War Room

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote the song Warrior for the movie "War Room."

The Lion of Judah is on our side!

October 6, 2015
Tuesday

Good Morning, Readers! It's a glorious day to be alive and kicking!

I've been struggling with severe head pain for it seems like months now and writing has been difficult. When my head feels like it is going to explode and my hands are in tremor, I just want to pull the covers over my head and try to survive the day. My Daily Walk Bible reading has suffered because everything I was reading wasn't making sense in my wacky brain. Yesterday, this little voice inside of me said, "Do it anyway!" When God speaks, I am obedient!

Praise God! I must be on a roll, 2 blogs in 2 days!!

It's sort of strange, when the good Lord has something to say through me or my blogs, He nags me until I drag out my computer, pray, and wait for my fingers to move. That being said, sit over there in my gold chair and let's have a heart to heart chat.

On Sunday, I saw the movie, WAR ROOM. It's a fabulous movie and I recommend it highly. As I sat in my seat and watched the movie unfold, it reminded me of a time when I facilitated the class on the book, THE POWER OF A PRAYING WIFE, written by Stormie O'Martian. I wondered if the screen writer had read Stormie's book because the book and movie were so similar regarding prayer.

The POAPW book did not come with a teacher's guide so, with God's help, I wrote our study sheets ~ a miracle in and of itself. A test group was formed and I invited women to give of their time towards prayer. The first night we met, a woman by the name of Norma came huffing and puffing into the room. She said, "I was laying on the couch and God wouldn't let me alone and I knew I needed to come." We all laughed and with those words began a time of soul searching, letting go, and praying.

Women began to find their own prayer closets aka war rooms. They began to do battle for their marriages and husbands. The one rule was that there was to be no partner or husband bashing. As sisters in Christ, they held each other accountable and focused on their own faith and trust in Jesus who worked mightily behind the scenes. One woman who attended the class went through a divorce and created a war room out of her former husband's closet (it looked much like Miss Clara's in the movie). As for me, I have had prayer gardens, closets, and rooms for years and still do.

At the end of the class, the women did an assessment ~ how it affected their lives and relationships with their husbands and also me as a facilitator. Let me tell you, the Lord Jesus moved in ways that we never expected. Some husbands never changed and got worse, other relationships flourished and came together with Christ in the center. One thing was for certain: every woman grew in her faith and saw Jesus working in her life. The test group was a huge success and the class was opened to women in the church and Norma became my assistant facilitator.

For me, it was the first time I had ever stepped back in faith and allowed God to take control. I walked the road along with my class members journaling and working with my own mentors who bathed the class in prayer each week. Unfortunately, God moved me out of my marriage in a way that was totally out of my own hands and He saved my life.

In October of 2002, I entered Hope's Door in shock and despair. My husband had put a gun to my head and told me he was going to shoot me or he knew people who would. I was fortunate because I had a counseling session scheduled and somehow found the courage to walk out the door. 

My counselor gave me the telephone number of Hope's Door (ironically that was the shelter that I sat on the Board of years before and helped found). I called and was told to leave immediately. I was frozen and couldn't move. I did call two friends and they came to my house and we all sat on the floor of my war room and we prayed. The next few hours are a blurr.

My angels found emergency homes for my beloved pups. They helped me pack a few things and escorted me out of the house. My husband showed up drunk and half dressed as we left. All I could do was stare blankly into the dark night and whisper, "Help me."

I took my Bible and my fractured mind into a place of refuge and found total peace. Yes, I found serenity and purpose in a women's shelter.  In the midst of my despair, God redeemed me and took me in a totally new direction. My friend, Marti, told me that the Lord would restore me and would take my life and make all the years count for something. I have stories about that time in my life and how God truly took control doing miracles that I could see and touch. I have written about them in previous October blogs.

Today is the anniversary of that day I escaped with my life and found freedom and hope!! God is good, He's so good to me ... yeah!

The cottage is now my War Room. I wrote scriptures on the wood before the rooms were sheet rocked. I do not allow evil to enter my sacred space. It is a safe place for me and for those who join me there. It's not fancy like some of my prayer rooms but it's where the Lord and I have our "come to Jesus" meetings.

Father God, I thank you for movies like WAR ROOM that remind us that You are in control when we give up our ranting, raving, tantrums, and come to the end of ourselves. I thank you for women like Miss Clara in the movie (in my own life, Janene) who mentor and speak truth no matter how much it stings. I thank you, Jesus, for the hope you brought to a fallen world and I pray that you would use me and my Readers to spread that good news! I pray specifically for men and women who are in pain, frustrated, and sad about the state of their relationships and marriages. Build them up as sons and daughters of the Almighty, instilling in them a love for You first. Help them to let go and look to You for power and miracles. Take off our blinders that we may recognize that your ways may not be our ways and we need to trust You with ALL outcomes. I thank you for all the women that attended all of the Power of A Praying Wife classes and the light they have carried to others. I also lift up the men and women who are being convicted when they watch WAR ROOM. Let your light shine, Holy One. It is You we worship and come to for shelter from the storm. Amen, dear Jesus, it is so!

Miss Dottie reporting for duty ... let this new day begin!

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PS  October happens to be National Awareness Month for Domestic Violence. Every year on my anniversary I remember and encourage others who are caught in that ugly web to break the silence and speak out. There are shelters and help available for women wanting to make a change. It is very difficult for women to leave their partners because of the brainwashing (similar to Stockholm Syndrome which is a psychological phenomenon in which men, women, children express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their abusers/captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with them). How do I know? I've been there and thank God I'm free!!