Fervent: A Woman's Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer

In Priscilla Shirer's latest book, Fervent, women can gain the biblical wisdom and practical help they need to engage in passionate and purposeful prayer. Prayer seems to be the last resort for so many in our comfortable, American culture. But Priscilla does a wonderful job of giving a solid theological viewpoint on what prayer is and why we pray. She recognizes the battle we are in, the enemy we have, and the best, most under utilized, weapon to use. 

She goes through every area of a woman's life and targets how and why the enemy attacks. Priscilla does a great job of reminding you of the spiritual battle you are in and what is at stake, but also provides numerous Scripture passages that reveal the promises of God so that you walk into the spiritual battle standing firmly on faith.

There are 10 strategies you walk through in Fervent:

Your Passion
Your Focus
Your Identity 
Your Family
Your Past
Your Fears
Your Purity
Your Pressures
Your Hurts
Your Relationships

As Priscilla takes you through each one, she starts off taking a look at the enemy's mindset and his destructive plans for you. Once you see a bit of the enemy's tactics, you can dive into what to do about it and how his destructive plans wage war on the Lord's perfect and good ways. She eloquently and clearly talks through why prayer is necessary in each of these areas of life. She helps you establish your plan for prayer. Priscilla then gives a "Call to Prayer" at the end of each chapter where she lists several verses for you to pray through and meditate on. I love how she leads you to action. And at the end of the book there are pages for notes as well as tear-out cards to use for your own prayer strategy. I fell more in love with the Lord as I was reminded of His great faithfulness and good omnipotence. His grace and mercy, love and justice are shown throughout the book in the truths talked about. 

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Priscilla Shirer's Fervent: 

"Through intentional, deliberate, strategic prayer, you grab hold of Jesus and of everything He's already done on your behalf. ...In prayer you gain your strength-the power to gird yourself with armor that extinguishes every weapon your enemy wields." (page 12)

"Because praying--reaching outward and upward to Him--is the way His passion comes down." (page 35)

"When you bring your concerns and fears and irritations to the Lord in prayer, you're aligning your weakling spirit with the full force of God's Holy Spirit." (page 44)

"No matter what is against you, it is no match for the power and authority He's given you access to." (page 65)

"The only effective way to fight in marriage is to pray." (page 80)

​"One of the qualities that makes the gospel so real and so great is that it doesn't eliminate our past but just so thoroughly deals with it. God forgives it. He changes it. He transforms all that mess into this huge mountain of grace that only takes us higher and closer to Him." (page 99)

"Fear is the antithesis of faith. And faith is what allows you to step foot on the soil of your destiny." (page 113)

"Obedience to God garners intimacy and nearness, divine blessing and favor. Always. And disobedience creates a sense of distance and loss, grief and regret. Always." (page 122)

"Even the activities He gives you to steward are not given to see how many balls you can juggle, but instead so you can participate with Him in staking a kingdom claim on the patches of ground where you live." (page 141)

"Genuine freedom and renewed fervency are waiting for you on the other side of forgiveness." (page 161)

"The peace of God, preserved by the prayers of God's people, is meant to forge us together in friendship and unite us in mission." (page 181)

"Make prayer both your lifeline and your lifestyle." (page 188)

"If you ever don't know what to pray exactly, just start with gratitude." (page 189)

One of the greatest takeaways I had was that when we pray for our children, we are "participating mightily with God in their future, their provision, or their rescue" (page 86). In prayer I'm not performing for God, I'm participating with God. And that provides ​me with so much comfort and hope. It reminds me that engaging with God in prayer does indeed have great, lasting, generational effects. Prayer is needed. Prayer matters. Prayer matters greatly, for the here and now and for eternity. 

This book definitely helped me see the need to engage in prayer more often and more strategically. I loved this and will recommend it to many ladies in my life.

And I'm giving away a copy! (Thank you to B & H Publishing!) To enter to win a copy of Fervent, just leave a comment here below about which of the 10 strategies excites you the most to read. The winner will be randomly chosen on Wednesday, January 6th 2016 and will be notified via email. Thanks for reading and participating!

Be sure to follow Priscilla on twitter andinstagram.
​And follow her ministry, Going Beyond, here and on facebook.

And you can buy the book here!
​(You'll support me by clicking and buying here below because it is linked to my Amazon Associates affiliate account. Thanks in advance!)

*Disclaimer:  I was given this book by the publisher for an honest review.*