I see in you a warrior that needs to be awakened… – Miss Clara, The War Room, 2015.
I saw this movie last Sunday and decided to save a copy on my mobile phone. It’s a great story that doesn’t just challenge you to pray but allows you to get a clearer picture that what God’s promises are true and when applied can be a powerful tool.
The story is described by IMB as:
Filled with heart, humor, and wit, WAR ROOM follows Tony and Elizabeth Jordan, a couple who seemingly have it all-great jobs, a beautiful daughter, their dream home. But appearances can be deceiving. In reality, their marriage has become a war zone and their daughter is collateral damage. With guidance from Miss Clara, an older, wiser woman, Elizabeth discovers she can start fighting for her family instead of against them. As the power of prayer and Elizabeth’s newly energized faith transform her life, will Tony join the fight and become the man he knows he needs to be? Together, their real enemy doesn’t have a prayer.
After watching it the second time around, I tried to write some of the lessons. Here are some of the things I’ve realized:
1. Family circumstances can change when we let God be in control – There was a part in the movie that shows Elizabeth praying in her closet after learning that Tony was with another woman. It was at this point that she shows an open heart to accept that in order for her family to change, she has to accept that she’s not in control. Elizabeth quoting the scriptures while praying strongly shows that scriptural prayer works powerfully and that when we declare what God promises in His word through our situations, God takes the lead behind the scenes.
2. The truth sets us free from condemnation and deceit – There were some funny parts of the story that gives simple truths, one of this is when Miss Clara shared spiritual truths through simple examples. Also, Elizabeth overcame her fear from condemnation and made declarations for her home and family. One of the strongest most powerful scene is when she prayed across the room and declared that her house is under new management. I had goosebumps while watching that scene.
3. Believing even when change is not yet seen –What Elizabeth said about trust gives us the assurance that even when we are not seeing the result yet, God will answer it His way one way or another so that “we can all win…”. She started to pray longer, spends more time with her daughter and influenced her in a positive way. The story also shows that when we start praying, the first thing that will change is our own perspective of things, our attitude and response to situations.
4. Sometimes, our fear itself cripples our thoughts to see the change we want to see –the story shifted from Elizabeth to Tony once he read the message from her wife’s friend about the recent visit to Atlanta. He feared for his life and made him think of negatively of his wife. He swapped his meal thinking his wife has bad intentions for preparing dinner.
5. Our response to situations changes when we rely on the Lord to move in our behalf- Tony responded differently when he got kicked out of work but Elizabeth responded differently. She was more positive instead of being sarcastic and angry. Tony on the other hand ends up fearful and distracted,even to the point of defending what has happened.
6. Realization brings freedom to see the change God is doing in our midst – When Tony was looking for his gym bag, he noticed that his wife’s closet was empty and prayer letters were posted on the wall. Tony also came home with a new perspective after his pep talk with his friend and by looking to what his wife was doing. He started to look at the situation differently and it was noticeable that He also wanted to change and ends up with the scene Tony kneling down to pray.
7. God changes our mindset and forgiving someone is our starting point – Tony asked for forgiveness for what he did to his wife and daughter and Elizabeth extended forgiveness to his husband. The same thing happened after Tony made a visit to his former boss and asks for forgiveness from him. His former boss forgave him on a later part of the story.
8. Never live in our past regrets – Elizabeth’s visit to Miss Clara shifted from grumbling to sharing the good things of what’s going on. Elizabeth wanted to meet his mentor’s husband and this is when Miss Clara shared her own story and told Elizabeth on her past mistakes. This part of the story gave me a better ubderstanding on how we should handle past mistakes. It shows a very good lesson that when we let go of our past, we don’t let go of the lessons it entails but move on to do something about it.
9. We can never share what we have not seen or heard – the story as a whole revolves around our own familiar circumstances and how God can change our perspective and the entire situation. Miss Clara challened Elizabeth to share what she has experienced and she also prayed for another person to meet where she can teach her to fight for her family on her knees.
10. Redemption is embedded in our christian genes – Not all story has a happy ending but this one has – Tony gets a job that he wants, Elizabeth was treated well with ice cream and a foot massage while Miss Clara got her prayers answered through Elizabeth taking the challenge. Its is part that I realized that grace is truly one gift that we can have even when we don’t deserve but redemption is our very destiny regardless of the outcome is. It is what Christ did on the cross that sets us free from regrets, our failures and sin. It was His promise and will not change in time.
As a whole, the story just didn’t just challenged me to start praying but gave me a clearer direction on what to do. The love I received from Him in my own life is something worth to keep and share. It is important that we keep sharing what we’ve heard and learned through the scriptures. And that its also important to respond correctly when circumstances arises.
How about you, what have you learned through the movie? Share it to others because you’ll never know how God can use that situation for His name to be known.
God bless!
