Prayers For Progress by Elsie Nene Obed
Book Review Written By Theresa Harvard Johnson
There are days when I can do nothing but put my hand on my hip, kick my leg to the side and shake my head humbly at the Lord. He utterly amazes me, and I never grow tired of His surprises, goodness, grace and awesome sense of humor.
I was sitting in the home of dear friend a year ago following ministry at a writer’s summit, when I had the pleasure of picking up a book entitled, Prayers of Progress: A Compilation of Spiritual Prayers For A Victorious Christian Life, by Elsie Nene Obed. Without hesitation, I kicked off my shoes, leaned back and began to read.
My dear sister in the Lord, who was hosting me for the weekend walked over and said, “I see you’re reading Pastor Elsie’s book?”
I sure was and I couldn’t put it down. Personally, I was standing in the midst of a spiritual transition in my life. I had literally walked away from areas of familiarity that had gripped me for years; and I needed Heaven’s grace to break free and press through. Little did I know that this book would play a significant role in getting me through that season.
“Oh, by the way…Theresa, she’ll be here tomorrow,” my sister-friend said. “I’m sure she’ll send you a case of these books for the conference coming up. She loves being a blessing!”
As she said, I was overcome with joy in meeting Pastor Elsie the following day. And within 48 hours of arriving back in Georgia, a case of books were on my doorstep – true to the woman of God’s word. I couldn’t wait to call Pastor Elsie and let her know they’d arrived. It was my mission and honor to share those books, Kingdom treasures with others.
You see, Prayers For Progress isn’t a book geared toward teaching you how to pray. It doesn’t offer deep expositions on prayer strategies or offer steps on developing one’s prayer life. Instead, it challenges you to (1) pursue intimacy in your walk with the Lord; (2) pray prayers that are simplistic and solidly rooted in the Word; and (3) position yourself in faith to believe that Father will answer His Word.
Each chapter walked out a powerful word in the title, “progress.” Every prayer was advancement – a spiritual challenge and supernatural thrust to destroy complacency, fear and comfort in every area of your life – and push the reader into authority. I couldn’t just read it, I had to move with it or act on the prayers.
There was nowhere to pause and reflect on the past. There was no time for finding your spot in the couch. There was no area in which to focus on negativity. By reading this book, I was moving forward into my freedom, expectancy and belief. For the sake of providing more insight in this area I’m going to share some chapter titles with you:
- Possessing Your Prepared Places
- Establishing the Work of Your Hands
- Prayers to Ignite the Word of God in Your Life
- The Gift of a Sound Mind
Prayers For Progress, in my opinion, isn’t a book written to be read at night before falling asleep. It is one that that requires engagement in your prayer, intercessory or worship position. If a believer is serious about walking into a fresh dimension of intercession and prayer concerning breaking free of ungodly mindsets and thoughts patterns, this would be a great start and finish.
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Pastor Elsie Obed, the President of Lilies International Christian Outreach (LICO), accepted Christ as her personal savior in 1983. Over the next 20 years, she trained and worked as a pioneer church planter and pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria and North America. She incorporated LICO after receiving a ministration from the Holy Spirit to focus on international Christian outreach efforts. With her bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Florida State University, a master’s degree in Social Education from Boston University, and a commitment to the leading of the Holy Spirit, she has been equipped to reach out to the nations in a multicultural ministry. Pastor Elsie is a worshipper and loves and encourages pure worship in her ministry. Her recorded worship CDs entitled Prayersong, Ibakam, Awesome and My Own Emmanuel, communicate her heart in multicultural worship. In her ministry, which also includes workshops, sermons, conferences and the weekday radio program “Worship, Word and Warfare” broadcast on AOL Christian Talk Radio, 570AM (New York metro area) at 9:15 p.m. and TreasureFM (Port Harcourt, Nigeria) at 6:30 a.m., Pastor Elsie teaches the basics without compromising the integrity of the Scripture. She has organized the annual intercessory, interdenominational worship event “Worship His Majesty” since 2003 in New York City, and is in the process of creating similar altars of intercessory worship around the world. She continues to implement the directives of the Holy Spirit with the full support of her husband, Pastor Olusegun Obed of Dayspring Church (New York) and a team of spirit-filled co-workers. Pastor Elsie Obed is a firm believer in praying the Scriptures for spiritual warfare and breakthroughs in life. For more information, visit http://www.liliesinternational.org.
