I have been told by everyone that the new Christian movie, "War
Room" is terrific in every respect. As best I can tell, it has been
out a few weeks now and has attracted a lot of moviegoers.
As many of you readers know, I am ADHD, so movies are a challenge for me. I can last through most t.v. shows, but unless the movie is really captivating, I may NOT be able to last. Although our cable package provides LOTS of good movies, I don't recall ever volunteering to watch one.
Apparently, the two-fold central message of "War Room" is that we are engaged in warfare, which is easy to see, and that prayer is a KEY part of the battle... which also seems easy to see- but not so fast.
Prayer as central to the battle for the hearts of mankind? Really?
We American Christians are a people of ACTION. We want to DO something. And by "do something" I don't mean that we want to pray. In our minds, I think prayer is more “inaction” than action. “Well I guess all we can do now is pray.” is uttered as a plea of desperation.
I have quoted the late Dr. Howard Hendricks in this blog before, "Call a prayer meeting and Christians will stay away in droves!"
Of all the Christian meetings I have ever attended, hands down, prayer meetings are the least popular- again a redundancy of what I have said before.
I hear the rave reviews of the movie, but I have NOT noticed any increased interest in prayer- from my limited vista. I asked a friend at another Uni about possibly doing a survey to see who had seen the movie, and who could report ANY increase in their commitment to prayer.
Perhaps people are praying quietly and alone, which is certainly a good way to do it. Jesus certainly did a lot of that- but he also prayed in small groups- remember that; and he also prayed publicly - remember that?
So, I don't want to draw any conclusions prematurely, but I do request for your help. Be on the lookout for any signs, reports, evidence that the movie is making any impact, however small, on Christians' prayer lives.
I am praying that it will!!
As many of you readers know, I am ADHD, so movies are a challenge for me. I can last through most t.v. shows, but unless the movie is really captivating, I may NOT be able to last. Although our cable package provides LOTS of good movies, I don't recall ever volunteering to watch one.
Apparently, the two-fold central message of "War Room" is that we are engaged in warfare, which is easy to see, and that prayer is a KEY part of the battle... which also seems easy to see- but not so fast.
Prayer as central to the battle for the hearts of mankind? Really?
We American Christians are a people of ACTION. We want to DO something. And by "do something" I don't mean that we want to pray. In our minds, I think prayer is more “inaction” than action. “Well I guess all we can do now is pray.” is uttered as a plea of desperation.
I have quoted the late Dr. Howard Hendricks in this blog before, "Call a prayer meeting and Christians will stay away in droves!"
Of all the Christian meetings I have ever attended, hands down, prayer meetings are the least popular- again a redundancy of what I have said before.
I hear the rave reviews of the movie, but I have NOT noticed any increased interest in prayer- from my limited vista. I asked a friend at another Uni about possibly doing a survey to see who had seen the movie, and who could report ANY increase in their commitment to prayer.
Perhaps people are praying quietly and alone, which is certainly a good way to do it. Jesus certainly did a lot of that- but he also prayed in small groups- remember that; and he also prayed publicly - remember that?
So, I don't want to draw any conclusions prematurely, but I do request for your help. Be on the lookout for any signs, reports, evidence that the movie is making any impact, however small, on Christians' prayer lives.
I am praying that it will!!
For what it's worth, I liked the movie just fine...Us humans usually do pursue the person or thing we derive life from.
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