The Circle Maker ~ Chapter 2 ~ Review
"Circle Makers"
As we start looking at chapter 2 entitled “Circle Makers” on page 13 it should be first noted the lack of scriptural support that is brought to bear in this chapter and in the rest of Batterson's book. Batterson has a lot a great fast and loose sayings that sound wonderfully biblical but they have no Scriptural support or biblical backing. Sadly, Batterson's book amounts to nothing more than New Age Pagan Mysticism, since none of what he is teaching in this book is based on biblical orthodox means of prayer or worship.
In this review of chapter 2 we will be looking at some of the sayings that Batterson makes and claims to be biblical but in reality have no bearing on what the Bible actually teaches and says about prayer.
Starting in Chapter 2 on page 13 second paragraph Batterson states the following;
Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. God isn't offended by your biggest dreams or your boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren't impossible to you they are insulting to God. Why? Because they do not require divine intervention. But ask God to part the red sea or make the sun stand still or flow and iron oxide, and God is moved to Omnipotent action.”
As we can see there are a multitude of problems with Batterson statement. First of all, Batterson makes a totally unwarranted and unbiblical claim by saying that God is honored by bold prayers. So if we don’t pray boldly than are those prayers not answered? Does God punish people who don’t pray bold prayers? Where does the Bible state that anything less than bold prayers insult God? The answer to these questions are simple and you will look long and hard in your bible to find the answers and come up empty handed. That is because the answers that Batterson’s statement creates cannot be found in the bible because his statement can be found in the bible either. The questions and doubting that Batterson’s unbiblical statement creates actually pits Scripture against Scripture instead of creating harmony of Scripture it divides Scripture. Sadly, this pitting of Scripture against Scripture is very commonplace among many of the emerging church and that the church teachings today and every more common with in Batterson's teaching and preaching.
So what do we find in the bible on the subject of praying boldly? We are told in the Bible to preach the gospel boldly, to speak of our Lord Jesus Christ boldly and to proclaim the truth boldly we are not told to pray in a bold demanding fashion. We find quite the opposite in actual biblical teaching, while we are to approach the throne of God with confidence because we have been made justified through the legal transaction of Christ's atoning work on the Cross; we are never told in the Bible and pray demanding prayers. In fact, Jesus Christ himself told us how to pray in the book of Matthew chapter 6 starting at verse 9;
Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (10) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (11) Give us this day our daily bread, (12) and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (14) For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, (15) but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
We can see from this passage that nowhere are we told to "pray bold prayers” or that " bold prayers honor God.” Jesus instead tells us to pray for the Father's will to be done, not our will. The problem with Mark Batterson's initial statement is that it's not found in the Bible nor is the concept supported by Scripture, instead Mark Batterson's erroneous statement plays on emotional hyper-ism.
Moving on Mark Batterson on page 13 also states the following;
"There is nothing God loves more than keeping promises, answering prayers, performing miracles, and for filling dreams. That is who He is. That is what He does."
What Batterson is doing in this statement is basically making God out to be a cosmic genie instead of who He really is. God is so much more than what Batterson is limiting Him to be in the statement. Batterson is selling short the true attributes of God and actually is describing not the God of the Bible but a god of Batterson's own making. It seems that Batterson is missing out on two very important attributes of God. First that God is Just and second that God is Holy. Our Father is not a comic genie that is willing to grant us our favorite wish at the asking. He is not going to grant us what we want if it is out side His will for us. Basically in the above statement Batterson turns God into a shallow god not the Omniscient God of the universe.
Batterson continues on with telling us that we must come to terms with the fact that, “God is for you.” This statement does have some true to it with a condition attached to it, which Batterson does not clarify instead makes it sound like a general unconditional promise to everyone who reads this . The condition that Batterson did not take the time to clarify was; while yes “God is for you” is only for his Sheep and those who He has called into salvation. God is not for those who are against him or whom are not His elect. Batterson's statement turns God into a form of an universalist accepting of all who ask something in prayer of Him including the unregenerate.
We are told in the same paragraph the following; “One way or another, your small timid prayers or big audacious prayers will change the trajectory of your life and turn you into two totally different people. Prayers are prophecies. They are the best predictors of your spiritual future. Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life.”
