My January Reading List
This month that I continued reading the book,
The Battle Plan for Prayer: From Basic Training to Targeted Strategies by Alex and Stephen Kendrick. I started this review last month. The book is a devotional that is meant to take 7 weeks. When I left off last month, I had just finished reading part 4: Strategies, chapter 21, The Will of God. If you would like to read my review of that part of the book, click
here.
The Battle Plan for Prayer
Part IV, Strategies
As I continue on in the book, the next chapter talks about The ‘”Whatever” From God. There are a number of places in the New Testament that says that whatever we ask for in prayer we will get. He goes over that in this next chapter. It would be a good chapter to review and contemplate.
Chapter/Day 23 in the book explains using the different Names of God when we pray to Him. The authors explain when we use different names and why it’s important. Then we come to the chapter on The Wisdom of God. Don’t we all want wisdom? He states that prayer is one of the keys to unlock wisdom. I don’t know about you but I pray for wisdom every single day. I want God’s wisdom and everything I do because it is when we walk in the wisdom of God that we are also walking in the will of God.
The next section I marked was Praying Offensively, Chapter 26. I re-wrote a section that says “don’t just pray against hardship, but pray for blessings also. Instead of merely praying against a divorce, for instance, ask God to make your marriage a beautiful picture of the gospel of Christ and His love for His bride, and that He will use you to minister to others and advance the kingdom through your loving relationship as husband and wife.” Isn’t that beautiful? Isn’t that wonderful? What a difference in how you pray!
The next chapter I have marked is Praying Defensively. We know what those prayers are. But do we know how to pray them properly and effectively? He has an acronym, R.E.S.P.O.N.D., that lays out the battle plan for strategically praying defensively. I again wrote down a statement that was made at the top of the page in this chapter. It reads, “prayer allows you to climb off the endless worry – Go – round and experience the peace of God.” I really liked that picture! Worry does just go ’round and ’round our your heads, doesn’t it?
Part V, Targets
Who do we pray for? Each day they have examples of people to pray For The Lost, For Other Believers, For Family, For Authorities, For Laborers In The Harvest, For Churches and Revival. One of the things that I rewrote at the top of a page in this section was, “be careful to not prioritize temporary physical needs over eternal spiritual ones.” We often pray for things and situations and finances – the things of this Earth. And what the book was saying here was that while God wants us to come to him with everything that we need, the most important things to pray for are the Salvation and the walk of people on this Earth so that they can go to heaven and have a life that is pleasing to God. For me, I want to hear “well done my good and faithful servant.” When I stand before my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and see my life pass before Him and me, I don’t want to be standing there and saying “I’m sorry,” “I messed up,” or “I missed the mark.” I don’t want to hang my head in shame for not doing the things I should have done – or hang my head in shame for the things I did that I shouldn’t have done.
Parts VI, Ammunition
This section is actually the appendices one through seven. Not to diminish any one of the sections, I always like to take tests and one section is a Spiritual Temperature Test. I like that. This section also has Prayer Strategy Verses, Spiritual Ammo, The Names of God, and Starting a Prayer Ministry. Everything that you need to actually do the strategies we learned about throughout the book.
Part VII, Reinforcements
These are discussion questions and Battleplan resources available through their Ministry.
I highly recommend this book. I am an experienced prayer warrior and I have many sections marked, highlighted, and even wrote index cards from the different sections found in the book as reminders to me.
The Other Book I was Reading
I was away twice this month for business reasons. So I did not finish the book. I read slowly, purposely, and reflectively. I don’t like to race through books and not think about how to apply it to my life. So I may read a little more slowly than other people.
What is the Basis of this Book?
This Book is also about prayer and faith. It is more about increasing your faith, standing firm on your faith, being persistent, and taking authority over powers, principalities, and rulers of the deep rather than just praying.
In the introduction, she writes, “much has been said about prayer, and much has been said about faith, but little has been said about the kind of faith that has the power to literally change situations in the natural realm. That kind of faith I refer to as violent faith. So for the sake of this book, know that I am not referring to acts of violence. I am talking about spiritual warfare and reclaiming by force – in the spirit – what rightfully belongs to you.”
