In Heavenly Armour

It is not our job to find solutions, it's our job to pray and let the Lord do the Heavy Lifting

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Recently my mother-in-Law introduced us to the joys of the Antiques Road Trip programme on the TV whilst having a few meals at our house, and we really enjoyed it. We were thinking of something we could share with her that she would enjoy and remembered a film we had seen a good while ago and decided to show it to her. The film is a Christian film called The War Room, and it is well worth a watch. It is set in America and tells the story of a Christian family whose lives are falling apart, and a wife who meets an older Godly praying lady who is selling her house. A relationship builds between the ladies when the older woman introduces the younger to her favourite room in the house, a small closet room. The younger is astounded as the walls of the small room are covered with papers containing prayers and answers to prayer. What is this she asks? This is my war room, it’s in here I pray and see God answer is her reply. The rest of the film is about the younger woman establishing her own war room and the way the Lord moves in her marriage and life. A lovely film but it spoke to me again so much this week. I`d like to share some of the things the Lord spoke to me about through the film. 

Firstly, make a time and a place to pray Matthew 6:6 says “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.  Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (NLT). Now this might seem like an easy thing to do, but it takes time and determination to pray. You need to make time to be by yourself (not always the easiest thing to do in a busy house or a busy life) but however you do it, a small room or space in the house, a daily walk, or whatever works for you, clear time and space to pray; just you and the Lord. Shut the door behind you. If you’re in a room then use the physical door, close yourself in with the Lord or if not then shut the door to distractions (honestly the hardest thing I find, especially in this age of mobile phones they never cease with their enticement to just check something or text someone) or if finding space in the house is hard, go for a walk. Walk and talk with the Lord its good for the body and the soul!  And your Father who sees everything will reward you. It takes time and practice but God is waiting for you to make the time and space and He will be there, waiting to meet you.

Secondly use the word of God as your strategy for prayer. Ask the Lord to give you promises and revelations from His word to pray over the people/ situations you are praying for. No General ever went into battle without a strategy, he would be called reckless and negligent to send his men into battle without a battle plan. God has given the battle plan through His word. We just need to ask the Holy Spirit how to use it. “Lord please reveal to me today from your word how to pray and what to pray over these needs”.

Next takes notes of the meeting. When business meetings take place there is always someone taking the minutes (notes) of the meeting or people might forget the key points. I never used to make any notes of my prayer times with the Lord. But now I write down what I’ve asked for and what He has revealed to me through His word for my own growth and for prayer over situations. This not only reminds us of what we have prayed for but encourages us when we see the prayers answered. This encourages us to pray and be specific in our prayers.

So now we are ready to pray! But it’s how to pray that is the question.

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In the film the younger woman was asked to write down all the things about her husband and her marriage that was the problem. She filled 3 pages, but the older woman just ignored the list. When asked why she replied the list was the wrong list. It was full of bitterness towards her husband, and complaining about her unhappiness. The older woman explained that you can’t pray clearly out of bitterness. So, the first prayer was to repent of the bitterness, forgive her husband, and to ask the Lord to replace it with love. Ephesians gives really good guidance on this matter Ephesians 4:26 “Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry (hurt). For anger (hurt) gives a foothold to the Devil. And Verse 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” (NLT) This really spoke to me, bitterness can spring up over the most unexpected things, and if not dealt with can grow into a massive root and tree that blocks out all the sun of the Lord’s love. It can leave you feeling cold and hard and well just plain bitter! And you really can`t pray effectively out of bitterness. So, first step is to recognise and own the bitterness (honest it’s no good pretending with God) and repent. Ask the Lord to replace it with His love. It’s such a relief when he does, and then you can be in a better place to do battle for the person/situation.

The older woman then explained that the list was also wrong, as it sought to attack the person themselves. To list all their faults and behaviours and the results of the behaviours which was destroying her marriage and family life. She explained that to achieve victory and change we need to address the battle to the real source of the problem. Ephesians 6:12 says “For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” (NLT).

Now if we have been a Christian for a number of years we know this truth in our heads, but when we get overtaken with fear and emotion, we forget it. We start seeing the people/situation as the real enemy, and start to tell the Lord that He needs to put them right and how to do that. But I was so reminded that the battle is against the unseen world and the chaos that is being directed from there to disrupt our lives and rob us of our peace. So it is against these forces that we need to pray. We put on the armour of God to protect us, found in Ephesians 6:10-11 (“Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God`s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all STRATEGIES of the devil.”) (NLT) Ephesians 6:13-17 list all of these. And Ephesians 6:18 directs us to “Pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (NLT).

Then the older woman gave the younger woman one other priceless bit of advice.  Go away and pray for your husband and family in this way, be repentant, forgive your husband and  pray the word the Lord gives you over the situation, direct your prayers against the powers and authorities of the unseen world, and pray in the Spirit. She reminded her that it was not her job to sort out the problems, but to use Gods prayer (war) strategy to defeat the devils (war) strategy, and then thank the Lord in anticipation. Because it is not our job to find solutions, its our job to pray and let the Lord do the Heavy Lifting!!!

The film has been a great inspiration and tutorial for me this week.  And as for the end of the story well………..You will have to watch the film to find out. 

Author: Jan Pearson

May God bless and enrich your life

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