As with many fallacious teachings there is always a grain of truth weaved into the lining of the lie. Batterson is a master of doing such things. While prayer is very important to our lives and we should do it daily to communicate with our Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit it is not the “script of your life.” nor is it a prophetical means to determine our future by. Prayer is what we do to communicate to God while asking to do what is in His will for our lives. It's is not a foreshadowing to our future or a way to bargain with God as Batterson is making it out to be here. Batterson claims that prayers “are the best predictors of your spiritual future”, this is debatable at best, the best predictors of our “spiritual future” lies in the Word of God. What Batterson has done once again is taken your prayers and made them equal to or greater than the Word of God in his statement. Your prayers according to this line of thinking are better at predicting our spiritual future than what the Word of God says about being Sons and Daughters in Christ. Batteron is opening a very dangerous can of worms here with this statement, one that is actually capable of denying God's Sovereignty when taken to its logical conclusion.
In the middle of page 14 we are told by Batterson what The Circle Maker will do for you. He claims the following; “The Circle Maker will show you how to claim God-given promises, pursue God-sized dreams, and seize God-ordained opportunities . You'll learn how to draw prayer circles around your family, your job, your problems, and your goals.”
Batterson is claiming to be able to teach us a lot from his little red book. The problem is that everything he is claiming to be able to teach us is not found in the bible. Why do we need Batterson to show us a new way to pray that is not found in Scripture? We never find in Scripture instructions on how to draw circles around our family, job, problems, or our goals. What we do find in Scripture is to pray for these things in accordance to the Will of God (Matthew : 9-15). Once again Batterson is taken liberty to play fast and lose with Scripture by making this asserted claim as if it was found in the Word of God.
Again as stated earlier we don't need Batterson to show us a new way to pray or how to draw unbiblical circles around things in our live. We have the Word of God and Jesus own words to tell us the correct way to pray.
On page 15 & 16 Batterson tells us about his “first circle.” Batterson delineates on the subject telling us how he walked around Washington D.C. on a 4.7-mile walk praying circles around places and people. At one point on page 15 Batterson tells us how he was dreaming about the church God wanted to establish on Capital Hill. It seems now at this point God is giving Batterson personal visions. This should be very concerning. Any time you hear a pastor talk about hearing from God, or God telling him something personalty, or giving that person a private vision this is means for alarm. God has revealed what He wants us to know about Him and what His will is for us and His Church in His written Word. We must take these visions, dreams and thoughts that pastors like Batterson claim to have received and compare them to the Word of God. Sadly, most of the time like in the case of Batterson and his message from God about the church God wants on Capital Hill when put to the light of Scripture those visions fall short. If Batterson really wants to know what God wants for His Church on Capital Hill all Batterson has to do is read the Great Commission and he will find out very speedily. If only Batterson would follow what the Word of God says about prayer and the Church than maybe we could have avoid this disaster of a book about unbiblical circle making.
As Batterson continues his story on page 16 about how successful his prayer walk of circles was and how successful his church has become we must keep something very important in mind. What is the measure of success of a church? Is it size, how many people they have in attendance, how many campuses they have, or how cool and hip your pastor is on stage? Is it how many attractions your church has, or how many programs your church can offer? The way Batterson carries on one would think this to be the case.
No none of these are the answer to how successful a church is. Batterson like many fall in to the fallacy of appealing to popularity. This in which just because something is popular we think that it is right. Many church attendees today and pastors alike fall for this fallacy today. When we look through out the Scripture we find the opposite many time the popular way is not the right way. Another way of saying it would be that broad is the road to destruction and narrow is the path to salvation. We must be careful not to fall for this trick and be deceived by popularity and thinking that success lies in it. Many times what is popular in the world and in the church is not what is right.
A very shocking statement made by Batterson as we near the end of chapter 2 on page 17 is when he says; “The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.” Really this is the greatest tragedy of life? I am sure if you think about it you can come up with far greater tragedies in life than this. What Batterson has done in this statement is simply taken the power to answer prayer away from God and has put all the power on us. He has made God dependent and in need of us to ask and give permission to do His will in our lives. What Batterson is doing here is actually committing heresy with this statement by saying that God is dependent on us for His will to be done. Let's make this very clear here and now God does not need us for anything nor to be glorified. If He so chooses He could send all us to hell and He will still be glorified.
