Prayer Life in War Room

How's your prayer life? Would you say it is hot? Cold? Somewhere in between?

I imagine that most of us would admit that it isn't as hot as it could be but that it's not nonexistent. Some of us might confess that prayer time comes primarily right before eating and maybe during a bad headache or preceding a test we may not have studied well for.

Last weekend I had the privilege to see the new movie War Room and I was impressed by the power of prayer depicted in the movie. This is not a movie review, although I highly recommend that you watch it at some point, even if you wait until Netflix has it. Don't worry, I won't spoil anything. But I wanted to talk about prayer.

In the movie, the main character is asked whether her prayer life is hot or cold. She replies that it's somewhere in the middle. She is then served a cup of lukewarm coffee to prove the point that it is better to be hot or to be cold.

We often tell ourselves that we are better than being lukewarm, but I think we get comfortable in our salvation and think, "I'll pray tomorrow. Today's going pretty well. I don't really need anything."

First of all, prayer is not for when we need something. It is to be an ongoing conversation with God.

Second, you will always need prayer. Whether you are fighting temptation or struggling through a storm or simply trying to do God's will, you will never find a time in which prayer is not appropriate.

Another point I drew from the movie was that, when you're praying for someone, it's really hard to see them as the enemy. The focus is turned from your fellow creation to the Enemy of our souls. When you take the battle to the right enemy, chances of victory will increase.

Prayer also allows us to turn our problems over to God; in return, we receive peace.

Maybe the biggest thing I walked away with was the realization that, although the movie inspired me to clean out my closet and make myself a "war room", I was going to go home, go to bed, get up, do life, and go back to bed, all without even saying "Hi" to God. And to be honest, I have live up to my expectation.

But I want that to change. I want to learn to fight in prayer, to be a prayer warrior. But to do that I'm going to need divine help.

I hope that your prayer life is vibrant, but if you feel like it's lacking, I encourage you to see War Room. I know: there are plenty of "cheesy Christian" scenes (but what is a Christian movie without some bad acting?). But I think it is worth the watch.

Let's get our prayer life heated back up...starting by actually praying.