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Recently I saw the movie, "War Room," and it made a big impression on me. I definitely recommend that every believer see it. Spoiler Alert: The war room is actually a prayer closet.
Praying in a closet is not a new idea, of course.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:6 King James Version (KJV)
Jesus, in the middle of his most famous sermon, talked about the motive of giving and praying. Chapter 6 tells us not to give or pray just so that people can see how generous you are or be impressed with your eloquent speeches.
Instead of trying to make everyone think you are so close to God that your prayers influence Him, get real with God. Go to a quiet place where you won't be interrupted and lay it all out before Him. Tell Him the good, the bad and the ugly. He knows it anyway! You will feel better for having vented; once everything is off your chest, you can begin to listen. The Holy Spirit will bring scripture to your remembrance. He can speak to your heart. Maybe He will use words, or maybe He will speak to your spirit and you'll just know.
Pray until you feel peace. It might take some time but what do you to do that is more important? (Here is where I'm preaching to myself!)
Another thing I love about the movie "War Room," is it's title. Very militant. I feel passionately that we as believers need to get militant about our prayers.
We act like praying is the last resort but it should be the first thing in offense. Read Ephesians 6 which talks about spiritual armor. We wouldn't need armor if we weren't supposed to fight!
I especially like the Amplified Version of verse 18 as it caps off the final piece of armor:
With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people
We have our marching orders - it's time to get serious and persevere in prayer.
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Now, it is time to link-up!!
Jerralea, so wonderful that you are also hosting! I love the idea of a prayer room, but for me, prayer has to be portable -- kind of like the Tabernacle and the people of Israel in the wanderings. So, I keep my Bible, prayer notebook, and anything else I'm using all in a dumpy old backpack that I call "my tent" and I grab it whenever I go out the door -- I can read and pray in school parking lots, outside my kids' piano teacher's house, whenever I'm waiting for a child to come or go.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the movie yet but heard wonderful things about it :) So important the importance of prayer and to live a praying life where we not only pray in a prayer room but constantly throughout the day. I like to pray alone, out loud. It was hard to get used to whisper prayers when our schedules changed and hubby was home in the mornings, my time of prayer, but it worked out. I always end my prayers with "In Jesus' name I pray, amen." When we had Koda, he knew those words, he was my prayer partner, often right by me when I prayed. He knew when I finished those words it was time to go and get "dad" still sleeping and wake him up for breakfast :)
ReplyDeleteHave fun with your hostess duties.
betty
Jerralea what a wonderful post. I was completely taken with War Room, although I don't have a specific room where I pray. It seems the Lord and I do a lot of serious talking when I am exercising, or during my quiet time in the morning. I am certain that I do not give enough time and effort to prayer, and War Room made me realize that we have untapped power. Thank you, thank you for hosting at The Loft. What a beautiful addition you are to our group!
ReplyDeletesuch a great post
ReplyDeleteA so good to read post! The War Room is an inspiration to me even weeks after seeing it! I have garnered a corner of the closet for posting some of my written prayers; however, it's my quest to pray all over our home and every other place I am privileged to journey. Thank you, Jerralea. It's a pleasure!
ReplyDelete