What is prayer?
Is it a means to an end? Is it a way to manipulate God?
Radio host Chris Fabry teamed up with Alex and Stephen Kendrick to write the novelization for the movie . He calls us to reexamine prayer and see that it’s a means to connect with God, and thus change your heart to mirror His.
“Discover the truth about God, who He is, how He works, how much He loves. And then you’ll uncover the truth about yourself, your sin and the ways you displease God. The truth about your life is always better to know. Even if it hurts.” – An excerpt from .
In the story, Elizabeth and Tony Jordan have a beautiful daughter but a failing marriage. Tony is flirting with infidelity, Elizabeth has a hard heart, and things are going from bad to worse. Enter Miss Clara, an older woman with a feisty disposition and a weapon of prayer to give Elizabeth.
Elizabeth learns to pray for her husband instead of fighting against him, and transformation begins.
“The bottom line is you can’t change anybody but yourself. And you can’t even change yourself in that sense; it takes God to do a work in you. You cannot change your spouse. You can influence that spouse by your own behavior. And that’s exactly what Elizabeth does.”
As Elizabeth spends time in her prayer closet—her war room—she starts to see Tony with a new set of eyes.
“Her heart softens toward her husband. She sees all the sin; there is no difference between Tony before she starts the prayer and Tony after she starts. There’s no difference in him. He is still doing the same kind of stuff.”
So what is the difference?
“It’s her reaction to him. It’s her kindness and her love. That kind of kindness is going to stop people in their tracks. And that’s what Tony does! He comes to the end of himself; he gets on his knees because Elizabeth is loving him in the middle of his own struggle.”
Key Scriptures: John 4:4; Ephesians 6:10-16
Featured Songs: Like a Warrior by Steven Curtis Chapman; On Our Side by Lincoln Brewster; Can’t Hold Me Down by All Things New
