Fervent by Priscilla Shirer sets out for female readers the necessity of using prayer to fight back against the attacks of our spiritual enemies. In particular, the reader is provided with both a detailed blueprint of what Satan tries to do in our life, as well as a plan of Christian counterattack that combines prayer with Scripture.
A specifically targeted prayer strategy, informed by Scripture, is the best way to defeat Satan’s attack against you.
Prayer requires strategy and must be integrated with practical reality to be successful. Prayer is, after all, not a supernatural feel-good – it is spiritual warfare. The opposing side is crafting strategies to attack your weak and seemingly indefensible areas. Without a strategy, a written plan, we can forget important things like where our hope lies, who the enemy is, what our real needs are, and how God shows up for us.
But in Fervent, Priscilla Shirer shows us not only that prayer is what engages God’s activity in our lives, but she also shows us how we can partner with God to create an effective prayer strategy that is tailored to our needs. And as she reminds us, it is a prayer strategy that puts us in the victorious position of going on the offensive against our enemy. It is time to start fighting back strategically, wielding the weapon of prayer coupled with the Word of God.
In this summary, you will learn:
- ten useful strategies to employ in your personal prayer life;
- how to recognize the strategies of the enemy, the devil; and
- ways to utilize fervent, strategic prayers to thwart attacks of the enemy.
Taking your passion back from the enemy is the first step to an empowered prayer life.
If you want to render someone thoroughly ineffective, you go after their internal drive. The things they are passionate about. If you can convince someone there is no hope of recovering their passion, you do not have to beat them – they beat themselves.
That’s because passion fuels our purpose. For a parent, it is rushing to a child’s side in times of need. For an army medic, it is one more life saved. For the missionary, one more soul was saved. Passion drives us through our pain and exhaustion to achieve what we desperately want or need to accomplish. Passion keeps us faithful in the trenches so we can achieve our vision. Passion keeps you going when everything and everyone tells you to give up.
What does it look like when our passion as believers is crushed? It weakens us and opens us to temptation. It is discouraging, opening our minds to doubt. Successfully eroding a Christian’s passion will eventually lead to them being ready to give up. You can call it the Passion Elimination Plan. And it’s part of Satan’s strategy against us.
When your passion for God and prayer are attacked, it is a strategic attack of the enemy to pull you away from God. When we pull away from God, our prayers diminish in strength and frequency.
Condemnation puts us in the frame of mind to think we did something wrong. We begin to believe the deception that God is pulling away from us. This is a tactic of the enemy. Condemnation leaves you weak. God does not condemn; through His Spirit, He convicts. Both conviction and condemnation can have painful elements, and the difference is conviction is fueled by grace and mercy and always presents a way out.
Our enemy is a deceiver, the “Father of Lies.” Every truth you know, he will twist to convince you that God is against you or you are against God. His purpose is to drive a wedge in the relationship and steal your passion for God. Those times when you can’t get into worship, the message is not speaking to you, or your prayer time has decreased or ended completely. You have lost your edge, but there is nothing God cannot bring back to life.
Strategic prayers need strategic Scripture. For the first element of your prayer strategy, getting back your passion, find the right Scriptures for your situation. Here are a few to consider: Psalm 51:10, Lamentations 3:22-23, Jeremiah 24:7, and Ezekiel 36:26.
A battle can only be won if you know the enemy you are fighting.
Focus is required for fervent prayer. Part of that focus is identifying the enemy and his efforts against you. Your enemy is trying to break your focus and distract you. If you are unfocused and distracted, deception is far easier. Focus protects your strategy and your goals.
In Ephesians 6:12, the Apostle Paul warns us about things working beneath the surface in the realm of the unseen. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Our enemy is the devil. You are not fighting your loved ones, traffic conditions, your co-workers, or your cravings. You are fighting the enemy. You must open your eyes spiritually and begin to see the frustrations you battle are symptoms of an attack the enemy is waging against you.
In prayer, we can bring all these frustrations and issues before the Lord. We join with God, through faith, in the battle He is leading.
The enemy knows our instinct is to turn on one another in times of struggle. The concepts of worth we carry, comparing our appearances to each other, trying to label and define every aspect – these are tricks intentionally cultivated in the enemy’s strategy room. We fall for them too often, too easily, because we lose focus.
An enemy this treacherous needs to be fought with the right weapons and armor that we find in Ephesians 6. Within the armor of God, consider these key terms:
- truth is a standard from God;
- righteousness is living holy and right;
- peace is stability;
- faith is applying our beliefs;
- salvation is security; and
- the Word of God is His message to us.
The weapons provided are created and purposed for the destruction of the enemy (2 Corinthians 10:4). Ephesians 6:18 tells us to “pray at all times in the Spirit.” “At all times” is translated from the word kairos, which means specific and precise times. Prayer charges the armor of God and gives it optimum impact…
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