Mark Batterson |

“I can’t ever fill anybody’s cup, but I can be responsible for emptying mine.” – Andy Stanley

Pouring out needs to be about emptying my own cup. No matter what is happening, the objective of encouragement should be to pour out into others. Whatever they may need, my action should be to pour myself into them.

Pour encouragement into them. Lift them up. Give them hope.

Pouring out is about emptying my own cup. Don’t pick the people to fill. Simply work on emptying my own cup.

How do I know if what I am pouring out is helpful?

I may never know.

Encouragement, many times, includes planting seeds you may not see grow to maturity. The point of emptying yourself isn’t to see what great and glorious results come from it. The point is to be willing to REFRESH, ENCOURAGE, and INSPIRE others.

Plant seeds of encouragement. Don’t worry about the results. Continue to encourage, and the results will be handled by God.

I am called to pour out. I am not called to celebrate the results.

Does this mean if I’m made aware of the results, if someone thanks me and tells me of their own success, I shouldn’t rejoice? No. Not at all.

The point I’m trying to make is to not expect and wait for the results. Continue to encourage. Continue to inspire.

As I read through Mark Batterson’s The Circle Maker for the second time, the idea of “think long” came upon me in a different manner.

Thinking long now includes thinking of the impact of my life far into the future. What exactly am I doing today to impact the lives of the generations to come after me? From the standpoint of immediate family, the prayers I offer for my sons will most certainly impact their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren. I may not be physically present to experience the lives of those future generations, but I can certainly do something right now to have an impact on their lives.

The more I pour into my boys, the more I am intentional about encouraging them, the bigger impact it may have on those future generations. It is not for me to determine what happens in the future. It is simply to fulfill God’s calling on me to the current generation. God will take care of the future. My duty, my calling, is to plant seeds.

Are you pouring out? Are you planting seeds?

Something happened to me on Monday. It’s hard to describe. I think the best way to explain it would be to say the Holy Spirit moved in me.

During Lent this year, I’ve been working through a 40 day prayer challenge. Using Mark Batterson‘s book, Draw the Circle – The 40 Day Prayer Challenge, I have daily spent time reading a devotional and learning how to pray with intent.

Monday was day 35. At some point early Monday afternoon, I began to feel a strong urge to go pray. I’m not talking about finding a quiet place at work to pray for a few minutes. This was a full-on urge or push or whatever you want to call it, to leave work and spend significant time in prayer.

I didn’t know what to do.

How could I simply leave work? What would I say to my boss? What about my customers who were expecting to see me when they arrived later? And it wasn’t like I could simply hold out until 5pm. This “feeling” began early in the afternoon. Maybe around 1pm. On Mondays I work until 8pm.

I decided I’d at least begin with leaving for lunch. Usually I eat at my desk, but I knew this needed to be different. My intent was to grab some lunch and go sit in my truck somewhere and pray.

As I walked to my truck I realized I needed to ignore my hunger. It could wait. This needed to be a time focused on prayer.

I drove to a nearby parking lot where I wouldn’t be bothered. And I prayed. I prayed for over an hour. I prayed for the four items I’ve been circling in prayer during the 40 day challenge. I closed my eyes, opened my hands, and prayed.

I prayed for God to calm my mind.

I prayed for God to open my ears.

I prayed for God to open my heart.

I prayed for God to speak to me, and to pour His love and power into my heart so I could be more obedient to His calling in my life.

The call to pray was crystal clear. I answered the call the best I could at the time. I had to return to work. There were people relying on me.

The time I spent praying was wonderful. The experience was what I had been searching for, and at least partly the intent behind participating in the 40 Day Prayer Challenge.

There is certainly a rebirth occurring in my prayer life. I’ve learned how important it is to be intentional, committed and consistent with prayer.

Prayer can begin a rebirth in your life. It has in mine.

Through these last weeks I have grown exponentially in some areas of my prayer life, and not at all in other areas. It is a learning experience. It is a growth experience.

I’m growing closer to God. I’m learning how to listen for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.

I’ve been planning all along to write about the experience of the 40 Day Prayer Challenge. I hadn’t been planning to do it this soon. But this was necessary. Very necessary.

In the weeks after Easter I will share more about what I learned during the 40 days. I hope you’ll come back to read more.

Have you ever felt you should drop everything and go pray? I’d love to have you share your story in the comments!

Tag Archives: Mark Batterson

I’m A Seed Planter

A Holy Experience