Over the weekend, my husband and I saw the movie War Room. We weren’t sure what the theme was, but we’d heard it was a very good Christian film. Much to our surprise, Priscilla Shirer played the lead character. In case you’re unaware of who she is, Priscilla is an inspiring speaker, author and women’s Bible study teacher. But who knew she could act? Apparently someone did, and in my opinion, she does it very well.
But I digress.
Have you ever been amazed at how God orchestrates events in your life so that there is a definite theme? You know what I mean…you open your Bible to a particular scripture that speaks to a struggle you’re having. Then, you attend church and the pastor is speaking on that very issue. Or, you open up a devotional and it directs you to that same passage. I don’t know why I’m always so awestruck when God speaks to me—that He so intimately knows my heart and struggles as well as my fear and failures. That He will continually answer prayer, bring comfort and lead me in a direction that honors Him.
Sitting in a somewhat crowded movie theater watching War Room was one of those God moments. We’d attended church that morning and the guest speaker brought to us an inspiring message about discipleship and how we’re called, as Christians, to be discipled by Jesus and then, through His Spirit, disciple others. But there was another theme to this movie that struck my heart and soul—the importance of prayer in a world that is under spiritual attack. Namely, Satan.
We are a culture quick to judge others and defend ourselves. We find ways to justify our actions because our needs/wants/rights aren’t being met. It happens in marriages, parent-child relationships, careers… in any and every circumstance where two or more people are involved. And yes, it’s statistically shameful how often it happens in the church.
And although I’ve been aware of this for some time, there was still an “aha” moment as I watched a powerful scene in this movie. Elizabeth Jordan (Priscilla Shirer) realizes under the tutelage of an older, mature Christian, that her fight isn’t with her husband, but with Satan. John 10:10 states, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” And he will use any means to do so. So, she renounces Satan aloud, banishing him from her home, from the hearts of her husband and child and from her life. She and her family are under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
If this country is to have any chance of pulling out of the mess we’re in, we need to come together and fight the enemy—and he’s not our neighbor or our spouse or our co-worker. He is Satan, the author of lies. See him for who he is and know he will do anything to be lord of this world. And as hard as it is to hear, we are slave to one or the other—Jesus or Satan. It is the lie of the enemy that leads us to believe we are our own.
It is the second part of John 10:10 that is the promise, “I (Jesus) have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Unless we’re intimately connected with Jesus, we won’t see the blessing of this promise. I can work shoulder-to-shoulder with my husband day in and day out, but without the face-to-face communication, intimacy cannot be retained. It’s the same with Jesus. Unless we are connected through prayer and discipleship, we cannot retain a lasting intimacy. And without intimacy, the battle cannot be won. It starts with a prayer.
The battle-ground has been drawn. Which side of the war do you stand on?
