At the beginning of this process I didn’t really think that I needed a strategy for prayer. I mean, don’t you just pray? But the more I have studied the book the more I am convinced that the enemy will do ANYTHING to keep us in chains and if I am going to fight against that I need a plan, a strategy to fight back!

Because if I am being honest, prayer had become more of an after-thought in my life. “God please help me…”, “Lord, fix so-and-so wouldn’t you? Life would be easier for me if You would fix them.”

I didn’t pray the hard prayers because I wasn’t willing to walk through an answer that may mean work on my end!

I wanted to say the “easy” prayers and have things neatly wrapped up in a nice, pretty package when I was done.

But these words from Priscilla struck a deep chord within me, “We simply don’t have the luxury of playing nice with prayer. Not if we want things to change. Not if we want to be free – from whatever’s keeping us held down and held back. Not if we want our hearts whole and thriving and deep and grounded…different. Not if we want to reach our destinies and experience God’s promises….” p3

There is more and with each sentence I could hear my heart cry “yes!” Yes we want freedom from those things that keep us bound in chains. Yes we want clarity and direction for our husband and our children. Yes we want to walk in God’s calling for our lives.

But she goes on to say that we won’t see any of those things come to fruition if we aren’t praying with precision.

Just as a commander plots and plans his teams next move in a battle, so must we approach those areas that we most need God’s help.

So I ask you what is the greatest stronghold in your life today?

Where is the enemy attacking you, your home? Your marriage or your finances?

I discovered that the root of so many of my heart issues stemmed out of fear.

It is the weapon that the enemy has used in his arsenal against me time and time again and quite frankly I am tired of it!

Fear of the what if, fear of the worst case scenario, fear that holds me stuck so that I can’t move forward and allow God to work in me because I believe that the “what-if” scenarios will come true.

We will look more closely at fear a little later in our study, but for me it has keep me from the free and abundant life that Christ has for me.

So what can we do in these situations?

First I need to fight back in those fear-filled moments with prayer.

Ask God to reveal truth, look up and prayer actual scripture over your stronghold. I love 2 Timothy 1: 7 “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

What ever your stronghold is, know that it is a not from God. God doesn’t want us to live in fear, bound in chains. The enemy does, he thrives in the lies that you will never change, you can’t trust God. He wants you to believe that your what-ifs WILL come true.

But if we can begin to fight back in prayer, with a strategy that gives us power – the enemy is going to flee from the powerful woman that you will become!

I love the hope that is found in the pages of Fervent. And as we continue on we will discover more specific ways to march forward. But for today I encourage you to spend some time thinking about those things that keep you bound and start asking, boldly for God to break any chains you may find yourself in!

Lord, we thank you for the gift of knowledge. For the opportunity to develop a battle plan to fight against the enemy’s attacks. We know Lord that You are with us and I ask that You place a hedge of protection around the women walking this road. Strengthen us all and break those chains that keep us from the full freedom that is found in You. In Jesus Name, Amen.

I have to be honest, a year ago I never thought I would be writing a series on prayer, much less a month long, every day series! But it is where I find myself and after reading the book Fervent by Priscilla Shirer 5 times now in the last year…it just seems where God is calling me.

I believe that there is power in prayer and I think with some time and practice we can have a flourishing, fervent prayer life. I wasn’t always convinced of that though, and for many years prayed for one selfish reason only – to get what I thought I wanted and needed.

When things didn’t go my way I became bitter. I believed that maybe God wasn’t hearing me, or even worse, I wasn’t worthy of getting an answer. Those lies permeated my thoughts and I started to push God away.

What I have discovered from studying the book Fervent is that the enemy wants nothing more than to keep us weary, bitter, distracted, frustrated etc. Anything to keep us from praying powerful prayers. Anything to keep us from a deep relationship and trust in God.

The enemy knows how powerful fervent prayer is and when we are praying in that power, we are a threat!

My prayer over the next 31 days is that we could do a little learning together. If you want to follow along in the book with me that would be wonderful. I will be sharing some of the lessons that I have learned about prayer in the last year and I hope you will share yours with me too!

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I was originally sent the book Fervent to review and write a blog post about it. I read the majority of the book on a plane ride to Florida for a girls weekend away in September of 2015. Little did I know that the following 9 months would be some of the hardest, most difficult and growth-filled months that I would walk through.

I was challenged by the first reading, encouraged to dig deeper, but ultimately didn’t do anything to follow through. Nothing really changed, not at that point anyway.

Sometimes we have to hit our bottom before we can be humbled and broken enough to start doing something different. And early last Fall that is just where I found myself. I was desperate for change in my own heart and honestly tired of praying the same “rescue me” prayers.

They felt empty and they were. Desperate, selfish prayers because I didn’t want to be uncomfortable any more. I found myself in a battle in my marriage because of my angry outbursts. I had hurt those I love in a deep way and in those first few months things seemed pretty hopeless.

I prayed time and time again that God would change me and yet I would keep making the same mistakes over again. What was wrong with me?!

Sometimes when we navigate the waters of life we need a little extra help, and so we spent some time with a recommended Christian counselor and I also spent many lunch hours confiding in my pastor’s wife.

Can I just pause for a moment and say this…it shouldn’t even need to be said but it is something that I had to learn for myself. There is no shame, whatsoever, in seeking help if you need it.

My pride kept me isolated for far too long and my natural responses to life had become so flawed that having a third party involved was necessary and ultimately life changing. If you are there, don’t wait to seek help. There is no shame, just freedom waiting for you!

One day at lunch Marlene said that she had this vision of an antique key in her mind, that God had given me the key to freedom in Him…but I needed to make the choice to go ahead and use it.

As I read through Fervent a second and third time I realized that the book was that key for me. In a powerful way, Priscilla lays out the schemes of the enemy and a detailed battle plan on how we can stand firm and fight back!

When the ladies Bible study I am a part of decided to read Fervent together this summer, I woke one morning and started to write a 12 week study guide to accompany the book. It was fully God-breathed and was the push that I needed to dive in even further and do this series.

The first day of the study I brought an antique key for each of the women in the group. I wanted them to have a tangible reminder with them that they too have been given the key to powerful prayer.

I’d love to be able to sit across from you today and hand you a key to have in person. But since I can’t, consider this your virtual key. This is your invitation to walk forward in all that God is calling you to. An opportunity to develop a prayer lifestyle that will transform your home, your family and your marriage.

You may find yourself doing some hard heart-work, like I have, as you move through this book, but there is freedom and joy that will be discovered in the process. I can’t wait to get started!

Join me?!