War Room Wonders

Have you seen the movie “War Room” yet? If not, I strongly advise it, man or woman. The insight from this movie on just how powerful prayer is can really open your eyes. That is exactly what it did for me.

The movie “War Room” is, basically, about a woman who finds a spiritual mentor who teaches her how to improve her prayer life. When I first watched this movie, it really hit me how prayer is powerful, and when you do it right, you can see the difference. It took me a couple months, but I finally realized I wanted a war room for myself so I could improve my own prayer life.

Making a war room took three easy steps:

1. Finding a spot to call my own, and just my own.

2. Making it comfortable, and keep a bible, pen and notebook/notepads around.

3. Making time for Jesus, even when I didn’t think I had too much to spare.

Now, for me, finding a space to call my own was extremely tricky (I live in a dorm room). The greatest solution I came up with was creating a space under my bed, which is lifted off the ground of course, and I have made a little nook for myself to go into. Even though it may seem impossible, it is. I just had to get creative.

After creating this little war room, I took my bible, my journal and a couple of notepads to write prayer requests on (kind of like the woman did in the movie).

When I first started using my war room, my first set of prayer requests were a bit basic. Pray for my family, my friends, good health and peace. Not that these things shouldn’t be prayed for, but they were just surface level requests, and I knew in my heart that there was more to pray about, I just couldn’t think of it yet.

Quite a few days had gone by with just praying these simple requests, and I didn’t really see a difference that my prayers had made.

In the evening of the same day that I conjured up that thought, I received a random message from a friend (who I haven’t spoken to for four years) saying that he was proud of me.

At first, I was extremely confused. Proud of what?
Well, he told me that he could see from my social media that God was really working in my life, and that he was glad that I built my relationship up with Him.

At first, I was very taken back. I struggle just as much as the next person with my relationship with God, and I definitely didn’t feel like my social media portrayed my relationship with Him very well.

Either way, what he said was extremely kind, and random, so I told him thank you. I asked him how his relationship was doing, and he told me that he was actually struggling with God. A LOT.

I won’t go into detail, but long story short, my friend told me he was running from what God wanted him to do. He was scared to follow God’s calling for him, and he asked me to pray for him. OF COURSE I would pray for him! I felt like this was the prayer I was waiting for God to give me to make a difference in someone’s life.

I immediately went to my war room, wrote down him name on a sticky note, and prayed for my friend for at least 10 minutes (that may not seem like much time until you’re actually praying for 10 minutes straight). I did this every night for about a week, and I finally received a message back from my friend. He thanked me for everything I had done for him, and he told me he was on his way to a new state to start his new journey.

The amount of joy that filled my heart when I read his message is too much to express in words. Literally ALL I did was pray for my friend, and God was able to use him like he intended to. I had never felt like my prayers made a difference in anyone’s life until that night.

From that point on, I was addicted to prayer. I was writing down every prayer request, thinking of every possible person to pray for, and I did it. My time extended from 10 minutes, to 30 minutes, to even an hour at one point. Once I figured out how to pray and stay focused on my prayers, God turned me into a prayer warrior. He gave me people to pray for, and a heart that desired to do it.

Starting my own “war room” has made a huge impact not only in my life, but also to the lives around me, and it has improved my relationship with God. I notice every day that when I have prayed for a friend, (with or without them knowing) God reveals to me just what my prayer did, and the impact it made on that person's life.

I continue to pray in my war room every night, and I have a long, LONG list that keeps growing, and God continues to make my list even longer.

It definitely seemed crazy at first, but the prayers that God has answered when I called are proof that I know he is listening, and he is using me as his warrior. I know that God needs warriors, prayer warriors, to help fight his battle with the devil.

So my question for you is: when will you start your war room?