Unlike the majority of the book reviews you have seen on my blog, this is a review for a nonfiction title. A Christian book by author and speaker Priscilla Shirer. You may know her from her many popular Bible studies, her roles in the movies The Shack and War Room or you may simply know her as the daughter of Dr. Tony Evans. Shirer is one of my favorite contemporary Christian authors and while I had this book for a while, I didn't get around to reading it until fairly recently.
Fervent: A Woman's Battle Plan for Serious, Specific and Strategic Prayer is just that. And yes, it is a very long title!
Stars 4.5/5
Shirer takes us through a number of life's issues and reminds us of the importance of fervent prayer in addressing those issues. For example, our identities, our families, our relationships with others. All of these are discussed in some detail, using examples from either the author's own life of the lives of those in her circle from a good friend and even her own grandmother. There are even perforated cards in the back so that the reader can rip one out, write a prayer and carry it with them throughout the day or put it in a visible area. Shirer tends to ask her readers to not simply read, but also act. The act of writing and reciting prayers helps cement them in the mind, according to her. And I am inclined to agree.
If I had to say anything that I did not particularly care for would be the version of the Bible Shirer defaults to. I have the deluxe edition and I am not sure if other editions use other versions yet, factually the version she uses the NASB (New American Standard Version) changes a lot of the meaning of the original text, meaning that unless someone studied it, they may be missing out on jewels in the scripture.
That being said, this book is still quite helpful and while it is written for women, I can say that it would be useful for men as well. Just swap out where she says "husbands" for "wives" and a few smaller pieces and there you go! It is not as though men don't benefit from prayer. Gendering Bible studies has always been a pet peeve of mine.