We are studying the book The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears by Mark Batterson. This is, as the titles indicates, a book about prayer. There are many different ways to pray: a certain dedicated time, praying through songs, praying Bible verses, and praying throughout the day. I enjoy all of these forms of praying and I’ve found that there are certain times in my life when I gravitate towards one way more than another. I know how you pray can always change and am very aware that we can never learn too much about prayer.

Cue reading The Circle Maker.

If prayer is our lifeline to God, we should never stop praying or learning about prayer. This book is both a simple and terribly convicting book, so you have been warned. It shows  you the importance of being with God, spending time with Him, and praying. This is obvious and might make one put it down and not finish reading. Yet, the book continues to draw me in to read more. I’m still in the process of reading and studying the book, but I felt led to share what has touched me the most so far:

“Lord, do something unpredictable and uncontrollable.”

Batterson goes on to say,

“That is a scary prayer, especially for a control freak like me, but it doesn’t scare me nearly as much as a life void of holy surprises. And you can’t have it both ways. If you want God to surprise you, you have to give up control. You will lose a measure of predictability,  but you will begin to see God move in uncontrollable ways!”

Are you kidding me? A schedule freak like me is supposed to pray the prayer, “do something unpredictable and uncontrollable”? It reminded me of the saying, “Don’t ever pray for patience because you’ll be given lots of opportunity to practice your patience”. Well, I just couldn’t help myself. The idea of letting go and letting God lead in a new and unpredictable way seemed inviting. It was like I was a teenager thinking I was too cool to have fun with my parents to only realize I was still a kid at heart and I loved their surprises.

So, I prayed, “Lord, do something unpredictable and uncontrollable” in my life.

I asked God to use me in ways I could never imagine. I prayed that I would not stand in the way and stop the process. Whew…it’s been a whirlwind of a week. Lots of things seemed to go wrong and yet I knew God was with me through everything that might have derailed me before. My schedule was important; yet, I knew God was over it all. Those I came in contact with throughout the week were prayed over and I thought about them in a different way than I had before. As long as I gave God my time, my schedule, my priorities, my activities, my thoughts, my habits, my goals, and my dreams, He provided what I needed in any given moment. There were intense times I wasn’t sure it was all going to work, but God came through for me because I had done the work He asked me to do.

It’s been a fun and wild adventure this week and I’m truly praying for more unpredictable weeks because that’s when I see God working more than usual. It’s not necessarily because He’s working more than usual, I am now taking the time to acknowledge what He’s already doing around me. This in turn makes me desire to spend more time with Him in prayer and thanksgiving. He’s a pretty awesome God!

In what area of your life do you need to pray the prayer of “unpredictable and uncontrollable”? Take a few minutes right now and pray for God to surprise you in new and enlightening ways. I pray your eyes will be opened to see Him and that your heart will be willing to trust in Him.

© 2017 Susan M. Sims

Follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

Looking for a small group Bible study?

Look no further: Being Transparent: With Yourself, God, and Others with the Leader’s Discussion Guide!