A Fervent War
In my last post, Prayer is Like an Umbrella, I shared a little about prayer and how prayer is so important in our lives. Your responses to that post were wonderful and heartfelt. Thank you for sharing your heart with me.
That post also told you about one of my favorite movies, War Room. As I mentioned before, the movie talks a lot about prayer and its main character is played by a woman named Priscilla Shirer. War Room is such a powerful movie with an equally powerful message. If you haven't seen the preview, here it is again. WATCH IT!
Now, my post about prayer talked a little about how prayer is a covering. Prayer is putting on the full armor of God to protect us. Well, that post about prayer was timely because I feel like I hit a chord with many of you, including me.
I have been thinking about prayer for many, many years. I just knew that it was so incredibly important that we begin to fully understand this powerful weapon that God has given us to use.
I so firmly believe in prayer that I bought a book all about the strategies of prayer for myself and my girls. And guess who wrote the book? Priscilla Shirer. Yep, from the movie. She has written a book called Fervent - A Woman's Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer and my girls and I have started a study on it.
Have you read it? Oh my. It is incredible. I already knew the importance of prayer, but this book shows you not only the importance of prayer, but the critical nature of why we must pray and how we must pray. I am so excited about this book!
When I got the book and literally read the first pages, I just knew that it was something special, critical, life changing and I knew that it was something that I wanted my girls to read along with me.
Over the next few weeks, I will be posting in the Faith section of my blog each week about our book study. We will be looking at prayer in a fresh way and we will be looking at each strategy Priscilla covers in her book.
Strategy? Yes – strategy. That is what Priscilla Shirer calls each step in Fervent– a strategy. It kind of sounds like something an army uses to plot the best attack on an enemy, right? Exactly! Well, like Priscilla says, and believe me it’s true, we are in a war.
The Bible tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. No, we wrestle against spiritual forces of evil. The Bible tells us,
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. "
Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV
In every place of life – our enemy is cunning and deceptive. He wants to defeat you any way that he can. He will work tirelessly to defeat you. So, it is of critical importance that we work to gird ourselves to fight him and that we do so with the weapons God has given us.
Oh, and it surely bears mentioning. The enemy we fight is already defeated. DEFEATED!!! He is defeated! Read that again, DEFEATED! I’ve read the end of the book. The enemy is defeated by the one who has always had the true power, always will have the true power, always watches over us and neither slumbers or sleeps. But, make no mistake, the enemy wants the power over you and he will deceive you to get it.
So, let’s learn how to prepare a strategy or a plan of war to make sure he has no foothold in our homes or our hearts. We will fervently fight against him because we are conquerors in Christ. Always have been. Always will be.
Let’s journey together into -
Fervent - A Woman's Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and STRATEGIC Prayer
Introduction – This Means War
Dictionary.com calls war:
“conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties …”
A conflict. We are at conflict every single day in some way. And believe me, you understand this. In the book, Priscilla tells us,
“A very real enemy has been strategizing and scheming against you.” (p. 2)
Indeed he has. I know it in my life. You most likely know it in yours. I have seen him at work. I have seen him win wars that he waged against my family and me. Others, he lost. But, in every place, in every circumstance, it is mission critical that we come at him with specific, precision like prayer and this book is going to teach us how to do that. Two can play at this game. And one will win – you and me!
Introduction - Part Two - Opening in Prayer
I love this chapter! I really, really love the picture that opens the chapter. It is precious. It is priceless.
It is a picture of two women. Their hands are folded across one another. One pair of hands is lined with age and experience. The other, a more youthful, less experienced appearance. The picture here is such a picture of the value of a life well spent. You need to see this picture! Grab the book!
While doing research for the book, Priscilla polled women across the nation asking where they felt the enemy attacks them the most. Now believe me, like she will tell you, the enemy is cunning and personal. He knows exactly where to attack you – a personal, deeply personal plan. He knows exactly where to attack me and it may or may not be in the same places as you.
After looking at the women’s responses, she developed 10 key areas or “strategies” of where the enemy likes to attack us. Now, the book is designed around women, but I would argue emphatically that these strategies mostly certainly apply to men as well.
During our book study, we will be looking at each of the key areas where the enemy loves to deceive and cause confusion:
Strategy 1 – Against Your Passion
Strategy 2 – Against Your Focus
Strategy 3 – Against Your Identity
Strategy 4 – Against Your Family
Strategy 5 – Against Your Confidence
Strategy 6 – Against Your Calling
Strategy 7 – Against Your Purity
Strategy 8 – Against Your Rest and Contentment
Strategy 9 – Against Your Heart
Strategy 10 – Against Your Relationships
There they are. Ten strategies where the enemy digs in and works against us. He wants to defeat you, so he will find your weak points and capitalize on them. Let's no longer let him. Remember, we are conquerors in Christ. Power given by God himself lives in us. Let's use it!
So, this is where our battle plan or our battle strategies must be born. This is where we learn to put on the full armor of God daily and not let that nasty, selfish, deceptive thief steal any more of our joy or our heart.
The Chaplain girls will be spending each week looking at each strategy and learning how to win that war against him. It won’t be easy. I'm sure it will get pretty uncomfortable, but it will most certainly be worthwhile. It will be worth our time, our hearts, our planning.
Remember, God is for you. He is for me and the Bible tells us in Matthew 19:26
“With God, nothing is impossible.”
Let us always remember that! God is with us, always, and nothing is impossible for him.
Come join my girls and I on this exciting journey – a journey to victory and freedom in Christ!
Blessings ~
XO Nikki
#livingchappy
P.S. We would love for you to come along in our book study. Grab the book and tune in each week for what we have learned in each chapter.
Feel free to share your thoughts and what you have learned as well!
I would love to hear from you.
You can find Priscilla Shirer and her book at her website.
