Prayer Walking

I don’t know whether you have ever been on a prayer walk or if not, have ever thought about doing one. If you haven’t and it’s new to you then I would encourage you to give it a go. I have found them a great opportunity to get out and about and see my local community where I live and work with fresh eyes. It’s an opportunity to ask God to show us what He sees so that our prayers can help to bring about transformation and change as He wants – His Kingdom to come.

It’s always amazing the things God shows us when we start to look with His eyes – I often have things drawn to my attention which I have never noticed before – I may have walked past them many times without even noticing them but then God draws my attention to them and I really see. Whilst, I may overlook things God never does – His eyes are even on the sparrow.

You can do a prayer walk on your own, in pairs or as part of a larger group. In my experience it is good to go in pairs because you can pray in agreement and also “bounce” things off each other as the Holy Spirit brings inspiration. However, I often prayer walk on my own and really enjoy it. Now that the lock down restrictions are easing at home, we will soon be able to go out and pray in groups again so perhaps, you might join a prayer walk around your local community or even start one. Spring is here – the season of new beginnings so perhaps this could be a new thing for you or you could be inspired to give it a go.

It’s not as daunting or difficult as it might sound and it’s not just for those we may consider the “prayer warriors” or the “super spiritual people” – it’s for us – the ordinary followers of Jesus, the everyday folk, that He enables by His power to do extraordinary things through Him. Most of us probably already go out regularly for walks and with a prayer walk you are just being purposeful. Before you set out simply ask God to show you things that He wants you to see and pray into them.

One way to help get you started, if you are a bit unsure of what to pray initially, is to simply ask God for His blessing and favour on your community. e.g if your walk takes you past your local school you can take a moment to ask God to bless the school, the children and the teachers. Thank God for the school and for the gift of education. If you already know of particular needs in that school or specific issues then you can bring them to God and ask for his help.

What changes would you like to see in your local community?- How would you like to shape it for God. Jesus went out and about doing good and one of the ways that we can do good is to pray. When we go out we take God’s presence with us. We can be instruments to bring about change for good.

I am convinced that God will use you in amazing ways in your prayer walks. I have always been encouraged when I experience and see God at work during these times. The Lord has been reminding me this week about prayer walks and prayer drives I have been on in the past. It’s good to testify about these things and so in due course, I will add a page to my site with some testimonies of the things we have seen and experienced on our walks.

I just want to finish by encouraging you with this quick story. On one of the first prayer walks that I went on with a friend, I asked the Lord before we went if there was someone he wanted us to meet. If so, could he put them in our path. As we were walking around our community and praying, we met two police officers. They stopped us and asked us what we were doing. We clearly looked like suspicious characters 🤣. We explained and they were amazed that we cared enough about the local estate that we were out walking and praying. We asked if there was anything that we could pray about and they told us about some general issues on that particular estate with drugs, robberies, violence etc.

We then asked if we could thank God and pray for them. They agreed and we just said a very quick simple prayer. We just thanked God for them and blessed them. They were genuinely surprised that we were thanking God for them and the work they did. They were more used to people avoiding them and at times hostility and abuse. I believe God will take those little acts and seeds of faith and do something incredible.

Don’t worry if you don’t feel that you could pray for someone you meet on the street. Don’t let that put you off or get you anxious. You don’t have to do that as part of prayer walking. Most of the time no-one will realise that you are even praying as you walk. You may even surprise yourself one day as God gives you a new boldness and takes you along new paths of His presence.

I hope you are encouraged today to step out on your local streets and into your local parks and pray as the Lord leads you x bless you in Jesus name.