Author: Beth Moore
Info: Copyright 2000: Nashville: B&H Publishers
Rating (on a scale of 1-4 stars): ✮✮✮✮
Where Acquired: Library book sale.
Category: Glorious reread...sort of. Several years ago, our Bible study group discussed and prayed through only select passages in this book. This is the first time I've read the book from cover to cover.
Synopsis: While many Christians see Ephesians 6:13-17 as all the pieces of the Armor of God, they ignore verse 18, "Praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints" (KJV). Using various scripture passages, Moore assists the reader in completing their arsenal with prayer against various sins, shortcomings, and attacks of the enemy. She also presents encouragement, testimonies, and examples from various authors as well as from her own life.
Select Favorite Quotes:
A stronghold is anything that exalts itself in our minds "pretending" to be bigger or more powerful than our God. It steals much of our focus and causes us to feel overpowered. Controlled. Mastered. (p. 3)
Why does God allow us to spend so much of life in the heat of battle? Because He never meant for us to sip His Spirit like a proper cup of tea. He meant for us to hold our sweating heads over the fountain and lap up His life with unquenchable thirst. (p. 22)
How do you overcome rejection? By applying large doses of God's love to your wounded heart daily and by allowing Him to renew your mind until the rejected thinks like the accepted. (p. 93)
One of God's primary purposes for the Church is for her to be a welcoming place of restoration and recovery for all who desire to be freed from the captivity of sin. Homophobia is the last thing I'm suggesting for the Church; however, our current unwillingness to admit the problem, embrace the repentant, and aid in biblical restoration--all symptomatic of homophobia--has left many vulnerable to evil than helpful to the captive. - (p. 235)
To topple the "stronghold of our experiences" we must "let God be found true, though every man be found a liar" (Rom. 3:4, NASB). Te only One who has a right to shape our lives is Jesus Christ. We must determine to allow nothing and no one to shape us, n ot even our personal experiences, unless they are consistent with the promises of God. In truth, who is ruling our lives, God our our experiences? - Francis Frangipane, (p. 261)
Leap up at the sound of this promise! Believe it. Let is go down into your souls. "The Lord looseth the prisoners" (Ps. 146:7, KJV). He has come to loose you. I can see my Master arrayed in His silk garments. His countenance if as joyous as heaven., His face is as bright as a morning without clouds, and in His hand He holds a silver key. "Where are you going, my Master, with that silver key of Yours?" I ask. "I go," He says, "to open the door of the captive and to loosen everyone who is bound." Blessed Master fulfill Your errand....! - Charles Spurgeon (p. 263)
The Positive:
- Though she presents a plethora of scriptural prayer examples, Moore doesn't do the readers' homework for them. She encourages the reader to search and study the Scriptures to formulate his own Bible-based prayers.
- This book is not written just for women. Yes, Moore is female and some of what she shares will be from the female prospective. However, men interested in enhancing their prayer lives will also greatly benefit from this book.
- One of my biggest complaints about any book of this type is an author's lack of authenticity. I'm annoyed when a writer does not put something of himself in a work. While Moore does share bits of her story of deliverance, she is too vague. While saying "If my story could help you, it would be worth whatever disparaging thoughts someone could think of me" (p. 257), she was excessively ambiguous with her sharing. While sharing all the explicit details is not needed--and none of my business--she danced around the issues too much. She hinted at things only to pull back as if still trying to hide them. She would give elements of her testimony, but then relegate them to someone else. This was not helpful and made her seem to be putting herself on the very pedestal she didn't want to be associated with--as if she were too good to share her true self with the reader.
Conclusion:
I would recommend this volume to both the novice Christian who is new to praying the Scriptures and the well-seasoned believer who needs encouragement or a refresher. I pulled many prayers from the chapters and wrote some of my own to pray. I'm quite sure I will read and refer to this tome again.
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