A Showdown Circle With God

We all want to be successful and experience happiness, but even with God’s promise in our lives actually achieving our dreams takes a certain emotional focus.

It starts with God’s promise or should I say believing in that promise – no easy task. Have you ever had a showdown with God or even your own heart? I have on occasion and it always ends well because the simple act of arriving in that emotional space creates the possibility of a breakthrough. However, you first have to circumvent apathy, disbelief and emotional fatigue.

Honi the circle maker

We can learn a thing or two from a famous prophet and circle maker named Honi who was a legend in the generation before Jesus. The story goes something like this. It hadn’t rained for far too long with the result that the people of Israel, who were holding God’s promise for the Messiah to come, were on the verge of starvation.

Think how different history would have been if Jesus’ forbears had been annihilated in the wilderness. Honi had the audacity to declare that he would draw a circle around himself in the dirt and stay there, in prayer, until it rained. Now, that’s putting your money or faith where your mouth is.

Imagine the tension Honi experienced in that moment. He had to be absolutely committed to and believe in his venture. He stayed within the circle and waited. After a long period of time and undisclosed agony, droplets of rain were felt by the people who immediately rejoiced, shouting and singing in relief. But Honi wasn’t about to call it quits. He angrily told the people to quiet themselves. This was not enough. He determined to continue praying until a torrential downpour caused the people to move to the temple mount. Still, he didn’t budge! He proclaimed he wouldn’t move until God poured down his favor, blessing and graciousness on the people. He was seeking so much more than mere rain.

His actions offended the local religious leaders known as the Sanhedrin. They accused him of being too bold! He was a threat. What if everyone could invoke the Almighty and release God’s blessing upon their lives or the lives of others?

God honors bold prayers because bold prayers honor God. They communicate our faith and sincerity and our Heavenly Parent cannot help but reciprocate.

Where is your circle drawn?

If you had to draw a circle in the sand what would your prayer be? Sometimes we get a little lazy, hanging onto the idea that God knows our every need so why should we bother to articulate it. But life doesn’t work like that.

In an interesting encounter described in the Bible, Jesus is stopped on his way out of Jericho. His entourage of disciples hears a couple of blind men calling out to Jesus. They try to hustle Jesus passed the men and out of the city, in a misguided effort to protect Jesus from the rabble. Nevertheless, Jesus stops and says something unexpected. He turns to the men, who are obviously blind, and says, “What do you want me to do for you?”

This question is telling. God wants to know what we want. Like any parent, God probably has lots of ideas about what would be good for us but resists the temptation to micromanage our lives or interfere with our free will. As a sometimes control-freak parent I am in awe of that quality within our Heavenly Parent.

The Divine Principle which offers profound insights in the mysteries of the Bible, God’s hand in history, and the events of our daily lives, explains that God holds sacred our portion of responsibility. We need to figure out what it is that we want and we need to take initiative to engage with God. Our Heavenly Parent won’t impose himself on us.

This is amazing. We think of God as almighty and all powerful but God is ever humble and respectful. We are meant to be co-creators of our lives.

But this means we have to pony up and express ourselves. If Jesus turned to you as he left Jericho and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” how would you answer? Is there something you want to understand or receive?

It helps to circle the promise in your life

• Pray with power around your problems
• Pray with faith for your dreams
• Pray with compassion for those who need your love and understanding.

How desperate are you?

The blind men had to push their way through not only the crowd but the leaders gathered around Jesus. Sometimes you have to pray hard just to get through. Praying hard is two dimensional. You have to:

• Pray like it depends on God (Honi style)
• Work like it depends on you

Several years ago I took up Thai Kick Boxing, an unlikely choice for me. It was one of those Divine Appointments, in that the decision was almost beyond my control. It wasn’t a logical plan that made sense but was an idea that I somehow got sucked into. Anyway, as luck (or perhaps God) would have it, I finally found an exercise program I could not only commit to but love. Being naturally un-athletic that in itself was amazing. I love Thai Kick Boxing because there is something about hitting hard and giving your all that is deeply satisfying. So I punch away and that’s how prayer is too. You have to work like it depends on you but pray like it depends on God.

Persistence Pays

Honi was persistent! A little persistence goes a long way. I was recently reading an article about educational performance. There is a lot of buzz right now regarding Common Core Standards, an effort to improve the performance of American students who lag behind kids from a number of other nations.

One study focused on some very cute American and Japanese 1st graders. The two groups were given puzzles to solve and timed. Perhaps predictably, the Japanese 6 year olds were able to work on average for almost 14 minutes before giving up. That’s a huge amount of time for a 6 year old – half a TV show’s worth. The American children plugged away on average for 9 minutes. The superior academic success of the Japanese children is explained in large part by their ability to simply persist. If you stay with something you will achieve more.

This caused me to question the extent to which I am willing to persist in prayer. Sometimes minutes matter! But more important than the amount of time perhaps is the heart behind the minutes. This was expressed beautifully by Mahatma Gandhi, “It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

What matters most is heart

What matters above all else to our Heavenly Parent is our heart. Every so often you realize that indeed the world is impacted by the force of heart and love.
A number of years ago I read the novel “Roots.” I found it haunting. It left a deep impression on me. I remember praying. I recall everything about that moment. The position I was in. The metaphorical circle I had drawn around myself. I cried and prayed that somehow the sin and gulf that resided between God’s children could be overcome. When the offense is grievous reconciliation cannot be achieved so easily.

I soon forgot about that prayer in the busyness of day-to-day life. But the ever present God never forgets a prayer and was busy weaving circumstances and hearts together. A couple of years later I was working in Boston with the Women’s Federation For World Peace on the International Sisterhood Ceremonies that brought together Japanese and American women to heal the wounds that resulted from WWII. Peace is only as strong as the relationships between us; a treaty can only stand the test of time if there are relationships to back it up. These ceremonies brought about profound moments of reconciliation between women who had never met each other but were held hostage in some way to a past that represented a collective burden.

The American women universally felt we should use this process to address the painful rift between African American and Caucasian women and so “Beyond the Dream” was born. This initiative brought together women to build bridges of peace between women of different races. To this day, I stay in touch with my sister who I met at “Beyond the Dream.” We have traveled far together and for me, our friendship was born in my prayer and fulfilled in the effort we have made to become true sisters.

God is always listening. I think our prayers, especially our “show down” prayers, represent our purest heart and as such are infinitely precious to God. Honi knew something very important: even if people can’t hear God, God can hear people.