You will love the freshness of this approach to prayer.” Also, John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, said, “Honi the circle-maker is a long-time legendary figure, and Mark Batterson is well on his way. Jen Hatmaker has promoted it on her website as well. Some would say an emphatic yes! Popular leaders such as Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth encouraged circle-making at her True Woman Conference in 2012 as well as in 2014 on her Seeking Him podcast episode titled Inside This Circle. The question then becomes: Should Christians imitate this practice? He writes, “The earth has circled the sun more than two thousand times since the day Honi drew his circle in the sand, but God is still looking for circle makers” (p. But Batterson informs his readers that they should “imitate” Honi’s method of drawing prayer circles. One might think this is just a nice little inconsequential legend we can read about and move on.

Though Honi is referred to in the ancient Jewish writings (Talmud, Midrash) and also by Josephus, he is not found in the Old Testament Scriptures. Honi’s full name is Honi ha-M’agel and his tomb is in Hatzor HaGlilit, Galilee. According to the author, Honi prayed with “the authority of the prophet Elijah” (p. Honi drew a ritualistic circle around himself in the sand wherein he prayed that God would pour forth rain. The Circle-Maker introduces us to the legend of Honi the circle-maker.

The great circle book review