Honeybee Briar & The Boys

Author Pricilla Shirer

I absolutely loved this book. 

It will have a place on my shelf where I can go back and refresh my mind.  The Author, Pricilla Shirer opens with a discussion of Spiritual warfare over our hearts and minds. Reminding us why prayer is so important.  She offers an outline for effective and specific prayer over 10 areas of life; Passion, Focus, Identity, Family, Past, Fears, Purity, Pressures, Hurts and Relationships

The book is full of relevant stories, antidotes and scripture.  So much relevant scripture!

A few takeaways that hit my heart and I hope to continue to refer back to are shared below.

Prayer

Releases

All

Your

Eternal

Resources

When writing out your prayers using the PRAY outline helps you to be focused and specific about what you are praying for.   Praise, Repentance, Asking & Yes 

“…Prayer – for any of us – can start out simply as an obedient appointment, and act of discipline, showing up in that prayer closet because it/s the appointed time that we said we’d be there.”   I love this so much! Setting an appointment – actually writing an  appointment into my calendar so I “show” up to be with God.   

I loved how the author ties back to  the Armor of God from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

The real enemy isn’t your husband. Or your teenager. Or your brother’s wife. Or your Mother-in-law.  Or the weather.  Or the traffic. Or your sweet tooth. Or whatever powder keg of frustration really gest under your skin and set you off before you can think straight.  The real enemy – the capital –Enemy”  Stop blaming everyone else for letting the enemy deceive us. Focus on prayer and relationship with Christ.

Fervent prayer keeps your true identity in focus.  Reminds us of who we really are and taps into the power we really have in Christ.

Left to our own devices we really aren’t about to take it all on, not without help.  But these difficulties are imperfections that can discourage us so desperately – the one the devil wants to present as the sum total of our reality – are actually only a part of the battlefield.  And that’s the part that is primed to display God’s glory.

The best marriage we can possibly make on earth still involves a pair of fallen, broken people.

…My job…is not to change that man but to respect him and then leave the rest to the Lord.  When you do this, you’re no letting him off the hook at all – you’re just leaving him to God

The more you pray for your husband, the more the Spirit will shine a spotlight on the places in your own heart and actions that need a bit of work too.

Prayer is the only way to fight in a marriage.

…maybe what your husband needs most right now is for his wife to become a soft, safe place for him to land, rather than a prickly, nagging source of contention that only agitates him and makes things worse.

Your many not be able to control all the discord and unwise choices that occur in the various corners of your house or among the people you share a family with.  But you can make sure the only place you engage in combat is in the heavenlies, in prayer, in secret. 

Take the fight to your prayer room NOT your Livingroom.

Don’t get caught in the spin cycle of ceaseless regrets.

Stop at the place where you first recognize the scent of temptation in the air. And before you touch it, remember…remember where it’s been.  Remember where it came from and who’s behind it…remember the places it’s take you…the places it always ends up taking you….

Sin has consequences!  Separation from God is our doing NOT HIS!  “ …your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” Isa 59:1-2

There’s a baseline level of pressure that’s necessary to keep us from settling into laziness and self-absorption.

LET MY PEOPLE GO , so that they may worship me. (Exod 9:1)

The primary purpose of Sabbath margins – of saying no, when appropriate -is to diminish our devotions to all other suitors and crystallize our allegiance to God. 

Pressure to Maintain / idol of self-reliance

Pressure to take on everything you kids interest / idol of your children

FORGIVE

“Now if anyone has cause pain, you should rather turn to forgive” (2 Cor 2:5,7)

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matt 6:14)

Genuine freedom and renewed fervency are waiting for you on the other side of forgiveness.

PEACE

“Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:1)

…peace with God is individual. Personal. The peace of God-something.  It’s about you, no one else.

I found so many things in this book relevant to my life and day to day family living. I would highly recommend this book!