Stephen Kendrick - The Battle Plan for Prayer: From Basic Training to Targeted Strategies

Introduction

In April 1948, a farmer in a small rural town in south Georgia looked up to see a tornado approaching his property. As he ran for cover, his wife crowded their three young daughters under the dining room table and waited in fear.

When the devastating twister arrived at their house, the little girls watched their mother cry out to God at the top of her voice for protection. Moments later, the deafening, train-like sound of the winds faded into the distance, and then the family walked outside to see the aftermath of the storm.

The destruction was all around them. Their barn a few yards away was heavily damaged. Power lines were down on the ground. The giant oak trees in front of their house were uprooted, now lying on their side, and the church across the street had been rocked off its foundation. But their home and family were left completely untouched.

This farmer and his wife were our grandparents. And their six-year-old daughter, who was greatly impacted by this experience, grew up to become our mother. The three of us, her sons, and our nineteen children would not be here today if God had not protected their family during that storm.

There is power in prayer. We grew up in a praying home, weve attended praying churches, and weve seen God answer countless specific prayers over the years.

When we were in high school, for instance, our father and a few trusted friends believed God was leading them to launch a new Christian school in our area. To get started, of course, they needed desks, books, and the right location. But with little money, what they needed more than anything was faith. And prayer.

During those early days of the school, we watched how God rapidly guided and provided. A local church agreed to house the school and allow their facilities to be remodeled for the purpose. A local business donated free lumber. A volunteer ministry team from Tennessee showed up to help with construction. Within weeks, new classrooms and offices were completed. Another school called and offered books, desks, and chairs.

The timing was unbelievable. Soon we had students sitting in new classrooms, with books in their hands and teachers in front of them. Our father went on to serve as headmaster for two decades, watching the Lord continue to provide what was needed year after year. In the fall of 2014, the school celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, having impacted thousands of students and families for Christ through the years.

During the 1990s, when our father needed the funds to rent a modular unit for the school, he prayed that God would somehow provide the seven thousand dollars to set it up. A few days later, a married couple unexpectedly dropped by his office and asked if the school had any needs. Dad shared about the expansion opportunity and how he was praying specifically for the needed amount. Their mouths dropped as they looked at each other in amazement.

The husband said, Well, were here because we believe God wanted us to bring this to you. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a checkalready made out in the amount of seven thousand dollars!and laid it on our fathers desk. It was to the penny what Dad had been praying God would send.

We witnessed answered prayers like these all the time.

In 2002, following in our fathers footsteps, we were privileged to launch a Christian movie ministry at our church with no money, no professional experience, and no film school training. But we knew God could provide what we needed. And with the support of our church, we laid every need before Him in prayer. We had to write the scripts, find the right actors, secure the right equipment, pull off the entire production, and then obtain distribution. God provided everything we needed at every level. Each of the five movies weve been part of producing has resulted from a long string of specifically answered prayers. We know we would have failed otherwise.

In our office weve created a Wall of Remembrance. Numerous framed pictures serve as visual reminders of Gods provision, each representing a clearly answered prayer. Among them is a picture of Alex as a young college student with a dream to make movies for the Lord. Another features a two-year-old orphan in Nanjing, China, that God guided Stephen and his wife to adopt. One shows a forklift on a train track that just happened to be nearby one of our movie sets, sitting idle behind a mans house, right when we needed it. One depicts a group of men in Malawi, Africa, holding up resolution commitments to lead their families, after a history in which theyd all but abandoned them. One other picture is of three brothers with their arms around each other, smiling, taken years after our father had prayed we would all be working together someday.

Each picture represents a story of Gods faithfulness in our lives. Its overwhelming to see them all together. Incredible provision. Unbelievable direction. Impossible odds. The list goes on.

God has been so gracious and shown His kindness and power in countless ways over the years. Yes, He does it through His creation and His Word. Yes, He does it through changed lives. But one of the most impactful means of His blessing has been through specifically answered prayers.

We know prayer works. We cant deny it at this point. And we dont want to.

Answered prayers arent merely highly unlikely coincidences. They are fingerprints of a living, loving God who invites all of us to draw close to Him, the One who made us and is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:2728 nkjv ). So we echo the apostle John, when he stated, That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full (1 John 1:34 nkjv ).

That is our hope for this bookthat you not only experience the joys of answered prayer more fully, but that youll get to know God more deeply and fellowship with Him more personally as you travel these pages.

So we invite you to join usand countless otherson a journey of learning how to pray more biblically and strategically. How to approach Gods throne of grace with great freedom and faith. How to more effectively fight the battles of your life in prayer first. How to cast your cares onto the shoulders of One who deeply cares for you.

Together, well walk through some of the most important foundational passages and truths in the Bible regarding prayer, and also share many wonderful resources God gives all of us to help us pray with greater power and precision. Well discuss prayers benefits, purposes, and how God answers. Then well venture through the importance of properly preparing our hearts so we can boldly approach Him in faith. Last, well share specific prayer strategies you can use to help you pray more biblically and stand firm during moments of temptation and spiritual attack, ready to better intercede on behalf of others around you.

If you desire to draw closer to God and pray more effectively and strategically, it is no accident youre reading this book. We believe the Lord is calling you into a deeper relationship with Him. And we are cheering you on, daring you to dive in to this journey.

Here at the outset, we challenge you to make a commitment to three things:

First, READ this book a chapter a day. We suggest at least five days a week for the next seven weeks, but whatever works for your schedule. Each chapter should only take you around ten minutes to read.

Second, READ the Bible each day. Let the Word of God mold you into a person of prayer. We encourage you to read through the Gospel of Luke during these seven weeks and be studying it through the lens of what you can learn from Jesus about prayer. You are also encouraged to look up and study verses in each chapter that you are unfamiliar with that spark your interest.