Find Your Space
In the movie, The War Room, a very dynamic prayer warrior teaches a young believer the importance of prayer and its use for intervention in her daily walk with God. In one scene, Miss Clara, the prayer crusader, shows Elizabeth, the young believer, her prayer closet, which she calls her “war room.” Elizabeth is overwhelmed with what she sees…hand-written notes covering all the walls, precious needs of all those in Miss Clara’s life. Miss Clara explains to Elizabeth that it’s her prayer strategy, to fight for what she knows God is able to do.
I think most believers struggle in this area, at least I know I do. I begin to pray and get distracted. My mind wanders and I find it hard to focus on the thoughts and requests in my mind and heart. We live in a world of overstimulation. We are bombarded with images and words from TV, music, social media, bill boards, etc. What makes meaningful prayer difficult is that our focus needs to remain on what is unseen, and that is God. I think that’s why that scene in the movie was so powerful, it’s based on Matthew 6:6 which says, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” Having an actual room to go into may not be an option for every believer, but I do believe it’s important for us to somehow learn to eliminate distractions, to create a quiet environment to draw closer to our Heavenly Father.
For as long as I’ve known her, my mother-in-law wakes up in the middle of the night, every morning around 2 a.m., to pray and make her requests known to God. She doesn’t even use an alarm clock; it’s an ingrained habit that she relishes, for which I’m sure the Holy Spirit wakes her. That doesn’t mean early morning prayer is what will work for you, but my point is, we all must seek out what works for us, to make alone time with God a priority and not a fleeting afterthought or distracted, mindless dribble. We must come up with our own prayer strategy, because though our strategies may differ, the enemy we are fighting is the same. Find your space and then exclaim it, “THIS is where I fight my battles!”