War Room

I went to see War Room the weekend it opened and I enjoyed it immensely. I would recommend it because the story is such a great example of the power of prayer.

As the movie begins, we meet Elizabeth and Tony Jordan, a married couple who seemingly can't be in the same room without fighting. Part of the issue stems from the fact that Tony is a pharmaceutical sales rep who is often on the road, and doesn't often communicate when he'll be gone. 

Then Elizabeth meets Miss Clara, an older woman selling her house in order to move in with her son.

Miss Clara soon realizes that what Elizabeth needs most has nothing to do with a successful real estate deal. She begins to ask Elizabeth about her family's church going habits, and Elizabeth responds that they attend when they can. Then Miss Clara brings out two cups of coffee, a piping hot one for herself and a room temperature one for Elizabeth. The younger woman asks Miss Clara why she drinks lukewarm coffee, to which Clara responds that hers is good and hot. She then explains that just as Elizabeth was disgusted by the lukewarm coffee, God is disgusted by a lukewarm faith. After replacing Elizabeth's coffee with a fresh cup, they finish their coffee and Miss Clara shows Elizabeth her War Room, a walk-in closet that she has turned into a place for prayer. She encourages Elizabeth to create one of her own, knowing that fervent prayer is essential for the renewal of the younger woman's marriage.

Elizabeth is reluctant at first, and tries to create a space for prayer in her closet while still using it as a closet. This leads to a hilarious scene where the Jordan's daughter Dani and her friend Jenny find Elizabeth sitting on a beanbag chair in the closet eating potato chips. Elizabeth then realizes that if she is serious about creating a space to pray, she needs to do the job right. She cleans everything out, places her Bible on the shelf, and writes out prayers to tape on the walls.

Meanwhile, Tony is on a business trip, and as the trip ends, he is fired. He comes home fully expecting to defend himself against Elizabeth's anger, and is unsure how to react when the anger doesn't come. This causes him to wonder what happened while he was gone.  The change in her heart eventually leads him into a deeper relationship with Christ as well, which causes him to reevaluate what he sees as important in his own life. He also comes clean about mistakes he has made.

Critics of this movie have said that the plot is too perfect to realistic, and to an extent, I can see their point. We can't change the people around us. However, one thing that some of these critics aren't considering is the power of Christ. In the movie, Clara doesn't change Elizabeth and Elizabeth doesn't change Tony. Christ works through Miss Clara to change Elizabeth's heart, and fills in the gaps of Tony's confusion to change his heart.

Will every similar situation turn out the same way? No, but that doesn't mean that prayer is not a good thing. Even if Tony had never changed, Elizabeth's outlook of the situation had changed, and she was committed to keeping the peace, even if Tony hadn't been. Sometimes God doesn't change our circumstances, but he changes us so that we are able to deal with them. However, he also has the power to change our circumstances in ways that don't even seem possible, as is illustrated in this film.