From Basic Training to Targeted Strategy

By Stephen & Alex Kendrick

Book Review & Bible Study Review

Introduction

Inspired by the Kendrick Brothers’ movie, War Room, this book is a great resource for helping anyone become a mighty person of prayer. This can be used as a Bible Study, done individually or with a group. Our church has done it as a discipleship study, men’s group study and a ladies’ group study. 

The Study

The book is divided into seven sections. Section 1 describes the legacy of prayer, power of prayer and importance of making prayer a priority, utilizing Bible characters as examples. 

Section 2 goes in-depth into the why, what, when and how of prayer. Why is prayer so important? What is prayer? What are the different types of prayer? When should we pray? How should we pray? Section 3 looks at how to condition our hearts for prayer with the importance of faith, obedience and persistence in prayer.

Section 4 describes different strategies for prayer:  We begin by using the Word of God, seeking the Will of God, and the importance of asking for wisdom and discernment from God. We look into the wonder of God’s names and the ways of God’s Spirit. We learn how to pray offensively, preemptively, defensively, and extraordinarily. 

Section 5 gives us our prayer targets, Section 6 prepares us with our ammunition, and Section 6 supplies us with resources to reinforce what we have learned throughout the study.

Appendix Ammunition

Each chapter is filled with scripture and personal testimonies and ends with a beautifully written prayer covering what we’ve learned in the chapter and adaptable for use in our personal prayer life. In the back of the book are discussion questions for study groups or personal bible study.

Also included are seven Appendices that will assist with many areas of prayer:

Appendix 1 – Rhythms of Prayer

Appendix 2 – Spiritual Temperature Test reviewing 16 indicators of a color or lukewarm Christian.

Appendix 3 – The Gospel – an explanation of the Gospel message and plan of salvation.

Appendix 4 – Prayer Strategy Verses

Appendix 5 – Spiritual Ammo – Bible verses to use when wrestling with difficult topics such as depression, anger, pride, worry and many more.

Appendix 6 – The names for God, the names of Jesus, and the names for the Holy Spirit

Appendix 7 – Starting a Prayer Ministry

Recommendation

As the authors point out, prayer should be our first plan of attack in all of life’s battles, not our last resort. Not only is this an enlightening study on prayer, it is a powerful resource to be utilized again and again as we grow closer in our relationship with the Lord and stronger in our prayer life.

I highly recommend this book to anyone desiring to become a formidable prayer warrior. A more recent resource is also the 6-week Bible Study, The Battle Plan for Prayer Bible Study.

References

The Battle Plan for Prayer–From Basic Training to Targeted Strategies; Stephen & Alex Kendrick, 2015, B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, TN

Disclaimer:

For those of you who love to read, I am sharing a quick review of some of the Christian-based books I have read and Bible studies I have participated in, both personally and in a group. These are my favorites.

I always appreciate others’ input and suggestions when trying to decide on my next reading project, so I hope this will be helpful when you are trying to decide on your next read and/or study.

These reviews are based on my opinion, and I was not compensated in any way for reading them or reviewing them.

Barb @ Journaling Bee