Praying the cirlce prayer

A man once went to hear a preacher who was full of love and the power of God. After the meeting he ran up to the preacher and begged him "how can we get the nation to love God and neighbor like you do! We need revival! We gotta change this nation! I wanna see it!"

"It's easy. Take this stick" he said "and draw a circle in the dirt. Stand in the middle of it and pray "Lord please send revival to everyone standing inside this circle"

That is what I did in seminary.

My wife and I bought a small step stool at the hardware store to reach the top shelf in the kitchen. I would sit on this stool each day in the kitchen, drinking a french press, reading my bible and praying that the Lord would send revival to everyone who sat on that stool. I even took a sharpie and wrote out the prayer so I would never forget it.

And the most amazing thing happened. God heard my prayer and changed me. And he is still doing  today.

May we all pray the circle prayer today on this National Day of Prayer

Let us not pray for "those" people, for "that" official, but for ourselves.

"If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. 

From now on I'm alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. 

Believe me, I've chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I'll back....you"