Mark Batterson | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Believing Is Seeing (Miracles): “According to Your Faith, Let It Be Done to You.”

Anita Mathias — Sun, 28 May 2023 19:11:00 +0000

Matthew records, As Jesus walked on, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” He asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith, let it be done to you”; and their sight was […]

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On the Benefits of Writing Down Our Prayers

Anita Mathias — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 18:45:15 +0000

We are listening to A Praying Life by Paul Miller, a wonderful book on prayer in the car. (I was, incidentally disciplined by the author for almost five years, as he mentions in the book). Anyway, Miller tells us that he often prays aloud. Jesus did so in his High Priestly Prayer in John 17, […]

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On “Defining Decisions” Rather Than New Year’s Resolutions

Anita Mathias — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 12:03:08 +0000

Image Credit Mark Batterson, in The Circle-Maker, a fascinating book on a prayer, praises “defining decisions,” that set the course of your life, sort of like choosing whether you drive to Slovenia (which our family did last summer), or to Scotland (which we might do this summer). I made three defining decisions in my twenties. […]

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Chasing the Wild Goose of the Holy Spirit: In Praise of Retreats

Anita Mathias — Thu, 15 May 2014 21:28:59 +0000

Is God more present in one place than another?Does it make sense to leave the comfort and familiarity of your daily surroundings to seek God in places—retreat centres or pilgrimage spots– “where prayer has been made valid,” in T. S. Eliot’s phrase? Where God was rumoured to have shown up in the past, or to […]

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How Circling Prayer can Convert a Vicious Circle to a Virtuous Circle

Anita Mathias — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 11:57:10 +0000

Have you ever experienced a vicious circle? You know: Feel sad. Eat chocolate or sugary treats. Feel hyper or aggressive. It wears off. Feel sad. And grumpy and defeated about the weight gain. Eat chocolate to help you feel better. And then… Or: Get stressed and tired. Let things lie where they fall. House gets […]

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Prayers are Prophecies: The Transcript of your Prayers becomes your Life’s Script

Anita Mathias — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 12:03:16 +0000

I am reading Mark Batterson’s The Circle Maker, a brilliant book on prayer and am already praying more, and praying better: one test of a good book on prayer. Here’s an excerpt from the first chapter: Bold prayers honour God and God honours bold prayers. God is offended by anything less than your biggest dreams […]

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Zapping Negativity and Worry Through Prayer and Faith

Anita Mathias — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:32:07 +0000

Dr. Barbara Fredrickson in her book Positivity ( Norman Vincent Peale with data) says that “experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio to negative ones leads people to a tipping point beyond which they naturally become more resilient to adversity and effortlessly achieve what they once could only imagine.” And how do we do experience three positive […]

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