Spiritual Growth

PRAYERWALKING

 

What Is “Prayerwalking”?

 

When Christians walk in neighborhoods, along streets, in commercial areas, around hospitals, government offices, schools, etc., and pray in response to what we see, we are prayerwalking.

Prayerwalking is usually done in groups of two or three.

As we walk, we ask God to help us see the needs as God sees them. We offer our prayers for those needs, believing God works through our prayers to accomplish God’s purposes.

Sometimes we offer our prayers silently, but mostly we pray aloud so those we are walking with can hear and add their prayers.  It’s like having a prayer conversation as we walk together.

We may encounter people and have the opportunity to tell them what we are doing and ask if they have prayer requests. If so, we pray for them, either right then and there, or later (whichever seems most appropriate).

Often, we’ll find ourselves spontaneously praising God as we walk. We offer prayers of praise and thanksgiving as well as intercession as we prayerwalk.

 

What Happens When We Prayerwalk?

As we prayerwalk, we

 

When we first start prayerwalking, we think of the benefit our prayer brings to others. But as we continue the practice, we discover how we are growing spiritually. As a result of learning to see with God’s eyes and to listen to what God is saying, we become more prayerful in all places and at all times.

 

Some Suggestions for Prayer

 

When we walk by houses, we pray for the people living in those houses. We may feel led to pray for strong marriages and for families to be united through the Holy Spirit.

 

As we see children in a neighborhood, or children’s toys in yards, we pray for those children. We may feel led to pray for their safety and for Godly influences in their lives.

Seeing a house in disrepair, we may feel led to pray for God’s order and blessing in the lives of the people living in the home.

When we walk by a school, we pray for students, teachers, administrators. We may feel led to ask God’s guidance for those who guide young people.

Walking by a hospital, we may ask for God’s total healing in the lives of the patients and for the medical professionals to serve as agents of God’s healing.

Seeing a church, we may ask for God to empower that congregation to reach out to people and their needs in the name of Christ. 

Knowing that in every location there are people who do not have a relationship with Jesus, we pray for them to become followers of Christ.

Seeing several churches in a neighborhood may prompt us to pray for all believers to be bold in our witness and for Christians to work in unity.

Passing a government office may lead us to pray that those in positions of leadership will use their influence for God’s purposes.

Spontaneous prayers of praise and thanksgiving are also part of a prayerwalk.

 

Getting Started with Prayerwalking

 

Prayerwalking is a powerful outreach that does not require meetings or organization. Churches can organize prayerwalks, suggesting routes around the church where teams of 2 or 3 people walk.  Churches can offer training sessions for those who will be prayerwalking for the first time to increase their comfort level. 

Qualifications

But a Christian does not need much training for this powerful outreach.

The qualifications of a prayerwalker are loving God and desiring to see God’s purposes fulfilled in people’s lives and in communities.  A Christian can simply ask a friend to go with him or her and ask God to show them where to go and how to pray. 

 

Before you go

Always pray together before you go, asking God to direct you and use you. Ask for the mind and heart of Christ and for the Holy Spirit to help you see as God sees.  Thank the Holy Spirit for being an unseen Presence with you as you walk, helping you know how to pray and praying through you when you don’t know how to pray.

Ask for God to set up encounters with anyone God wants you to talk with and pray for. Ask that the love of Christ flow through you to those persons and that your encounter will draw them closer to God.

 

Just do it!

Choose a neighborhood or street and start walking, praying aloud in response to what you see. In the beginning, probably an hour is a good length of time.

 

Talking to people

If you encounter someone who seems open to a conversation, say, “We are praying for people in this neighborhood as we walk today. Is there anything you’d like for us to take to God for you?” Listen carefully to their response. Try to remember any names involved in their requests. Don’t try to advise or offer solutions for their problems.

 

Praying for their requests

It is usually good to ask, “May we offer a brief prayer right now?”  Offer a short prayer, starting with thanks and praise. Use their words in the request as much as possible. Thank God for working through this prayer to bring the best answer.

There may be times when it seems better not to pray aloud on the spot. In that case, assure the person that you will pray. You and your partner can pray for that request later. Make sure you don’t forget to pray for that request.

 

Debriefing

At the conclusion of your prayerwalk, spend some time talking with your partner about the experience. Did anything you see or experience surprise you? At what points did you especially sense God’s presence?  What needs came to your awareness?  Which needs do you believe God wants you to continue praying for?

Offer a final prayer together, thanking God for the privilege of sharing in Christ’s ongoing work through the walking and praying you did.

 

 

Reporting Back

 

Email Judy with your report of where and when you prayerwalked and your stories of interesting things that happened. To help her sort your email from spam, title it "prayerwalk report."

 

Email Judy with your report of where and when you prayerwalked and your stories of interesting things that happened. To help her sort your email from spam, title it "prayerwalk report."