Batterson ends chapter 2 on page 17 with telling us that; “Like Honi, your prayers have the potential to change the course of history. It's time to start circling.” Once again Batterson instead of comparing the way we should pray to the Word of God he compares it to Honi a non-biblical person. This goes to further prove that we can not take the statements Batterson makes in this book with any amount of seriousness when he can't even compare how to pray to biblical passages but instead to fabled Jewish characters.
In this review of chapter 2 we will be looking at some of the sayings that Batterson makes and claims to be biblical but in reality have no bearing on what the Bible actually teaches and says about prayer.
Starting in Chapter 2 on page 13 second paragraph Batterson states the following;
Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. God isn't offended by your biggest dreams or your boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren't impossible to you they are insulting to God. Why? Because they do not require divine intervention. But ask God to part the red sea or make the sun stand still or flow and iron oxide, and God is moved to Omnipotent action.”
As we can see there are a multitude of problems with Batterson statement. First of all, Batterson makes a totally unwarranted and unbiblical claim by saying that God is honored by bold prayers. So if we don’t pray boldly than are those prayers not answered? Does God punish people who don’t pray bold prayers? Where does the Bible state that anything less than bold prayers insult God? The answer to these questions are simple and you will look long and hard in your bible to find the answers and come up empty handed. That is because the answers that Batterson’s statement creates cannot be found in the bible because his statement can be found in the bible either. The questions and doubting that Batterson’s unbiblical statement creates actually pits Scripture against Scripture instead of creating harmony of Scripture it divides Scripture. Sadly, this pitting of Scripture against Scripture is very commonplace among many of the emerging church and that the church teachings today and every more common with in Batterson's teaching and preaching.
So what do we find in the bible on the subject of praying boldly? We are told in the Bible to preach the gospel boldly, to speak of our Lord Jesus Christ boldly and to proclaim the truth boldly we are not told to pray in a bold demanding fashion. We find quite the opposite in actual biblical teaching, while we are to approach the throne of God with confidence because we have been made justified through the legal transaction of Christ's atoning work on the Cross; we are never told in the Bible and pray demanding prayers. In fact, Jesus Christ himself told us how to pray in the book of Matthew chapter 6 starting at verse 9;
Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (10) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (11) Give us this day our daily bread, (12) and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (14) For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, (15) but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
We can see from this passage that nowhere are we told to "pray bold prayers” or that " bold prayers honor God.” Jesus instead tells us to pray for the Father's will to be done, not our will. The problem with Mark Batterson's initial statement is that it's not found in the Bible nor is the concept supported by Scripture, instead Mark Batterson's erroneous statement plays on emotional hyper-ism.
Moving on Mark Batterson on page 13 also states the following;
"There is nothing God loves more than keeping promises, answering prayers, performing miracles, and for filling dreams. That is who He is. That is what He does."
What Batterson is doing in this statement is basically making God out to be a cosmic genie instead of who He really is. God is so much more than what Batterson is limiting Him to be in the statement. Batterson is selling short the true attributes of God and actually is describing not the God of the Bible but a god of Batterson's own making. It seems that Batterson is missing out on two very important attributes of God. First that God is Just and second that God is Holy. Our Father is not a comic genie that is willing to grant us our favorite wish at the asking. He is not going to grant us what we want if it is out side His will for us. Basically in the above statement Batterson turns God into a shallow god not the Omniscient God of the universe.
Batterson continues on with telling us that we must come to terms with the fact that, “God is for you.” This statement does have some true to it with a condition attached to it, which Batterson does not clarify instead makes it sound like a general unconditional promise to everyone who reads this . The condition that Batterson did not take the time to clarify was; while yes “God is for you” is only for his Sheep and those who He has called into salvation. God is not for those who are against him or whom are not His elect. Batterson's statement turns God into a form of an universalist accepting of all who ask something in prayer of Him including the unregenerate.
We are told in the same paragraph the following; “One way or another, your small timid prayers or big audacious prayers will change the trajectory of your life and turn you into two totally different people. Prayers are prophecies. They are the best predictors of your spiritual future. Who you become is determined by how you pray. Ultimately, the transcript of your prayers becomes the script of your life.”
