War Room, 90 Minutes in Heaven

Jesus told us that he’s the vine and we’re the branches. Apart from him, we can do nothing. But how do we stay attached? Through the sacraments, to be sure. But without a relationship with him, the sacraments are of little help. Prayer is essential.

Both War Room (from producers Alex and Stephen Kendrick, Fireproof, Courageous) and 90 Minutes in Heaven (based on the bestselling book), focus on the power of prayer to change hearts and transform lives — even entire communities.

War Room (Rated PG, in theaters now) follows the journey of Tony Jordan (T.C. Stallings), a hotshot salesman whose life and marriage to Elizabeth (Priscilla Shirer) are falling apart. Only when Elizabeth finds a prayer mentor do things start to turn around.

90 Minutes in Heaven (Rated PG, in theaters Sept. 11) tells the true story of Pastor Don Piper (Hayden Christensen) who died in a car wreck in 1989. A passerby prayed over Piper after he had been declared dead. Piper felt God send him back. After 34 major surgeries, Piper not only walked again, but was renewed in faith through prayer. He was sustained by his wife Eva (Kate Bosworth), who encouraged him to return to fervent prayer.

We all have a financial strategy, an education strategy for our children, and perhaps a health strategy. But do we have a prayer strategy? We need a prayer strategy to thwart the devil and unite ourselves with Christ so that we can get to heaven and bring as many with us as possible.

PATRICK NOVECOSKY is Legatus magazine’s editor-in-chief.