We all know what prayer is, and we all know what walking, is but in recent years these two words have been brought together and prayer-walking has been taken up by many Christians over the world. Is it just the latest passing fad or is it valid and effective? And what do you actually do?
Prayer walking has been around a long time, ever since God conversed with Adam and Eve whilst walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8), and Abram was told by God to walk through the length and breadth of the land as God was giving it to him (Gen 13:17). In our nation Rogation Sunday has been celebrated over the centuries where the people would Beat the Bounds of the parish to pray for ‘God’s protection on crops, beasts and people’. In more recent years we have seen Walks of Witness, March for Jesus and the church coming out of their buildings and praying through their communities and even going to distant lands and people groups to walk and pray.
Many people have been prayer walking for years without it being given a fancy name. When we walk in the countryside enjoying the beauty of creation, feel the rain on our faces, listen to the thundering seas, smell the honeysuckle and gaze to a distant horizon and give praise to our Creator, when we share our hearts as we walk and talk with Jesus building that intimate love relationship with Him, we are prayer walking.
Another form of prayer walking is in our daily lives as we converse with the Lord about all we see around us and receive prompts to pray for others. Examples might include prayer as we hear the emergency services siren, prayer for the people in the next car to us at a red traffic light, prayer for the cashier in the supermarket, prayer for the owner of the armpit our nose is up against in the Underground, prayer for the folks at the office or the other children in class with us, prayer for the innocent victims we see daily on the news and for the perpetrators of their pain, looking at the world through our Father’s eyes.
Intentional prayer walking is when we go out ‘on purpose’ to pray for an area. When I first went along to go prayer walking with the church around the streets of Maidenhead I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be small groups of people standing on street corners with our eyes closed, hands in the air singing ‘Shine Jesus Shine’! How embarrassing!
So what do we do? Firstly we meet up at Kidwells, maybe have coffee and pray for about 30 mins looking at a large map of the area where we have coloured in the streets already prayer-walked. We pray for any responses since last week and ask God to give us His heart and compassion for people, to lead us to the area where we should go to and for His Holy Spirit to inspire our prayers.
We simply walk the streets praying quietly for the needs that we literally see in front of us. Sometimes we get creative especially with house names. At Crossways Cottage we pray that godly decisions will be made, at Orchard Lane we pray that the gospel will be fruitful etc. We pick up clues as to whether a possibly lonely old person lives in the house or where there are toddlers. Everywhere we pray that  people would know the love of God and His transforming power. We put cards in every house offering prayer or further information and sometimes chat to people in the street if appropriate, nothing too heavy. Generally we have a lot of fun as children on an adventure with the Father. Of course some areas feel ‘dark’ and we pray together for God’s light to break through, but other areas feel ‘open’. We have some amusing moments like Chris Forster having his fingers bitten by a dog as he posted the card through the letter box.
After we have prayed we come back and share any thoughts and feelings and we colour in the map. Easy and not embarrassing at all! Well no more embarrassing than going anywhere with Chris and Colin!
We feel that our prayer walking is changing the spiritual atmosphere in an area, preparing the soil for the planting of God’s word. We have seen 4 people do Alpha as a result of the prayer cards and most weeks we have requests for prayer, some coming weeks after we have been in that area. We offer up our ‘loaves and fishes’ and God by His grace is doing a great work.
On a personal level, prayer walking has changed my vision. I am beginning to see people more through the eyes of God, I feel more connected to the communities around me. By praying for my neighbours I also feel spurred on to more acts of kindness and initiation of friendship towards them. Prayer walking has also given me a greater sense of hope as we think about what God wants to do transforming lives and communities.
Please don’t be intimidated by the thought of prayer walking. Come and have a go. And for those on the 10,000 steps a day challenge, our average prayer walks are 5-6000 steps so its good for you body, mind and spirit! Even if you can’t join the formal occasions be encouraged to pray. Your prayers do make a difference. And if anyone would like to get together to do more prayer walking then do contact Colin to coordinate areas etc.
PS Tetanus and rabies jabs are only needed by church leaders.!
Maidenhead and Cox Green – Meet at Kidwells 1-3p.m. Mondays
Marlow – Tuesdays a.m. starting 5th October | 