Prayer Walk
The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
–James 5:16
For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears attend to their prayer…
–I Peter 3:12
The Vision: Christ, on many occasions, devoted time to prayer. Some demons were only cast out by prayer. All through the New Testament people were “devoted” or commanded to “devote” themselves to prayer. I believe that because prayer is perhaps the most powerful ministry we have, it is also the one that our flesh resists the most and the enemy resists the most!
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To pray is to listen to the voice of the One who calls you the beloved! –Henri Nouwen |
The main thing for the prayer walk is that we should remember that God hears our prayer – therefore, it is powerful and effective. I do not believe this is our chance to “test” the scripture, but rather believe the scripture as truth and therefore act – pray. During the prayer walk we have an opportunity to walk through the area and see the needs of our co-workers, the Mexican church, the non-believers, etc. This is a chance to look around the area and see needs without automatically trying to “fix” them-acknowledging that ultimately, we can’t “fix” it. We put the needs before the Father-acknowledging our weakness and His strength-and wait for His response. Seek to know how He looks upon this place. Ask Him to share His heart with you. Seek to understand why life is as it is for these people. Give Him praise for the great things he is doing-look for where and how He is working. Like a child, beg the father for the souls of the lost and pray that He would bless the efforts and work of His people this week.
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Prayer is savoring God. Savoring is immersing ourselves in His Presence, hearing Him with all of our senses. –Michael Yaconelli |
The Format: Allow as much freedom as possible. For some praying out loud is the preferred method and for some to pray in silence seems more powerful. Some may want to pray from a distance and some may want to lay hands on people and things. Do whatever you need to do to stay engaged and not get distracted. Read the Word out loud. Worship. Sing to your King. In II Chronicles 20, Israel defeats its enemy simply by singing and praising the Lord. Think about the walls of Jericho. Or just be intimate with Jesus. We talk much about building relationships here-use your prayer walk time to build your relationship with Him!
Pray for whomever, however, and wherever but PRAY! It is powerful and effective and we would be silly not to engage in it!
II Corinthians 2:15 says “we are the aroma of Christ.” Like an aroma or fragrance, pray that the spirit of Christ would linger long after we are gone. Pray that we have an aroma that is sweet and pleasing to our brothers and here in the colonias. Because we cannot be here with the people at all times, pray that our aroma will be something that lingers-pray that it would be of Christ and not of ourselves.
Do not seek to interact with the locals. Focus on prayer. You may not have a translator.
The Stories: We also walked around the community doing a prayer walk. We prayed for and with people and the area. There is such a need here! But there is just as much need in our own cities! I have been convicted that my mission work at home needs to grow. God has given me so much…I think everyone on this trip is realizing how much we have to be thankful for! –Joseph Paulson, Dalton, Ga.
