That movie, War Room, by those Kendrick Brothers, has been sky-high in box office ratings since it opened a few weeks ago! This Cinderella success has some reviewers scratching their heads. After all, many of them gave the movie a thumbs down. Surprise! Ninety percent of audiences are loving it and spreading the word.
The “war room” is a closet where elderly Miss Clara (aka Karen Abercrombie) has learned to do spiritual battle for loved ones through praying. Miss Clara now wants to pass on what she knows about the weapons of prayer to a new generation. Enters realtor Elizabeth Jordan (aka Priscilla Shirer, better known as Bible teacher/speaker and daughter of well-known Dallas preacher Dr. Tony Evans). Elizabeth is in a troubled marriage with husband Tony (T.C. Stallings). The plot wraps around whether prayer can save this couple’s relationship.
If you believe in prayer then you do not have trouble accepting the premise that God can turn a marriage around in remarkable ways. If you don’t believe, then the thought of miracles entering messed-up lives is an unacceptable premise. In fairness to frowning movie critics, Christian lives are often messier works-in-progress than the movie portrays. But this is not true all the time. Miracles do happen through prayers; lives are transformed by Jesus every day.
My vote for War Room is thumbs up. Why not go and be cheered by a movie where a marriage is saved and enjoy the subplot of a daddy entering a jump rope competition with his daughter?
After judging the film for yourself, take the obvious challenge and spend time praying in your closet for our world and the people who matter to you. You will experience answers—sometimes yes, sometimes no, and sometimes maybe/wait.
Here’s an observation the media is not picking up on given their hunger for news about racial tensions:
Steve and Alex Kendrick are southern white men who respect all races and see God’s potential in each person no matter the color of skin. Every movie they have made shows this conviction in subtle and not so subtle ways. Now THAT is something to encourage. (The movie’s timing and theme about prayer seem odd (providential?) given the fact that this summer Charleston believers forgave the racist who attended a church meeting and murdered nine praying people.)
The Kendrick brothers started making a movie with prayer and a $20,000 budget at Sherwood Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia, in 2003. They produced the movie Flywheel, using church members as actors. Initially, they envisioned showing the film at their local theater, and maybe throughout Georgia. God did a little more with their prayers and talents. In 2011, their older brother Shannon, formerly an IBM software engineer, joined them. With War Room, their church is no longer directly involved with the movie ventures, however, the Kendrick families still worship at Sherwood.
I look forward to observing what this brother trio does with “slightly” more profit from War Room. Whatever the work, it will be covered in prayer. Find out more about the Kendrick brothers here: https://kendrickbrothers.com/about/history. Having seen each of their films I recommend them for a good popcorn-eating evening:
Flywheel (2003)
Facing the Giants (2006)
Fireproof (2008)
Courageous (2011)
War Room (2015)