We are currently
doing a special small group series at our church on the movie the “War
Room”. If you haven’t seen it yet, you
need to watch it. It’s a movie about the
power of prayer and it’s amazing!
The movie was
inspiring, however I think what has changed me the most has been discovering
the back story of it all. In the last couple weeks I had the chance to
read an article (read it here) about the real-life Miss Clara (the
elderly prayer warrior in the movie) that the movie was based upon. Her name in every day life was Molly
Bruno. 
Molly was a ninety-year
old radical prayer warrior. Prayer was
more than an event or a duty for her. It
was a lifestyle. She took time daily to
cultivate a personal relationship with her best friend… Jesus. Each morning she started off with coffee with
Him. It was a sacred daily appointment
she never missed.
In a video interview(see it here), Molly relays when speaking of her relationship with God
that it is as if… “He is waiting for me every morning saying… Molly, where
are you?” She spoke with tenderness
of her love for God. It was evident on
her face that they were very close. She
shared boldly for all to hear…“When you have Jesus you have EVERYTHING!”
Molly had more
than a morning meeting with Jesus every day. She walked with Him
all day long. She took Him with her
everywhere she went, sought His guidance in all the decisions she made, and
listened to His heart for her and others.
This relationship was by no means one-sided. She beamed when she spoke of Him. She was head over heels in love with her
savior.
God did amazing
things in Molly’s life. Soon others began
to notice and they started requesting her to pray for their needs as well. Even kids at school would send prayer
requests home to her through her children.
She definitely was NOT your ordinary mom.
As I watched the
video something stirred with in me. She
looked like a typical elderly grandma, but she was far more than
that. Just seeing her and hearing her
heart for God broke something in me… it was a longing for MORE.
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| Molly's Bible & note cards with scriptures written out to meditate on daily. |
She had something
with God that we all have access to, but few pay the price to experience. It cost her!
It cost her… time, effort, commitment, sacrifice, and probably even some
sleep. I’m sure if we asked her if it was all worth it to her, she would say …
“ABSOLUTELY”.
With that in
mind, I have a question for you… and even for me. If we knew we could have an amazing and close
relationship with God like Miss Molly… would we be willing to pay the price? I wonder.
Am I willing to pay the price to know Him MORE?
Choosing to
pursue a relationship like this takes hard work. I’m
sure she had to make some changes to her schedule. She probably re-evaluated her priorities
often and even lost a lot of sleep because she got up early or stayed up
late.
I bet this kind
of radical prayer life and relationship with God didn’t happen overnight. It had to be cultivated… cultivated daily as Miss
Molly made choices to move toward God instead of away from Him in
all of the decisions she made.
What were
the rewards of her sacrifice and commitment?
~God became
real to her
~She could
hear His voice clearly and confidently
~God answered
prayers and she witnessed many miracles
~God used her
to reach out to others
~She trusted
Him completely
~She was full
of faith to believe God for impossible things
~God became
her best friend (she loved being with Him)
And the list
could go on and on…
When you look at
this list, it all sounds good, but what holds us back from really going there
with God? Is it distractions? Are we content, complacent, or comfortable with
where we are? Are we afraid that
God will mess things up if we get too close to Him… maybe even convict us of
things we should change? Are we too busy, too stressed, or too lazy? What is it?
What is keeping us from this amazing, radical, relationship with God?
In the video
interview Molly was asked an interesting question… “What would you say to
someone who feels like their prayer life is flat or they don’t really know how
to pray?
Her response was simple yet
powerful. She said, “They have no
desire. It’s not a ritual. They’ve gone away from their first love. It’s not real to them.”
Her advice was
this…
“They need to seek the
Lord from their heart. Desire Him and He will answer you. Say I
can’t take this anymore.
I want YOU!”
Molly passed away before the movie ever hit the theaters, but she got to see the final cut and pray everything through. She left us with more than a great movie, she left a life changing example for us to follow to know Him better.
I don’t know
about you, but I’m ready for a change.
I’m ready to shake things up with God and push forward for MORE. I know it won’t happen overnight, but I’m
willing to begin cultivating the kind of relationship that Miss Clara and Molly
Bruno had with Jesus. I want to leave my
boys a legacy of prayer.
Are you willing
to pay the price to know Him MORE?
What’s holding YOU back? When we
really think about it, I think in most cases we will find that the only person
truly holding us back is ourselves.
Choose today to make a move TOWARD Him and cultivate your relationship
with God. I have a feeling that as you
do, your life will be turned upside down in a good way. I invite you to join me on this journey.
Living to leave a
legacy,
Julie
