2020 Book Review #17:Praying with Power

I've been leading a small group Bible Study for church members/attenders since 2010.  This semester we studied a Woman of Faith book.  It was very good!  We actually have 2 more meetings:  discuss the last chapter, and then a Dessert and Drinks night as a social event where we will all share one thing we learned via this study.

SUMMARY

The book is divided into 12 chapters.  Each chapter has Scriptures to look up, short anecdotal readings and questions to answer/discuss.  Each chapter also has a "Digging Deeper" component where each person can do a bit more research on specific Scriptures and share her thoughts via journaling or any notes she takes regarding the Scripture or thoughts presented.  At the end of each chapter there is usually a Scripture to read and a prayer.  We've been praying over the Scripture and then re-writing the prayers in our own words for our journals.  Each chapter also includes a page for writing down prayer requests and taking notes. At the beginning of each chapter, under the title, there is a main Scripture...kind of like the theme for the chapter.  Each chapter has about 10-12 questions for "homework". Each chapter also includes little quotes from the various Women of Faith (the women on the team)

Here are the chapter titles:

1. Call to Me ( Jeremiah 33:3)
2. Boldly Go (Hebrews 4: 16)
3. Teach Us To Pray (Luke 11:1)
4. Prayer Closets (2 Kings 4:33)
5. Two-Way Conversations (Jeremiah 22:29)
6. Journaling Prayers (Job 19:23)
7. Praying Through Passages (Psalm 119:162)
8. Praying Out Loud (Acts 12:12)
9. Warriors and Intercessors (Romans 1:9)
10. The Attitude of Prayer (Phiippians 2:5)
11. How He Answers (Psalm 138:3)
12. Saying Thank You (Colossians 4:2)

MY THOUGHTS

I love that the study is easy and quick.  Each chapter is very easy....sometimes too easy but if you are the leader, you can add to it by including other thought-provoking questions for your members or have them do some research as to the culture and context of the Scripture.  

My favorite chapters were numbers 2, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12. 

In the back of the book is a leader's guide which I never referred to other than one time when a Scripture listed didn't make sense (we discovered there was an editing error!!). The leader guide is basically just each chapter with the answers to the questions that are based on Scripture ( the more objective ones vs the subjective ones).  I find that as a leader I don't want to rely on those as I want to do the homework like everyone else and also you don't get much out of it if you just copy down what the author has put for those questions!

The book had a foreward  written by Patsy Clairmont which I really enjoyed. The small introduction was written by Barbara Johnson.  The study itself was written by Christa Kinde whom I had never heard of.  

In my opinion, this study is appropriate for any Believer or seeker of Christ over age 14.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest I rate this an 8.