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While I take a break from the live morning broadcasts I’ve done for the past 14 months, I will still leave some written encouragement for each day.  This week’s focus will be on prayer walking.

“For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”
Acts 17:23 (NIV)

Take some time this week to pray by either physically walking or visually walking through your neighborhood.

The purpose of a prayer walk is to allow God to use the things you see and hear in your home, school, church, community, or wherever you are, to speak to you about how you should pray.  A walk may reveal things for you to rejoice about as you recognize God’s creativity and goodness.  It may also give you things to pray about as you notice mankind’s mark that has been left on the world.  Either way, there is much we can learn about prayer as we walk, watch, listen, and respond.

Here are some steps to help you in your prayer walk.

1.  Take a note pad or index cards to jot down things that God brings to your mind.
2.  As you begin, spend time in prayer asking God to clear your mind and spirit of any distractions so that you may listen to Him
3.  Pray as you walk. There may be times that you pray out loud and other times you may pray silently.  Use your senses and God’s spirit to know what to pray about.
4.  As you pray, ask God to bring scriptures to your mind to pray for the area you’re in. Jot these down as you go.
5.  Even though you are trying not to stand out, don’t avoid people. They may be someone you need to pray for.  Listen to God and listen to them if contact is made.  Jot down any follow-up that God may prompt you is necessary.
6.  Relax. To quote Brennan Manning in Ragamuffin Gospel, “Just as a child can not do bad coloring, a Christian can not do bad praying.”

In prayer,
Tom