It’s War Room Time

As I embark upon my 19th year as the senior pastor of The Lighthouse Church, I have heard clearly from the Lord that this is the year to reemphasize our need and our privilege as believers to pray as if our hearts were on fire and to intentionally invite God into the midst of where we are, who we are and what we are doing before we make a move of any other kind.
If we genuinely want to experience the fullness of God’s awesome power than prayer must be the engine that drives all we do. Have you read the book, “The War Room?” Have you seen the movie? I have read the book and it has impacted me greatly and the Holy Spirit has used it to make me more bold, courageous, specific and strategic when it comes to my communicating and connecting with the Lord.
One of the prime components of both the book and the movie centers around a woman named Clara and her prayer closet that she affectionately refers to as her ‘War Room.” It is here that she goes to battle on her knees.
In the book of Matthew 6:6 it is written, “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.” We can talk about prayer, study it, sing about it and shout its accolades from now until the proverbial cows come home, but its genuine power is discovered in actually doing it. Stopping all our “busyness” and intentionally inviting God into the mix. 
At the Leadership Brunch we annually hold in December, I gave all the pastors, elders, deacons and deaconess of The Lighthouse Church a Prayer Journal. As the signs of our current times become more chaotic, hectic and dark; it is of an utmost priority that we keep the light shining bright and turned up to a power level that can only be achieved and experienced when God is in the house.
Now more than ever, we need to consciously stay plugged into our Lord so that when the enemy comes a calling, hell will find itself rendered useless, frustrated and unable to shake the testimony of God’s Church here in Cape May County, N.J.
Before you plan, make sure you pray. Before you study the Bible pray. Before you start your car and jump into the fray of another day, pray. Before you begin any activity, pray. Before you go to church pray. Before you listen to the sermon, pray. Before you take matters into your own hands, pray.
We will be showing the movie “The War Room” on Jan. 31t at 6 p.m. as the climax of our Vision Weekend. I am hoping that everyone who calls Jesus their Savior will either read the book or see the movie and then allow the Spirit of God access to fire up their personal prayer lives. Just talking about an issue doesn’t carry the same weight as talking to the Lord who can change it all by just saying the right word.
If there is one area that we could never over desire or get enough of, it is prioritizing prime time in the shadow of the Almighty. I challenge all Christians from the youngest to the oldest to begin to make prayer that non-negotiable ingredient in their everyday walk in 2016.
If we battle within the boundaries our own finiteness, we will fail. But if we run to God before we dare take a step without Him, let’s just see if we all don’t experience the Holy Spirit at a level of intensity and intimacy like never before.
The year 2016 could be so exciting and it has nothing to do with positive programs or precise planning as much as it just simply comes down to all of us investing in as many sweet hours of prayer that we can. Pray alone. Pray together. Pray as your walk. Pray as you drive.
Pray as if your future depends upon it because it really does. Pastor Tim Keller writes, “Prayer is humbling. For example, if I am really upset, it is hard for me to stay upset when I get in God’s Presence, because I say: Lord, you are wise, and I really don’t need to be this upset. You know what you are doing. It is hard to stay on a high horse and be self-righteous and then turn around and pray. It just knocks you off your horse right away.”
This is no time to get on a horse that isn’t ready to ride the open range with Jesus. Lord, please make us obedient, willing and yearning for time with God. Give us wonderful words of life from God.
Time is moving faster than it ever has before and I don’t want to become preoccupied with the peripheral when I need to fix my eyes on you, Lord. The great imposters want to rob us from participating in the Lord’s great adventure and that is just not acceptable. Wake us up, shake us up and then take us up- and let Jesus be glorified in and through it all.
Without spoiling the story, which by the way I am very good at, let me one more time emphasize your need to read or view, “The War Room.” I am not getting any cut of the profit of book sales so this is not something that will help me as much as it will revolutionize the spiritual life of anyone who invests the time to have their hearts attended to.
We face divorce, addiction, greed, dysfunction, hatred, rebellion and so on and rather than just waving the white flag of surrender to our circumstances, let’s pray kamikaze prayers to an awesome God who is still in the business of the miraculous. Transformation is what we desire not just information.
Inspiration is what we need to cry out for and not just conformation. Lord, make it undeniably clear that you are still very much here in Cape May County. It is time to enter our War Rooms. Will you join me within a battle that will be good for everyone?