children.”

The words sent a shudder down the spine of all who were within earshot that day. It wasn’t just the volume of his voice. It was the authority of his tone. Not a hint of doubt. This prayer didn’t originate in the vocal chords. Like water from an artesian well, the words flowed from the depth of his soul. His prayer was resolute yet humble; confident yet meek; expectant yet unassuming.

Then it happened.

As his prayer ascended to the heavens, raindrops descended to the earth. An audible gasp swept across the thousands of congregants who had encircled Honi. Every head turned heavenward as the first raindrops parachuted from the sky, but Honi’s head remained bowed. The people rejoiced over each drop, but Honi wasn’t satisfied with a sprinkle. Still kneeling within the circle, Honi lifted his voice over the sounds of celebration.

“Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain that will fill cisterns, pits, and caverns.”

The sprinkle turned into such a torrential downpour that eyewitnesses said no raindrop was smaller than an egg in size. It rained so heavily and so steadily that the people fled to the Temple Mount to escape the flash floods. Honi stayed and prayed inside his protracted circle. Once more he refined his bold request.

“Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain of Thy favor, blessing, and graciousness.”

Then, like a well-proportioned sun shower on a hot and humid August afternoon, it began to rain calmly, peacefully. Each raindrop was a tangible token of God’s grace. And they didn’t just soak the skin; they soaked the spirit with faith. It would be forever remembered as the day. The day thunderclaps applauded the Almighty. The day puddle jumping became an act of praise. The day the legend of the circle maker was born. It had been difficult to believe the day before the day. The day after the day, it was impossible not to believe.

Honi was celebrated like a hometown hero by the people whose lives he had saved. But some within the Sanhedrin called the Circle Maker into question. A faction believed that drawing a circle and demanding rain dishonored God. Maybe it was those same members of the Sanhedrin who would criticize Jesus for healing a man’s withered arm on the Sabbath a generation later. They threatened Honi with excommunication, but because the miracle could not be repudiated, Honi was ultimately honored for his act of prayerful bravado.

The prayer that saved a generation was deemed one of the most significant prayers in the history of Israel. The circle he drew in the sand became a sacred symbol. And the legend of Honi the circle maker stands forever as a testament to the power of a single prayer to change the course of history.

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