As with many fallacious teachings there is always a grain of truth weaved into the lining of the lie. Batterson is a master of doing such things. While prayer is very important to our lives and we should do it daily to communicate with our Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit it is not the “script of your life.” nor is it a prophetical means to determine our future by. Prayer is what we do to communicate to God while asking to do what is in His will for our lives. It's is not a foreshadowing to our future or a way to bargain with God as Batterson is making it out to be here. Batterson claims that prayers “are the best predictors of your spiritual future”, this is debatable at best, the best predictors of our “spiritual future” lies in the Word of God. What Batterson has done once again is taken your prayers and made them equal to or greater than the Word of God in his statement. Your prayers according to this line of thinking are better at predicting our spiritual future than what the Word of God says about being Sons and Daughters in Christ. Batteron is opening a very dangerous can of worms here with this statement, one that is actually capable of denying God's Sovereignty when taken to its logical conclusion.
In the middle of page 14 we are told by Batterson what The Circle Maker will do for you. He claims the following; “The Circle Maker will show you how to claim God-given promises, pursue God-sized dreams, and seize God-ordained opportunities . You'll learn how to draw prayer circles around your family, your job, your problems, and your goals.”
Batterson is claiming to be able to teach us a lot from his little red book. The problem is that everything he is claiming to be able to teach us is not found in the bible. Why do we need Batterson to show us a new way to pray that is not found in Scripture? We never find in Scripture instructions on how to draw circles around our family, job, problems, or our goals. What we do find in Scripture is to pray for these things in accordance to the Will of God (Matthew : 9-15). Once again Batterson is taken liberty to play fast and lose with Scripture by making this asserted claim as if it was found in the Word of God.
Again as stated earlier we don't need Batterson to show us a new way to pray or how to draw unbiblical circles around things in our live. We have the Word of God and Jesus own words to tell us the correct way to pray.
On page 15 & 16 Batterson tells us about his “first circle.” Batterson delineates on the subject telling us how he walked around Washington D.C. on a 4.7-mile walk praying circles around places and people. At one point on page 15 Batterson tells us how he was dreaming about the church God wanted to establish on Capital Hill. It seems now at this point God is giving Batterson personal visions. This should be very concerning. Any time you hear a pastor talk about hearing from God, or God telling him something personalty, or giving that person a private vision this is means for alarm. God has revealed what He wants us to know about Him and what His will is for us and His Church in His written Word. We must take these visions, dreams and thoughts that pastors like Batterson claim to have received and compare them to the Word of God. Sadly, most of the time like in the case of Batterson and his message from God about the church God wants on Capital Hill when put to the light of Scripture those visions fall short. If Batterson really wants to know what God wants for His Church on Capital Hill all Batterson has to do is read the Great Commission and he will find out very speedily. If only Batterson would follow what the Word of God says about prayer and the Church than maybe we could have avoid this disaster of a book about unbiblical circle making.
As Batterson continues his story on page 16 about how successful his prayer walk of circles was and how successful his church has become we must keep something very important in mind. What is the measure of success of a church? Is it size, how many people they have in attendance, how many campuses they have, or how cool and hip your pastor is on stage? Is it how many attractions your church has, or how many programs your church can offer? The way Batterson carries on one would think this to be the case.
No none of these are the answer to how successful a church is. Batterson like many fall in to the fallacy of appealing to popularity. This in which just because something is popular we think that it is right. Many church attendees today and pastors alike fall for this fallacy today. When we look through out the Scripture we find the opposite many time the popular way is not the right way. Another way of saying it would be that broad is the road to destruction and narrow is the path to salvation. We must be careful not to fall for this trick and be deceived by popularity and thinking that success lies in it. Many times what is popular in the world and in the church is not what is right.
A very shocking statement made by Batterson as we near the end of chapter 2 on page 17 is when he says; “The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.” Really this is the greatest tragedy of life? I am sure if you think about it you can come up with far greater tragedies in life than this. What Batterson has done in this statement is simply taken the power to answer prayer away from God and has put all the power on us. He has made God dependent and in need of us to ask and give permission to do His will in our lives. What Batterson is doing here is actually committing heresy with this statement by saying that God is dependent on us for His will to be done. Let's make this very clear here and now God does not need us for anything nor to be glorified. If He so chooses He could send all us to hell and He will still be glorified.
Batterson ends chapter 2 on page 17 with telling us that; “Like Honi, your prayers have the potential to change the course of history. It's time to start circling.” Once again Batterson instead of comparing the way we should pray to the Word of God he compares it to Honi a non-biblical person. This goes to further prove that we can not take the statements Batterson makes in this book with any amount of seriousness when he can't even compare how to pray to biblical passages but instead to fabled Jewish characters.
