Battle Plans

We all struggle with distraction from time to time.
I tend to be focused but I can get lost in the family pictures and find that an hour has gone by.
When I search for a quote in a book, I will sit there rereading passages for far too long.
If I go through my closet to make a give away pile, I pull out old clothes and try them on.

Distractions.

Any teacher can tell you that it is painful to watch a child that struggles with distraction.
Their inability to focus hinders their learning.
Teachers are always looking for strategies to help a child focus on the task at hand.
One such strategy is the personal office.

Two folders are opened and set up side by side on the child’s desk.
The upright folders act like a wall.
Now, all the child sees is the work before him.
The folders become a personal office and helps to minimize distractions.

I was thinking about the personal office and see the benefits of that simple idea.
There are times when I wish I could put up a personal office when I begin to write.
Other times, when I am preparing a Bible study lesson, a personal office would help.
It would be a visible sign of the need for privacy and personal space to accomplish a task.

The personal office came to mind when my daughters and I saw the movie, War Room.

The movie focuses on a family that is falling apart.
The mother and father have allowed their careers to get in the way of everything else.
Their own daughter is in the crossfire of their choices.
Through a series of events, Miss Clara comes into the life of the wife and mother.

Older, wiser Miss Clara becomes a friend and mentor to Elizabeth.
Miss Clara is a prayer warrior and begins to teach Elizabeth how to really do battle.
Miss Clara shows Elizabeth her favorite room in the house, which is her prayer room.
Her prayer room is actually a closet; it is the place where the battle is fought and won.

I was moved and challenged by the movie.
I found myself assessing my own prayer life.
I found myself questioning my own battle plan.
You are fighting the wrong enemy, Miss Clara wisely said.

How right she is!

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith…(1 Peter 5:8,9)

Elizabeth was fighting her battles with flesh and blood.
She was fighting the wrong enemy.
We all are.
We battle another person when the battle is often in the heavenly realm.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

Miss Clara taught Elizabeth how to do battle on her knees.
Miss Clara taught Elizabeth that God’s Word is the Sword we use in this battle.
That Sword of the Spirit is both our offensive and defensive weapon.
It is weapon that will force our enemy, the devil, to flee.

Submit yourselves then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. (James 4:7)

I found myself taking a mental picture of my own house.
I wondered where my own war room could be.
I was so struck with the fact that in this war room there are no distractions.
In this war room, strategies are being planned and implemented.

We are battling all wrong.
We are fighting our battles in our own strength.
We need to fight our battles in the strength of God.
We need to command the enemy to flee on the authority of God’s Word.

During my morning walk, I thought of the personal office that is used on a child’s desk.
It becomes a place of no distractions.
It becomes a barrier between the child and all the activity and noise that is around him.
It becomes a barrier that helps the child to focus.

Any place can be a war room.
Holy Ground can be marked and claimed for God.
Our cars can be our war room as we cry out to God as we drive.
Our morning walk can be our war room as we strategize in prayer.

I would still love to have an official war room much like Miss Clara.
Not having a physical location will not stop me from battling the enemy with the right weapon.
If we are to pray without ceasing, then any place we pray with our Sword is our war room.
We just need time and no distractions.

We need to saturate ourselves in God’s Word.
We need to know His promises; we need to believe them and claim them.
We need to stop battling the wrong enemy.
We need to submit to God and resist the devil.

And our enemy will flee.
He has to.
He is under the authority of God’s Word.
Our Sword is a lethal weapon to the enemy of our souls.

Put up your personal office.
Make anywhere you are your own war room.
Battle on your knees with the correct weapon.
We are tired because we have been fighting the wrong enemy in our own strength.

No more!
Battle weary soldiers raise your Sword.
As Miss Clara reminded Elizabeth, the battle has already been won on the cross.
In Christ, we are already victorious.

Let’s start acting like it.