Elena’s Reviews > The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears > Status Update

“[Evangelist Rodney Smith’s] secret was revealed to a delegation of revival seekers, who asked him how God could [also] use them . . . Without hesitation, [he] said, “Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.”

“[Evangelist Rodney Smith’s] secret was revealed to a delegation of revival seekers, who asked him how God could [also] use them . . . Without hesitation, [he] said, “Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.”

“In the words of theologian Walter Wink, ‘History belongs to the intercessors.’”

“You have collected all my tears in your bottle. . .Each & every teardrop is precious to God. They are eternal keepsakes. The day will come when He wipes away every tear in heaven. Until then, God will move heaven & earth to honor every tear that has been shed. Not a single tear is lost on God. He remembers each one. He honors each one. He collects each one. . .[and] in much the same way…God collects our prayers.”

“. . . God is for you. I can’t promise that God will always give you the answer you want. I can’t promise that He’ll answer on your timeline. But I can promise this: He answers every prayer, and He keeps every promise. that is who He is. That is what He does. And if you have the faith to dream big, pray hard, and think long, there is nothing God loves more than proving His faithfulness.”

"The sad truth is that most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than they do planning the rest of their life. That's poor stewardship of right-brain imagination. Goal setting is good stewardship. Instead of letting things happen, goals help us make things happen. Instead of living by default, goals help us live by design."

". . . if you keep trying, you are not failing. The only way you can fail is if you quit trying. If you're still trying, even if you're failing, you're succeeding. God is honored when you don't give up. God is honored when you keep trying. God is honored when you keep circling. . . In every spiritual journey, there are setbacks. And if you listen to the accuser of the brethren, you'll feel like a failure."

"Destiny is not a mystery. For better or for worse, your destiny is the result of your daily decisions and defining decisions. . . We only make a few defining decisions in life, and then we spend the rest of our lives managing them. Maybe you've made some bad decisions that have gotten you to where you don't want to be. The good news is that you're only one defining decision away from a totally different life."

". . . the lawyers at International Justice Mission know how to work like it depends on them, but they also know how to pray like it depends on God. This is a lethal combination when it comes to fighting injustice. If you're willing to dream big and pray hard and think long, you might just bring kings to their knees and shut the mouths of lions."

"It's not enough to dream big and pray hard. You have to think long. If you don't, you'll experience high degrees of discouragement. Why? Because we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in a year . . . The bigger the vision the harder you'll have to pray and the longer you'll have to think. But if you keep circling, it'll come to pass in God's time."