You’re Being Targeted
Prayer Call/ Bible Study Recap 7.16.25
Text: Excerpt from Fervent by Priscilla Shirer
Theme: You’re Being Targeted
Last night, we gathered around something raw and real:
Loneliness isn’t just an emotion.
It’s a pressure point — one the enemy exploits to make you believe you’re forgotten, failing, and spiritually ineffective.
But in reality?
You’re in transition.
You’re being invited deeper.
And that ache you feel isn’t a sign of absence — it’s a sign of awakening.
What We Read
We unpacked a powerful excerpt from Fervent, reminding us that:
“If I were your enemy, I’d want to make you devalue the most potent weapons in your arsenal. I’d strategize against you using carefully calculated methods to disorient and defeat you.”
The enemy isn’t just attacking your day —
he’s after your prayer life, your focus, your identity, your family, and your fire.
We named the reality:
Most of us aren’t just tired.
We’re under spiritual pressure — and we haven’t been taught how to fight back.
The Takeaways:
Enemy Strategy 1: Your Passion
Target: Dimming your spiritual fire and cutting off your desire to pray.
“If I were your enemy, I’d seek to dim your passion, dull your interest in spiritual things, dampen your belief in God’s ability and willingness to act.”
How the enemy attacks:
Through busyness, fatigue, distraction, and comparison
You start feeling “blah” spiritually — like nothing moves you
You forget what used to light you up
Prayer Focus:
“Lord, reignite my hunger for You. Burn away the boredom and remind me what it’s like to feel Your presence. Let my passion for You outshine every lesser pursuit.”
Journal Prompt:
What’s been draining my passion lately?
What once stirred my spirit that I’ve neglected?
Enemy Strategy 2: Your Focus
Target: Your ability to stay mentally clear and spiritually aligned.
“If I were your enemy, I’d constantly distract you.”
How the enemy attacks:
Mental fog, overstimulation, anxiety, endless to-do’s
Your attention is fragmented — you feel pulled in 10 directions
You chase productivity but lose intimacy with God
Prayer Focus:
“God, anchor my mind. Bind every distraction and renew my attention to Your voice. Let me move from chaos to clarity.”
Journal Prompt:
What’s stealing my focus today?
What voices have been louder than God’s?
Enemy Strategy 3: Your Identity
Target: Who you believe you are in Christ.
“If I were your enemy, I’d devalue your identity.”
How the enemy attacks:
Self-doubt, insecurity, imposter syndrome
You question your worth, calling, and voice
You feel too broken, too behind, or not enough
Prayer Focus:
👑 “God, remind me who I am in You. I cancel every lie I’ve believed about my identity. I am chosen, called, equipped, and covered.”
Journal Prompt:
What lie about myself have I unknowingly agreed with?
What does God say about me instead?
Enemy Strategy 4: Your Family
Target: Marriages, children, friendships, generational alignment.
“If I were your enemy, I’d attack your home.”
How the enemy attacks:
Division, miscommunication, generational cycles, emotional distance
You’re constantly offended, exhausted, or shut down in family dynamics
He’ll pit your priorities against each other to drain your energy
Prayer Focus:
🏠 “God, cover my household. Heal what’s broken, restore what’s dry. Make my home a sanctuary and safe space again.”
Journal Prompt:
Where is my family most vulnerable right now?
What healing or boundaries need to happen?
Enemy Strategy 5: Your Past
Target: Old wounds, shame, trauma, or regret.
“If I were your enemy, I’d keep bringing up your past so you never walk confidently in your present.”
How the enemy attacks:
He replays past pain like a highlight reel
He makes you feel disqualified from leading, loving, or healing
You feel stuck in a loop of guilt or shame
Prayer Focus:
📜 “God, I release my past into Your hands. I am not defined by what happened — I am defined by who You are and what You redeemed.”
Journal Prompt:
What memory still grips me emotionally?
What does healing look like here?
Enemy Strategy 6: Your Fears
Target: Irrational worry, control issues, paralysis in decision-making.
“If I were your enemy, I’d magnify your fear until faith looks foolish.”
How the enemy attacks:
By feeding you worst-case scenarios
You start trusting fear more than God
You delay obedience out of anxiety
Prayer Focus:
“God, perfect love casts out fear. I choose to walk by faith, not by feelings. I trust You to go before me.”
Journal Prompt:
What fear has been holding me hostage?
