Mountain View
Book Reviews - Faith

Book Review: Women Who Move Mountains

The title of the book drew my attention. Women Who Move Mountains: praying with confidence, boldness and grace. Prayer has been a central part of my life. I was curious about Sue Detweiler’s perspective.

The first chapter is titled I Believe: Transforming Fear into Faith.  The  author tells her own story of a fearful event that became a foundation for faith. She expresses a theme of the book with these encouraging words: Coming toward the light of Jesus will bring peace to your heart and mind. You don’t have to have everything figured out. You just need to know the One who holds the world together–Jesus!

Several chapters give examples of the brokenness caused by sexual abuse and/or abortion.  Tragic relationships and the abuse of  women  occurred in Bible times. And still happens. Detweiler records the stories of women.

The Bible gives guidance for help and healing. Detweiler refers to the woman with the alabaster flask (Luke 7: 36-50) in chapter five. This woman, a known sinner, washes Jesus feet with her tears and anoints him with a valuable perfume. The men that are with Jesus are outraged because she touches Jesus. Jesus defends the woman. He proclaims that her sins are forgiven. He does not judge her; he heals her.

Other areas of brokenness that are addressed in the book include perfectionism, anxiety, pride, shame and sadness. Jesus knows the situations that we as women face. Our Savior offers forgiveness and healing. We are all broken in different ways.   We may try to fix the problem  with   limited success. Detweiler provides scripture to show that healing and fulfillment comes through a relationship with the Savior.

Like Rhonda in chapter 19, I have lost a son. My story is similar because I continued to pray, to talk with God.    Through prayer I received  God’s  answer to my pain and loss. I have found peace. Our family has been blessed with a growing faith in God’s love for us.

The chapters of the book alternate between the stories of women and a study outline for overcoming difficult issues. The odd number include lessons from biblical women. The even number chapters provide a study sheet that can be worked through individually or with a group.

In addition to praying for healing the book provides guidance for praying with grace, humility and boldness. The Bible verses for guidance are well chosen. Like Sue Detweiler I believe that prayer is vitally important.

Part two of the book is organized into 21 days of reflection and prayer. If you are seeking a a deeper relationship with God, if you want to improve your prayer life, you will appreciate the guidance in this book.

Sharing this post with Literacy Musing Monday,  Faith on Fire and Booknificent Thursday

Carol is a follower of Jesus and a wife, mom & grandma. She worked for many years as a childbirth nurse and prenatal educator. She recently retired from clinical work. She has written articles for nursing journals and devotionals. Her novel, Aliisa's Letter, was published in 2010 and she is currently working on another project.

8 Comments on “Book Review: Women Who Move Mountains

  1. Hi, thanks for linking up with the #LMMLinkup this week. Your post was the most read. I hope you will come back often and link up with us. 😉

  2. This sounds like such a great book. I can’t imagine experience such a loss. What a blessing that God has grown your faith.

    Thank you for sharing at Literacy Musing Mondays.

  3. Thank you for sharing about such an important book! I hope it will bless many women. I’m also very sorry to hear about the tragic loss of your son. I cannot imagine the intense grief that would have followed you day in and day out. I’m glad that you could continually turn to the Lord in your distress. I did once have a glimpse of it one night in a dream where my son died. The experience felt real and the grief was very real. I asked the why and how questions and I felt the anguish that his sisters would have to go through life without their big brother. But, in my case, I got to wake up and realize that it was just a dream. I did a lot of praying for the next few days for him. He was involved in a car accident as a passenger about a week later, but nothing too serious. Perhaps the dream was God moving me to pray more fervently. I’m visiting from Booknificent Thursdays.

    1. The truth is that I learned so much about God’s love (and the freedom to pour out my heart in prayer) as our family walked through this experience. I miss my son–but I am grateful the way God used this time to draw me close. Each of our children are following the Lord Jesus. I’m glad you prayed for your son, and that he was okay!

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