Mark Batterson

In the beginning, God created humankind in His image. We have been creating God in our image ever since. But what you end up with is a god who looks a lot like us! That’s the God we’re dismantling in this series so we can discover the true God, the God of the Bible. And that God might surprise you.

The key to changing the way we think, the way we feel, and the way we behave is NOT changing the way we think, the way we feel, and the way we behave. The key? Changing the stories we tell ourselves!

Prayer is a two-sided coin. You can’t just pray like it depends on God, you also have to work like it depends on you. Pray. Then pray some more. But at some point, you need to stop praying about it and starting doing something about it. The best prayer is a well-lived life. The best prayer is doing what Jesus did. And God will help you do it beyond your ability. It’s called the anointing, and it’s the difference between the best you can do and the best God can do.

It takes seventeen seconds to recite the Lord’s prayer, but it takes a lifetime to live it and learn it. The turning point in the prayer, the tipping point, is this: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This prayer is the difference between bitter and better. If you’re stuck emotionally or spiritually, maybe it’s because you’ve prayed the first half of this prayer but not the second half. If you want to be whole, you have to pray the whole thing.

When you put what is in your hands into the hands of God, 5 + 2 no longer equals 7. When you add God to the equation, 5 + 2 = 5000 R12. It’s Kingdom Calculus. By definition, a God-sized dream is beyond your ability and beyond your resources. In other words, you cannot do it. But God can. And that’s how God gets the glory! He does things we can’t take credit for.

The way we reboot spiritually is God’s mercy and grace. Mercy is NOT GETTING what we deserve. Grace is getting what we DO NOT deserve. The good news? The Mercy Shop is never closed.

Master of is not a mystery. Mastery of anything requires mundanity. It’s a habit done consistently and correctly over and over again. That’s the heart and soul of excellence.

The message of Christmas is: Fear Not. Fear is playing not to lose. Faith is playing to win. If you run away from what you’re afraid of, you’ll be running the rest of your life. It’s time to face your fears!

God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time, but divine appointments don’t just happen. We’ve got to do our part by obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Your dream will probably take longer than your original estimate, but if you keep doing the right thing day in and day out, God is going to show up and show off.

Jesus didn’t die to keep us safe. He died to make us dangerous! Your brave is someone else’s breakthrough.