I am in Atlanta, GA this week for the Catalyst Conference.  Wednesday was a really good beginning.  One of the more difficult aspects of being at a leadership conference is taking in ALL the great ideas and processing them.

The first session I went to Wednesday afternoon was one I was not intending to go to.  I thought I was going to hear Michael Hyatt.  I did hear Michael but that was not until session 2.  In the first session Mark Batterson was teaching and talking about his new book which will be released in December 2011.  I think God really wanted me to hear this message.  Mark talked about prayer and the Battle of Jericho.  Here are a few thoughts shared by Mark.

Before Israel went to take the city of Jericho, God told Joshua and Israel to march around the city one time each day for six days; on the seventh day God told them to march around the city seven times in silence and after the seventh to blow their trumpets.  Have you ever thought about why God had them march around the city walls?

Maybe God was having Israel mark their territory, well maybe not their territory but rather God’s territory.  After all, God had already promised it to them.  “Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. (NIV Joshua 6:2)”  See, I have delivered?  See what, they have done nothing yet.  But God has promised them.  Mark talked about being people who circle.

1.  We circle and pray around the territory we want God to claim.  For Mark it was a crack house in Washington, D.C.  Day after day he would walk and pray around the crack house; praying God would somehow use it for good.  Today it is a coffee shop owned by their church called Ebenezer’s.
2. Mark also talked about circling the promises God has made to us through His word.  If it is a promise God has made don’t just read it, pray it. If it is a promise God made through scripture to his people, claim it because God is faithful and what He promised He will do.

These were just a few of the thoughts from Mark’s message and I intend to elaborate on them in the next several weeks.  Great ideas on prayer!

( Excuse typos today please, I have been up since 6:30 eastern and it is 11:30 eastern now, it has been a long but amazing day!)