Instruction in Faith
This book gives you the tools to walk a life of faith regardless of the circumstances that come against you. The author talks about ways that Satan and his demonic forces of evil try to trip you up then how to identify and overcome them. We can all use more instruction in that, can’t we? People often say to me that I have great faith and wish that they had my kind of faith. But faith comes by hearing the Word of God and then using that information to overcome trials and tribulations. Increasing your faith comes when you overcome situations and trials. In Hebrews 11 what do we read? By faith so-and-so DID. Over and over we see that they exercised their faith by an action and were known for great faith. In James, we read that faith and action go hand-in-hand. I’d don’t consider myself someone of great faith as much as I consider myself someone who strives to be obedient to God. And through that obedience, my faith is exercised and increased. Does that make sense?
What This Book is Teaching Me
I like this book and through it, it is stretching my beliefs. It is increasing my knowledge of what is available to the children of God and how to use the tools that God gave us to have an overcoming life. Remember what Jesus said: “in this life you will have trials and tribulations, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.”
Who Should Read This Book?
I recommend for anyone who wants to learn the tools God has given us to overcome the evil of this world and the trials and tribulations that come against us. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn about warfare praying.
What If My church Doesn’t Teach This?
I came from a mainline denomination. I started there at age 5 and left about age 30 or 32. I also worked for two churches in that denomination and was actively involved in the churches I attended over the years. I was faithful in attendance and in researching what they taught to see if it lined up with Scripture. What I was taught in that denomination was that many of the things in the New Testament were for that time, only for Jesus, his disciples, and Paul, and that we really didn’t have any authority or power in this life. But that is not what Scripture teaches. Jesus said that everything He did we would be able to do and more because he was sending the Holy Spirit. Some Churches don’t believe that we have the Holy Spirit or that he speaks to us. And getting power from Him? No, that wouldn’t be for us, either. But as I studied the Bible, I saw that the Holy Spirit is for us. Jesus commanded his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. So that would mean when I decided to learn about God and apply it to my life I’m a disciple too, wouldn’t it?
If you are in a church that downplays or even speaks against some of the things in this book, Scripture tells us to be like the Bereans and compare every word that is preached/taught to us with Scripture. The Bereans were known as people who searched the ancient Scrolls and the words of Jesus to verify that what they were being taught was truth. I encourage you to search the Scriptures if something is foreign to the way you believe and were taught. Ask God to confirm to you His truth, not your churches, not your pastors, not your friends, not even your former belief. But confirm to you His Word, His Truth.
Finally, I ask you to take it to God in prayer and give you peace about the right decision. I have often prayed to God, especially when I was in that Mainline church, and asked him to reveal and confirm His Word to me. I would open the Bible and see a scripture that I never saw before and then someone would come along and talk about that very verse and how they used it in their lives. You can do that too. You can ask God to open your eyes, your heart, and your spirit to His Word. You can ask for wisdom and understanding. His word said He loves to give us wisdom. His word says to search for wisdom to desire it above silver and gold. You can also ask for confirmation.
In Conclusion
So besides my daily Bible readings, that’s what I’ve been reading in print form this month. I didn’t get as much read as I wanted to, especially in the area of business. I do a lot of research online these days, as many of you probably do too. And some of that will show up in my blogs at a later time. I also hope to get onto my blog soon some of the recipes that I work done while I went away for a week to work on new recipes.
I reiterate what I said in my review of the prior book. My goal in this life is to please God. I want to arrive in heaven and have Jesus say to me well done, my good and faithful servant. I strive for that. I desire that. I go after that. Because I desire to please God more than man and I accept God’s Word, I accept what He says is sin is actually sin. I accept what he says is evil is truly evil. And what He says to do I strive to do. I have trouble in this life. Anyone who goes after God and seeks to do His will with their whole heart will see trouble in this life. Jesus said that and I believe it. I’ve experienced it. John 16:33 it says, “In this world you will have tribulation (affliction, persecution, trouble, anguish, pressure, burdens): but be of good cheer, I [Jesus] have overcome (subdued, conquered, prevailed against, got the victory) the world.”
God bless you as you read and study to increase your faith.
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