I first heard a few months ago that the new Kendrick Brothers movie would tackle the topic of prayer. I knew, based on the way Fireproof tackled marriage and Courageous tackled being a father, that this had the potential to be a powerful movie for the Lord. Prayer is something we hear a lot about in Christianity, but I wonder if people are really praying as they should.
This movie may help be the spark that ignites Christians to seek the Lord as they should. War Room is the story of Tony and Elizabeth Jordon and their daughter. Successful on the outside with what most consider the American Dream, the family is actually falling apart. Tony and Elizabeth are constantly fighting. Their marriage is looking like it might crumble. Then Elizabeth, a real estate agent, meets her new client, Miss Clara, an elderly woman looking to sell her home and move in with her son.
Miss Clara is a fireball. A strong Christian woman, she befriends Elizabeth and begins to show the young, bitter wife how to fight the battle for her marriage and her family through prayer instead of arguing and harshness.
This movie is the story of several relationships. As I watched the relationship between Clara and Elizabeth develop, I realized how much I long for that same mentoring relationship. Watching an older, wiser, more experienced Christian woman reach out with love and friendship touched a core piece of me. I wondered if we are really reaching out to the younger generation of women as Titus 2 discusses. I also wonder how many you get women don't accept the wisdom of the older women out of pride or disrespect.
The next relationship is the relationship between Elizabeth and her daughter. At one point Elizabeth realizes just how little she has focused on her daughter, how little she even knows about her daughter. It's a touching moment that most parents will relate to if they have ever let busyness or daily struggles take more of their attention than their children. We also see how Elizabeth influences her daughter with the example of faith she begins to set and the love and attention shown.
The next relationship is Tony and Elizabeth. Their marriage is in serious trouble, but as you watch the movie, you realize the issues for Tony go very deep. As Elizabeth is mentored by Clara, and she responds by reaching out to the Lord, the issues with Tony grow much darker.
The final relationships are the ones between Elizabeth and God and Tony and God. Elizabeth, as she learns to fight her battles in prayer, transforms in front of your eyes. It is a beautiful love story that I never tire of seeing, the Lord awakening one of His daughters to rise up and become the jewel He made her to be.
The transformation of Tony seems too good to be true, unless you have seen God work like that in real life. God amazes me often with His transforming power. Tony was not a nice man. He was not an ethical man. Like many of us, he resisted turning to God until the world caved in around him, until his unethical behaviors began to catch up to him. Seeing his actions, only those that acknowledge that they too were once similar before Christ found them would even think he deserved any goodness from God. Most think he deserves whatever tough consequences he gets.
Unless you've been in a similar place, prideful and egotistical and filled with anger, the beauty of God touching such a man might be lost. After all, he doesn't deserve God's forgiveness and mercy. But... None of us do. As someone that understands both Elizabeth and Tony, I know how the forgiveness and grace of Jesus can humble a person and completely turn them upside down inside. It's amazing.
I like that Tony didn't find God and suddenly everything was all better. I like that War Room showed consequences for sin, and consequences for God's grace.
I hope this movie spurs Christians around the globe to pray and seek the Lord like never before. I can't think of anything more powerful up that can be done in this world than to be praying for Jesus to pour out His Spirit on and in all of us. I hope thousands of people clear out a room or a closet or even a small corner and sets up a spot where they faithfully pray every day.
I pray this movie touches lives all over the world for Jesus.
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