 

Prayerwalking Resources

Books

Prayerwalking: Praying On-Site with Insight, by Steve Hawthorne and Graham Kendrick         

Follow Me: Lessons for Becoming a Prayerwalker, by Randy Sprinkle  

Notes

from the brochure “Prayerwalking”, International Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention:

“Prayerwalking has…

 

Prayerwalking is walking and talking with God, hearing and heeding His voice, seeing and sensing as He does.

Types of Prayerwalking:

 

PRAYERWALKING STORIES

How I Became a Prayerwalker

I sat in a worship service in the Indianapolis congregation my husband pastored. The congregation was partaking of the Lord’s Supper.  I began thinking about God’s immense love and mercy and gifts to make lives whole.  I became more painfully aware than ever before of how the church keeps all that Godness bottled up in our fellowship and how we fail to connect with the world outside our buildings.  In my imagination I saw Jesus standing in the hallway of the church, by the front door, banging on the door to be “let out.” Then I sensed God was really speaking to me. “But what can I do?” I said.  “What can you do?” God asked, in a way that led the way to the answer. ”I can pray and I can walk,” I said. 

God’s invitation became clear. I was to prayerwalk in the neighborhoods around our church. And, following the Lord’s pattern of sending out disciples two by two, I knew I was to ask a young woman in the congregation named Erika to go with me. I talked with Erika after the service, and we decided to prayerwalk that Wednesday afternoon.

First Experiences with Prayerwalking

Erika and I discovered how difficult taking the first steps can be.  All kinds of doubts and inhibitions hit as we parked the car in the subdivision.  “Are we crazy to be doing this? What will people think?  What if we just offend people?”  We had to pray our way through the doubts to gain the spiritual muscle to get out of the car.

Once we started walking and looking and praying, we felt God was helping us to see needs and to pray for the people who lived in the houses. We engaged in conversation with people who were out in their yards, saying that we were praying for the neighborhood. We asked if they had prayer requests that we could bring to the prayer service at our church that evening.

We were surprised how readily people expressed their requests for prayer--for sick relatives, for jobs, for children.  Christians we encountered often asked us to pray for their congregations. Although some people did not want to engage in conversation long, nobody seemed offended by our offering to pray for them.  Erika and I brought the prayer requests from the neighborhoods to the prayer service that evening. Praying for the needs of those outside of our circle brought a freshness and deeper sense of importance to that prayer time.

As Erika and I continued to prayerwalk in different subdivisions each Wednesday, we saw the needs of the people who lived in our church’s mission field, particularly the children and teenagers.  Our hearts were touched when a high school girl asked us to pray that she would have some friends. “Everyone I know is ‘Gothic’,” she said. I wasn’t sure what “Gothic” meant, but I didn’t think it was healthy!  The understanding of our mission field that Erika and I gained in prayerwalking was one of the factors that led to the congregation changing its style of worship to better connect with younger people.

Reports of Prayerwalking in Eureka Springs

Judy Turner's Report: Divine Appointments

When John and I moved to Eureka Springs, AR, I continued the practice of prayerwalking. I asked a friend named Carolyn to go with me. During the summer and fall months we met at a bakery on Saturday mornings for coffee, then prayed and set out to prayerwalk a street or area of the town where we felt led to go.

One Saturday morning we felt led to pray at a gazebo that overlooks our town. We felt such compassion for the people in our town who are caught in spiritual confusion and darkness. It was a taste of what the Lord must have felt as He prayed over Jerusalem. As we were praying, a couple from Oklahoma drove up. Eureka Springs is a wedding destination, and this couple was about to be married at the gazebo. While they were waiting for the person performing their wedding to arrive, we engaged in conversation. Although the couple were Christians, they were not sure the person performing their wedding was a person of faith. They asked us to ask God’s guidance, direction, and blessing for their marriage. We prayed for their marriage, blessed to be able to bless them. We knew we’d shown up for a “divine appointment” that morning.

Carolyn taught First Grade in Eureka Springs for many years. On our prayerwalks we frequently encounter Carolyn’s former students or parents of students she taught. While prayerwalking one day, we saw several young men throwing a football in their yard. Carolyn recognized one of the young men as a student she had taught years earlier. After they conversed for awhile, she told the former student that we were praying for people in the neighborhood and asked if he had any requests. He asked for prayer for his mother, who was fighting cancer.  We prayed for his mother. Months later Carolyn ran into his mother, who poured her heart out to Carolyn about the difficulties in her life. Carolyn said, “Some months ago I saw your son. He asked me to pray for you.”  The mother was greatly encouraged!

John Turner’s Report: Praying for Wholesome, Safe, Creative, and True Influences  

 

Following the prayer training event at Christview Ministries Center, I went prayerwalking with Ron Lutz. We took a route that included Crescent Park, the Dairy Hollow Writer’s Colony, Harmon Park, and Clear Springs School. It was a great day, and there was much to keep us busy praying for the good of the community and for the mission of Jesus in the community. A continuing theme during our walk was praying for wholesome, safe, creative, and true influences on the lives of children, youth, and impressionable adults.

