Several years ago, Charles and I saw the movie War Room. This movie was focused on the importance of spending time in the secret place and in prayer. One of the movie’s main characters was Miss Clara, an 80-year-old prayer warrior who left an impression on me. Miss Clara had a room with a “wall of remembrance” where she kept a list of answered prayers. The other was her closet that she humbly referred to as her “war room” and inside her closet the walls were adorned with prayers and scriptures she had penned.
Miss Clara observed that in order to counter Satan’s schemes and his cunning strategies, we will need a battle plan. A strategy that can come from only one place: time spent asking for God’s guidance in our prayer closet.
I left that movie feeling inspired to implement some of Miss Clara’s war room strategies in my own prayer life. I picked up some post-it notes and began to cover the wall of my office with prayers and scriptures that spoke to me while reading the bible. I cherished having a visual reminder in front of me as I prayed for others and their needs, with scriptures I could recite back to God. It was a practice that had a significant impact on my prayer life.
However, there was one post-it note prayer that I will never forget. A dear family member of ours had gone through a challenging time. They had lost everything from relationships to material possessions. They found themself in a place where no one wants to be. However, they made the hard and difficult decision to leave their home as they knew it and to start a new life a few states away. This transition was not an easy one and was a two-year journey to get back what the enemy had stolen. After two years of hard work, physically and emotionally, they were given a new start. However, they had no home, no job and no place to go. So, Charles and I made the decision to open our home to them while they begin a new life with us.
Prior to them moving in, we knew that there were some pretty big needs. So, on a post-it note, I had written down 3 things: a job, a place to rent, and a truck. I began to pray over these 3 things during my prayer time in my war room. I prayed and I thanked God for each of these things even though we didn’t have them at the moment.
First, we started searching for a truck because they needed transportation once they found a job. Charles, I, and other family members scoured online listings but came up empty-handed. We visited several car lots with no results. As the deadline for their move-in date approached, I started feeling stressed and panicked because finding a truck seemed like an impossible task. Time was running out. Then, just a few weeks before their move-in date, we got a phone call saying my family had found them a vehicle. The incredible part? It was only $750, a small fraction of what we were prepared to pay. It was the first answered prayer, and I happily and thankfully checked off "truck" on the post-it note.
Shortly after they moved-in, God opened a door for them to secure a job close to home, utilizing their skills and experience. Another answered prayer checked off my post-it note list. Yet, there was still one more item that remained on that post-it note: finding a place to live. This was another significant request, considering the high rent in our area. We had a few conditions: the rent had to be $750 or less, and the rental property had to be close to us. They needed our support, and we needed them nearby.
Our property search started in March. We came across a few places, but none met our required conditions, so we kept looking. One day, while out looking for rental properties, we drove past a vacant house just down the road from our home. From my kitchen window, I could see this little white house. As we passed by, they glanced at that small house and said, "That's all I need right there." Those words resonated with me.
Once we returned home, I searched for the owner of the property and obtained their address. In April, I drafted a letter expressing our interest in renting the property, highlighting its suitability for our family member. April passed, May went by, and before we knew it, June had arrived.
One June morning, in my prayer closet, I poured out my heart about the last item on our list—a place to live nearby for under $750. After laying out the needs before God, I said Amen and carried on with my day. Later that evening, an email arrived from the property owner, three months after she received our letter. She expressed interest in renting the property and wanted to meet with us. I was thrilled to even get a response to our proposal. I thought, "Okay, God, that's the first answer, but what about the second—the rent?" Trying not to seem too eager, I asked about the rental cost, holding my breath. Her response stunned me: "I will take $550 a month." In my mind, I was like, "What?!" Quickly, I replied that it was within our budget. We made plans to meet her, and Charles did a walkthrough of the house.
She left a key for us to show to our family member when they returned home from work. It was late when they arrived, and we loaded in our truck to take a short drive down the road. We pulled into the driveway of the little white house. They were still perplexed about why we were there as we urged them out of the truck and onto the porch. Charles inserted the key and opened the door, adding to their confusion. Standing there, we shared the exciting news: this would be their new home.
It was an incredibly moving experience. I believe all three of us were in disbelief about what had unfolded and how God had literally opened the door for a place for them to rent. After that night, I was able to mark off the last item on the list—a place to live. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to throw away the post-it note. I wanted to keep it as a reminder to place on my wall of remembrance of the prayers that God had answered for our family member and for us as well.
During that time, God did so much for them in such a short period. He met their needs, and they were significant needs. It was a humbling and remarkable experience to be a part of. I'm grateful that we got to witness God move in that situation and how He answered every prayer, surpassing even our expectations. Seeing that post-it note hanging on my wall was a powerful reminder of God's faithfulness. He hears our prayers, and He answers them.
Through this entire experience, I learned the importance of writing down my prayers and placing them before me when I pray. It became a practice that I still incorporate into my prayer life today. I held onto that post-it note on my wall for a while. Then, one day, I decided to take it down. I placed it in a card and gave it to my family member, telling them that I wanted them to have it. I explained that if they ever faced uncertainty, they could pull out that post-it note as a reminder of the prayers God answered for them. "No matter the need, I assured them that God would do it again."
I encourage you to spend time in your war room, writing down your prayers and scriptures that speak to you. Keep those prayers before you when you pray. Then one day, you too will move the post-it note from the war room to the wall of remembrance. And to quote Miss Clara, "My God is faithful, my God is powerful, and my God is in charge."
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