FERVENT

Heyyyyyy you guysss
Happy new year . Yesss this is my first post here this year. I know I promised this review for a while and I'm sorry for taking so long.

The book fervent was written by Priscilla Shirer who's known for her part as 'Elizabeth' in the movie "War Room"
The book talks about how important prayer is and how to create strategies for prayers.

You need to understand who the real enemy is and that's the devil, and know that he intentionally works on schemes, strategies to fight against you, he didn't just wake up one day and decide to disrupt your God-given friendships, no he had intentionally created strategies against you.

So this is enough reason why we will not just pray, but we need to be strategic in prayer and be led by the Spirit in prayer.

One thing I've learnt personally is the consistency of devil, it's how he comes up with new strategies when he notices that the one he used didn't work, his consistency is more than enough reason to be consistent in prayers.

"You write out your prayers so you “won’t
forget. . .
Won’t forget who the real enemy is
Won’t forget the One in whom your hope lies
Won’t forget your real need and dependencies are
and later,
Won’t forget the record of how God responds"

Yes I'm beginning to write down my prayers too but I should also remember strategies for war, for this battle. This battle plan/strategies is from the word of God.

Then there's this part she talked about Thanksgiving . The prayer of Thanksgiving/gratitude isn't just some preamble I use for prayer, it shouldn't be something I feel I should do before and after prayers, but it should part of every aspect of my prayer and I should be intentional in Thanksgiving too because it's important as well.

The devil is intentional in his battles, he creates strategies, schemes to fight and to pull us down, this is more than enough reason for us to not just pray, but be strategic in prayer and be led by the Spirit in prayer.   
~~~~~~~~Priscilla Shirer
In the book she talked about 10 strategies the enemy makes against you.

The strategy:
🌻Against your passion
🌻Against Your Focus
🌻Against Your Rest and Contentment
🌻Against Your Purity
🌻Against Your Calling
🌻Against Your Confidence
🌻Against Your Family
🌻Against Your Identity
🌻Against your heart
🌻Against your relationships.

The first is against your passion. He seeks to dim your whole desire for prayer, dull your interest in spiritual things, and downplay the potency of your most strategic weapons (Eph. 6:10–20).

Wait do you know think it's just normal for you to wake up one morning and not pray and from there you don't pray for days, weeks. Laughs😂, the devil intentionally created strategies against Your prayer life.

At times he comes with guilt, reminding you of your past failures,  mistakes and sins to God, not making you go back to God when you wrong him, but you know what, even God says we should come boldly to him.I saw an analysis somewhere that this scenerio can be likened to you refusing to bathe because you're dirty.

The second is against your focus. He disguises himself and manipulates your perspective so you end up focusing on the wrong culprit, directing your weapons at the wrong enemy (2 Corinthians 11:14).

The third is against Your Identity. He magnifies your insecurities, leading you to doubt what God says about you and to disregards what He’s given you (Ephesians 1:17–19). The devil knows that when you understand your identity then it's difficult for him to turn you against God. So that's why he tells you who you're not.

But be reminded that you were created intentionally and beautiful by God, He calls you the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  Have you ever sat down to think about what God meant when He called you the salt, do you know the importance of salt to a food, how a place would be without light.  You're very important to God and He loves you.

The fourth is against Your Family. He wants to disintegrate your family, dividing your home, rendering it chaotic, restless, and unfruitful (Genesis 3:1–7).

The fifth is against Your Confidence. He constantly reminds you of your past mistakes and bad choices, hoping to convince you that you're under God’s judgment rather than under the blood (Revelation 12:10). The devil intentionally reminds you of your past mistakes and sins so you'll be filled with guilt. Remember nothing you do can pay for your sins because Jesus has done it all, so when you wrong God, go to him boldly in repentance.

The sixth is against Your Calling. He amplifies fear, worry, and anxiety until they’re the loudest voices in your head, causing you to deem the adventure of following God too risky to attempt (Joshua 14:8). I remember the story of Gideon who was a mighty man of valour, but his fears made him think differently. 

The devil sure know what you're capable of when you walk in God's purpose for your life,  so at times he brings in fear, anxiety,  guilt etc to stop you from your calling.  But note there are people, destinies attached to you fulfilling purpose.

The seventh is against Your Purity. He tries to tempt you toward certain sins, convincing you that you can tolerate them without risking consequence, knowing they’ll only wedge distance between you and God (Isaiah 59:1–2).

The eight is against Your Rest and Contentment. He hopes to overload your life and schedule, pressuring you to constantly push beyond your limits, never feeling permission to say no (Deuteronomy 5:15). Resttttttttttt can not be overemphasized. At times what affects our rest is people pleasing and not setting boundaries.

The ninth is against Your Heart. He uses every opportunity to keep old wounds fresh in mind, knowing that anger and hurt and bitterness and unforgiveness will continue to roll the damage forward (Hebrews 12:15).

The tenth is against Your Relationships. He creates disruption and disunity within your circle of friends and within the shared community of  body of Christ (1 Timothy 2:8). He intentionally creates disagreement against Your God-given friendships.

So today when you go to God in prayer,  remember to be strategic and understand who your real enemy is.