The Crescent Park development plans have been quite controversial in recent months in Eureka Springs. As we turned from having prayed for a good resolution of the controversy, a couple of people "just happened" to appear on our path, one of whom had been integrally involved in the decision-making about the park. Ron knew this person, and we entered into a conversation for which prayer had prepared us. We returned from the walk feeling that God had guided our prayers.

 

Caren Holiday’s Report: Seeing the “Signs”

 

I participated in a session on Intercessor and Prayer Walking Training, Saturday, March 10, 2007, at the Christview Ministries Center. After the training, we chose partners and destinations in Eureka Springs. I was actually a bit intimidated about doing this prayer walking stuff, something I'd never done before and with someone I didn't know. I was the last to leave the classroom, dragging my feet, I guess. 

 

Nevertheless, off we went in pairs to walk our locations. My prayer partner and I chose to walk around the Eureka Springs Elementary and Middle Schools, First National Bank, and Faith Christian Family Church.

 

It was a beautiful spring day. We drove to the schools, parked, chose a direction around the playground first, started talking, and next thing you know we were praying as we walked.  It was neat. 

 

We had been trained to be aware of our surroundings.  I'd heard the frogs ribbeting in the hollow off to the right of the school so I had just prayed for the beauty of the Ozarks we all enjoy, the changing seasons, the birds, the lakes, the woodland creatures, the tourists who come to enjoy the scenery and therefore support our economy, and that we will be wise stewards of all of this, using green management to protect for us and our children. 

 

Then, as we came around to the front of the school, I began reading the school sign message.  Are you ready for this?  It said, "MARCH word of the month LOYALTY"! Is that cool or what?  I know March meant the month of the year, but to me it also reminded me that here we were Marching for the Lord!  And LOYALTY fit right in! We were so excited that we had to write it down!  As we continued on, I glanced back at the sign.  Are you ready?  On the other side was:  "Together We Build a Better Tomorrow."   I'm not kidding!  So we got out the pen and paper again!  I love it.  We were both on cloud nine!   

 

The rest of our walk was very pleasant, uplifting, and inspirational. I would highly recommend Prayer Walking to anyone.  It is amazing when you slow down to really observe and sense your surroundings what comes to you to pray about.  I am grateful for a whole new way to be close to our Lord and to deepen my faith.  

 

Jody Stephenson’s  Report: The Kingdom of God in Action

 

Some of us from other religious groups joined in when John Michael Talbot and the Brothers and Sisters of Charity of the Little Portion Monastery led a prayer walk through downtown Eureka Springs on a lovely, crisp spring day during spring break. It was one of those days when you are glad to be alive. After reminding us of Eureka Springs’ rich spiritual heritage, John Michael Talbot instructed us to walk in silence—inhaling the energy of those saints who had walked before us and exhaling prayers for our current generation.

 

We walked through the downtown streets in silence, in processions of twos and threes, following the cross. People stopped and stared—some nodding in acknowledgement of the cross, others simply noticing that something was happening but they weren’t sure what. I was encouraged to see that there is still a great deal of respect for those who have chosen a monastic life, even in this cynical age.

 

We ventured up the street to the New Orleans Hotel, then circled back to the park in the center of our town. Many times and many years have I walked those same streets, talking aimlessly about whatever popped into my mind, reacting to things on impulse. But this was so different. The silence gave me a lot of space. I felt enlarged. My heart had room to grow. My mind was open to God. I was giving him a chance to speak to me.

Just the discipline itself was good for me, but I was not prepared for the profound results I noticed immediately. The energy conserved was amazing. Not only was my mental and spiritual energy not being frittered away on trifles—but it was actually reining in all those reserves, holding on to that precious sense of the Spirit that gets scattered through careless dispersal. Perhaps that is one meaning of not casting my pearls.

 

In many ways, Basin Park is the heart of Eureka Springs. It is also a microcosm of the world. There amidst the busyness of a Saturday afternoon—where tourists, street vendors, locals, cars, and motorcycles all clamored together—our band of comrades assembled together and sang. We created a sacred space right then and there. When John Michael Talbot led us in the singing of Holy Ground, he said that we made this place holy by bringing the presence of God there.

The park was transformed by the presence of the Spirit. We could feel it. This was the kingdom of God in action—a palpable reality for those who had it. I had been studying this incredibly rich subject for several years, trying to understand what exactly it was that defined the kingdom. But here I saw the real thing; I was actually in the kingdom of God at that very moment. I was united to this group of believers by something stronger than ideology, nationality, politics, or any thing that brings people together. This was a brotherhood of the heart, bound by something greater than any of us individually—an alliance formed in heaven that could never be broken.

 

What are your prayerwalking stories?  Email Judy with your report of where and when you prayerwalked and your stories of interesting things that happened. To help her sort your email from spam, title it "prayerwalk report."