Don’t get me wrong, I love our children and they are truly a blessing from above. But parenting and life in general is so much harder than I thought it would be! This is where our prayer room comes in handy.
Whether or not you have children, in this world you will face
challenges, unexpected hurdles, and times where you need to make difficult
decisions.
And you shouldn’t have to go on this journey alone. You were
designed to be in a relationship with others and with God.
For me, I know I can’t make these difficult
decisions without God’s help. Prayer is how I communicate with God. Like many
other things in life I have to be intentional about my prayer time or it
quickly disappears.
So in this post, I want to share with you why you should have
a war room and how to make a war room!
First, what is a
Prayer Room?
A war room or prayer room is simply a designated place where
you meet with God. A space specifically designed for prayer.
Why Have a Prayer
Room?
Matthew 6:6 talks about going into a closet, secret place or
private room to pray. “But when you pray, go into your [most] private room,
and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father,
Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open” (AMP).
Here is another translation “But when you pray, go away by
yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then
your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (NLT)
I don’t know about you, but the Father rewarding me sounds
like a good thing!! Going away to a place where there are no distractions, but
only intimate fellowship with your Heavenly Father is the perfect place for God
to reveal His mysteries to you.
Maybe it’s not so much about the creation of the prayer
room itself, but the obedience to do this every morning.
So why a secret place? Personally, I’ve found if I am in the
sitting room of our house praying or reading I often become distracted. I
see a dirty dish and think ‘I should clean that up’ or I hear the phone ring
and I’m taken away from my time with God.
Your secret place or private room should only be
dedicated to spending time with God.
Then your spirit and body will start to recognize the place
and what you do there. Just like your bed. You know when it is time to sleep
because your body starts to recognize your pillow, pajamas, comforter,
etc.
Again, I can’t stress enough just how important prayer time
is. As parents, we can gain wisdom and understanding when we spend time in God’s
presence.
We can also use this time to intercede on our children’s
behalf. Going boldly to the throne of grace!
Creating a Prayer
Room: What to include?
So now that you know why it is beneficial to have a prayer
room let’s talk about setting one up. For the most part, this step is up to
you. It doesn’t have to be a big space. A small closet will do or even a
certain chair where you regularly meet with God.
The most important part is creating a clutter-free,
somewhat empty space that is set apart from the busyness of life.
You want it to be a place dedicated to meeting God and you
don’t want to become distracted by too much clutter.
I love ushering in the presence of the Holy Spirit by
singing before I pray. Some people play music continuously as worship music is
powerful and can certainly change the atmosphere of a room.
Through different phases, in our journey, I’ve included
different items in the room.
Other times I wanted to intentionally
pray about my children’s friendships, so I put scriptures on notecards
to remind me how to pray. I’ve also battled anxiety and exhaustion in
our war room.
Finally, I have a printout of purposeful scriptures to speak over our children each day of the week.
So that is it. It’s not too complicated, but it can make a
BIG impact in your prayer life.
So how about you, do you have a prayer closet? What did you include in your prayer room? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!