By Aaron Earls
The tire tracks across young Alex Kendrick’s body are testament to the power of prayer.
When he was only 4 years old, the child who would one day become a Christian filmmaker was run over by a car. He walked away from the incident without serious injuries, and he believes it was because his parents prayed for him. “I had tire marks on my body, but no broken bones,” he says.
Though the marks have long since faded, Kendrick believes prayer is more important today than ever before. The newest film from him and his brother Stephen, War Room, focuses on the power of prayer.
“If there ever was a time God’s people needed to plead with God for direction and intervention, it’s now,” he explains. “We must make sure we are right with Him and seeking His involvement in our culture, government, churches, and families. We’re eroding too fast on too many levels.”
War Room may seem like a departure from the Kendrick brothers’ most recent major motion pictures, which drew Christian inspiration from high-pressure situations such as coaching high school football in Facing the Giants, fighting fires in Fireproof, and tackling crime in Courageous.
Yet after two years of prayer, asking God what topic they should tackle next, the two filmmakers decided to make a movie about just that. “We saw a correlation,” Kendrick says, “between a military war room and a prayer closet.”
The film follows Tony and Elizabeth Jordan, a middle-class couple who seem to have it all, but their marriage and family are falling apart. With the help of her new friend Miss Clara, Elizabeth discovers she can start fighting for her marriage through prayer instead of fighting against her husband.
The film, which premieres August 28, features New York Times bestselling author and Bible teacher Priscilla Shirer in her film debut.
For Alex Kendrick, nothing is more important or dramatic than prayer. Although church prayer meetings can be “stale and powerless … when you are truly chasing God and worshipping Him in sincerity, something powerful happens.”
And from the beginning of his and his brother’s movie ministry in their church, prayer has played a key role. “God certainly has done more than we could ever ask or imagine.”
While Kendrick would obviously love for War Room to be successful at the box office like their other films, he says that’s not his most important goal. “We hope to see an army of people return to an active, passionate prayer life,” he says.
“If we return to the Lord, He may once again bring a fresh revival and turn our nation back to Him. The church needs an awakening again. If we can be a small part of that, then that would define success for us.”
The praying doesn’t stop now that the film is headed to theaters. Kendrick says next up for him and his brother are “a little rest and a lot of prayer. God has another tour of duty for us soon, so we want to be ready. Until then, we have a few books to share, like The Battle Plan for Prayer and a Bible study curriculum on developing prayer strategies. Then we’ll ask God what’s next.”
AARON EARLS (@WardrobeDoor) is online editor of Facts & Trends.
