Praying Circles around your Children {Giveaway & Review}

As a mom of four children, my heart’s desire is to do it right.  However to define “right” might take eons.  I mean, I go to bed most nights feeling defeated.  I yelled too much, I forgot to encourage, I did not hug enough, I snapped….

The solution to this never-ending problem is to stop trying to make it “right” and start trusting God with our most precious treasures, our children. 

Mark Batterson’s book Praying Circles around your Children is a book to help you surrender, to quit striving and to gently lean on Him to lead us on this journey.  This book is based on the best seller The Circle Maker (which I am currently reading as well – not a coincidence!!).  However, in the Circle Maker, Mark focuses on our prayer life in a general sense.  This book, Praying Circles around your Children is about specifically praying for our children. 

I read this entire book in about 90 minutes.  It is that straight forward.  He does not waste words, or paper for that matter.  It is a simple concept : pray circles, or unceasingly, for your children and your prayers will become their future.  Not in a genii in a bottle kind of way, but when we pray God’s word over them something beyond ourselves happens, God takes over.  It’s no longer about us doing the right thing, it becomes about trusting God to lead them on the path He has for them.

This was a profound book.  While I did read it quickly I think this will be a book I go back to over and over.  I already have taken an idea that Mark mentioned about posting prophetic words about your child in a place they will see them.  So I am going to ask a few people close to me to offer a few words that either describe who my child is already or who they see God raising my child up to become.  Then I will put these words together with their name to put up near their bed.  Mark talks about his daughter having something similar and how he would use it to pray over her, and when she could not sleep she would read it and meditate on it.  Such a reminder could do more than just encourage their soul, who knows, it may just plant seeds that will one day bear fruit!

I highly, highly recommend this little book to every parent out there.  Not only that, get a copy for a friend, it is that good!

Do you want to get a free copy?  Leave a comment and I will draw a name at random to send you a copy of this amazing little book!!

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Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson serves as the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D. C. Recognized as “one of America’s 25 most innovative churches,” NCC is one church with seven locations. Mark’s blog (www.markbatterson.com) and webcast (www.theaterchurch.com) also reach a virtual congregation around the world. Mark is the author of several bestselling books, including New York Times Bestseller - The Circle Maker and In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. He and his wife, Lora, live on Capitol Hill with their three children. You can follow Mark on Twitter: @markbatterson

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Description on Zondervan :

Mark Batterson shares a perfect blend of biblical yet practical advice that will revolutionize your prayer life by giving you a new vocabulary and a new methodology. You’ll see how prayer is your secret weapon. Through stories of parents just like you, Batterson shares five prayer circles that will not only help you pray for your kids, but also pray through your kids.
Batterson teaches about how to create prayer lists unique to your family, claim God-inspired promises for your children, turn your family circle into a prayer circle, and discover your child’s life themes. And he not only tells you how, he illustrates why.
As Batterson says, “I realize that not everyone inherited a prayer legacy like I did, but you can leave a legacy for generations to come. Your prayers have the power to shape the destiny of your children and your children’s children. It’s time to start circling.”

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NOTE : I was offered a copy of this book at no cost, in exchange for an honest review, by Zondervan.  (Zondervan also provided my give-away copy!!)