Your Own War Room {Prayer Room}

By now you have likely seen the new movie War Room. If not, go see it. Now! It will change your life forever. I know it has changed mine.

For many years I have wanted two things: a prayer room and a prayer bench. A secret place for me to go and sit to read my Bible and pray. A place just for me and God. However, in my home there just isn't the space.

After the first time I saw War Room, my desire for a prayer room deepened. I told my husband that if I didn't feel the need for clothing, I would empty our closet. Since clothing is well, not optional, I decided to stick with my current situation and pray for God to lead me.

What does the Bible say about having a prayer room?

But when you pray, go into your room,

close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:6

Do you have to have a prayer room to pray. No. Prayer is more about your heart, crying out to God and conversing with Him than it is about the location. You can and should pray anywhere.

Pray continually.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

If you have a place for a prayer room, yes! Do it! If you don't think you have a place, like me, think again. My friend shared her new prayer room: a corner in her basement. When she shared it, I was struck. I was looking, and hoping for, something pretty. A beautiful place. A place that would look nice, smell nice and be perfect. But we don't need that. We simply need a place to meet with Jesus, spiders welcome.

How can we have our very own prayer room?

• Look around your home for a place that will work for you. Right now, my prayer place is in my living room. I have my quiet time before anyone in the house is awake, so the house is still and quiet. Jesus and I can talk without interruption. While I do sit in this chair at other times, and my kids sit there occasionally as well, I see this place as my quiet time place. Sometimes the day will be rough and my eyes will wander to my chair and I will remember my quiet time from that morning. God will remind me of something I read or something He spoke to me and it will bring a peace to my spirit. So while I do want a private place, and I am seriously considering following my friends lead and going to the basement, my spot in the living room is my prayer 'area,' my war room. And it works well.
• Have your supplies. In your prayer room or prayer area, you need your Bible, journal or paper, and pen. You need something to write with because it's important to write your needs down so that you can later go back and see how God answered those needs. And I don't know about you, but if I don't have it written down, it is almost a guarantee I will forget. Music is a great thing to have too, like a small radio. I use my cell phone or ipad, but I always set it on 'do not disturb' so the dings of the notifications do not distract me. I love to spend time singing praises. I keep my Bible, journal, devotional, pens, highlighters and note tabs in a pretty bag that sits right next to my chair. Everything I need is right there.
• Make your prayer strategy. Decide if you are going to journal. I love journaling. I love that I can later go back and see the prayer requests and how God answered or I can see where I was at that point in my life. Sometimes when the words just won't come from my mouth, they find their way to paper. Journaling looks different for everyone, so try different ways and see what works best for you. If that changes later down the road, that is fine! In journaling, I not only write prayers and praise reports, but I also write Scripture verses that spoke to me. If you don't think journaling will fit your style, just use loose paper and write down prayer requests. You can, as in the movie War Room, tape them to the wall. This is a great way to have the requests front and center so that you can see them. Another great prayer strategy is to find Scripture verses that match your prayer requests. Write the verse next to your request so that you can pray God's Word over your needs.
• Prayer for everything! Don't just pray for yourself or your immediate needs. Pray for everything. Pray for your relationships, health, finances, family, career, attitude, the list goes on. Pray for your husband in the same areas. Pray for your children in the same areas, as well as pray for their future spouses (or if they are already married, for their marriages). Pray for your church, your neighbors, for anything that comes to your mind. Years ago I realized that people didn't just randomly 'pop' into my mind. God put them there for me to pray for. If you think of someone or something, especially during your prayer time, pray for them!
• P.U.S.H. Pray until something happens. If you have a struggle in your life that you pray for, keep praying until you see an answer. Don't give up. God doesn't get tired of hearing you.
• If needed, be flexible. Sometimes our seasons change. Especially for young moms. Getting up super early for prayer time may not work when you've been up all night with a crying babe. Find what time works best for you. If that time changes in a few months or few years, it's okay. Go with it. As long as you are intentional about having a quiet time and prayer time every day. Sometimes it might not be a change but an additional war time. Though I have my quiet time in the mornings, countless times I've had to go to my bedroom in the middle of the day and close my door to pray. If a need came to my attention or if I am having a bad day, getting away in my bedroom for some time with Jesus is important.

My quiet time spot
(I used to use this cute basket before switching to my bag)

Having a prayer room, prayer corner, or prayer area is important. We need that place to go to pray and spend time with God. Spend some time thinking of what will work best for you in your own situation. Share your own prayer room ideas, experiences and strategies with us in the comments.