What would I do today if I trusted God completely?
Enemy Strategy 7: Your Purity
Target: Compromise, distraction through sin, soul clutter.
“If I were your enemy, I’d tempt you with small compromises until you lose conviction.”
How the enemy attacks:
Through subtle desensitization
You start justifying what once convicted you
The more you indulge, the less you hear God clearly
Prayer Focus:
“Lord, purify my desires. Expose what I’ve allowed that dulls my spirit. Give me clean hands and a clean heart.”
Journal Prompt:
What have I made room for that doesn’t honor God?
What needs to go for me to live consecrated again?
Enemy Strategy 8: Your Pressures
Target: The stress, busyness, and pace that lead to burnout.
“If I were your enemy, I’d keep you so busy you forget what matters most.”
How the enemy attacks:
Makes you glorify hustle over holiness
Pressures you to perform instead of pray
Turns your schedule into your master
Prayer Focus:
“God, quiet my soul. Remind me I’m not called to do everything — I’m called to obey You. Teach me to rest and release.”
Journal Prompt:
What have I taken on that God didn’t assign me?
Where do I need to slow down to hear Him again?
Enemy Strategy 9: Your Hurts
Target: Offense, bitterness, and emotional wounds.
“If I were your enemy, I’d use pain to poison your perspective.”
How the enemy attacks:
Keeps you in cycles of unforgiveness
Builds emotional walls that block healing
You operate from defense instead of love
Prayer Focus:
“Lord, I bring You my hurt. Heal what others can’t see. Teach me to forgive quickly and to live free from bitterness.”
Journal Prompt:
Who or what still holds emotional power over me?
What would forgiveness set me free from?
Enemy Strategy 10: Your Relationships
Target: Friendships, mentorships, and divine connections.
“If I were your enemy, I’d isolate you. I’d twist your perception of people and kill your trust.”
How the enemy attacks:
Through misunderstanding, ghosting, or mistrust
You withdraw from safe people or settle for toxic ones
You confuse protection with isolation
Prayer Focus:
“God, heal my relationships. Bring divine partnerships into my life and remove every connection that drains or distracts.”
Journal Prompt:
What relationships have been divinely sent — and which have I outgrown?
Where have I let fear keep me from connection?
With All This Being Said…
ROOT + RIVER BOOK CLUB IS HERE!
But wait! Let me tell how this happened.
Okay y’all — so Saturday night, after a LOOONNNG day with the kids, I sat down to finally re-read the first chapter of Fervent by Priscilla Shirer. I’ve been trying to start this book for months, but life has been (and will forever be) life-ing. And whew, chile...
I read this line:
“A very real enemy has been strategizing and scheming against you —assaulting you, coming after your emotions, your mind, your man, your child, your future.”
I had to close the book and just sit with God.
Because the truth is — the enemy’s been playing in my face, especially these past few months. And yes, I’ve been praying, but in my spirit I know there is another level I havent tapped into.
Those words didn’t sit right with me.
I felt the conviction — and not only that, but the urgency.
And in that moment, I heard the Holy Spirit say:
“You were never meant to read this book alone. This is for the community. Start the book club — NOW.”
So that’s exactly what we’re doing.
The Root + River Book Club is officially UP.
And Fervent is our first divine assignment.
This isn’t just a cute read.
It’s a blueprint for spiritual war.
For every woman who’s been feeling off, worn out, overwhelmed — this is for YOU.
This book will realign you.
Resuscitate your spirit.
And remind you how to fight with fire and strategy.
Tap here to grab your copy from my Amazon storefront.
Our next meeting is happening:
Sunday, July 20th @ 7PM EST
Let me know if you’re in, and I’ll send you the link! Also, let me know of any recommendations you have for the group!
And Sis… please don’t gatekeep lol… Invite a sister who needs a community like this.
Closing Prayer
Lord,
I bring You my ache, not as proof of failure,
but as evidence that I’m being refined.
Where the enemy has tried to disarm me —
teach my hands to war again.
Where loneliness has lingered —
let it become the altar where Your presence falls fresh.
I declare I am not forgotten. I am not confused. I am not finished.
I am fortified.
In Jesus' name, amen.
You’re not crazy. You’re not weak. You’re in a fight. And you’re not fighting alone.
See you Sunday. Come ready.
Love you big,
Erika 🤍
Root + River