Prayerwalking
is a fun and exciting adventure. One of the reasons for
this is because of the variety of ways that you can prayerwalk.
God never intended for prayer to be boring. When you prayerwalk,
you can discover hundreds of ways to pray for your area,
your church, and the people around you. You will gain insights
and grow as an intercessor. This variety will sustain your
prayer life and create excitement and enjoyment concerning
prayer.
In this chapter, we will examine
the various ways that you can prayerwalk. There are numerous
ways that you can prayerwalk. God honors and blesses each
of these ways. God will grant you insight and power for
each of these ways. Consider practicing all the varieties
of prayerwalking.
Prayerwalking Alone
The
Holy Spirit will inspire you to do impromptu prayerwalks.
You may not have others who can or will prayerwalk with
you. The Holy Spirit will bless and guide your personal
prayerwalking. Many believers do this as they exercise,
whether it be walking or jogging.
When you prayerwalk alone, keep the following in mind:
Pray
aloud. There may be times when God wants you to be silent
and listen to Him. Yet, pray out loud if it is possible.
Praying aloud helps you to stay focused as you prayerwalk.
When you are prayerwalking by yourself, your mind will have
a tendency to stray from praying. You may find it hard to
concentrate. Praying aloud
will aid you in staying focused. A single person praying
audibly in public may appear odd or strange to onlookers.
A simple word of explanation will suffice in these situations.
Be more concerned about what God thinks than what anyone
else thinks.
Prayerwalk the same route
with other believers. Your solo prayerwalk may just be the
beginning of prayerwalking an area. Once you prayerwalk
a route by yourself, you might want to recruit other believers
to prayerwalk that same route with you. You will be able
to add power to that original prayerwalk with the agreement
of other believers. You will be able to pray with added
faith for the people, places, and situations along that
route.
Avoid engaging evil powers
by yourself. When you prayerwalk alone, focus on pleading
for the release of God's power and blessings on people,
places, and situations. Pray for God's righteousness to
be exalted and His kingdom to engulf the people and the
area. Avoid confronting evil powers by yourself. There is
a place for confronting and binding evil spirits through
prayer. Yet, it is better to have other believers with you
who can pray for you and support you in this type of situation.
Prayerwalking
As A Family
Prayerwalking
as a family can help your children understand prayer and
move them toward becoming powerful intercessors. It can
be the beginning of a lifetime of intercession. It will
aid you in involving your children in prayer. They will
have a part in advancing God's kingdom. It can provide you
with new and fresh ways of praying as a family.
When you prayerwalk as a family,
consider the following guidelines:
Pray
for God to speak to and touch your children through family
prayerwalks. Ask God to make these prayerwalks a significant
spiritual marker in their lives. Pray that this will create
a heart for intercession in your children.
Choose areas that are of interests
to your children. Let your children help in planning the
areas that you will pray.
Plan short and varied routes.
Don't let your prayerwalking as a family become too complicated
or too long.
Talk with your children about what
prayerwalking is and how to do it. Talk to them about where
you are going and the prayer topics for that route. You
might even devise short and simple prayer guides to help
your children. You might even consider helping them find
verses of Scripture that they can use on the prayerwalk.
Mix fun with intercession. Your
children will not be able to focus on prayer for the entire
prayerwalk. Be willing and ready to have times of fun mixed
in with the prayerwalking. Even when you are having fun,
talk with God about the fun that you are having.
Pray specifically about your
children's' concern. When you prayerwalk with your children,
pray about those things that directly affect them. Pray
about those things that bother them or make them fearful.
Incorporate their interests in your prayerwalk.
Invite other family members
or friends to prayerwalk with you. At times, you might want
to include extended family members in your prayerwalks.
Your children need to see the most important people in their
lives in the practice of praying.
Affirm that God hears and
answers prayer. After your prayerwalks, talk with your children
about the truth that God hears and answers prayer. Share
with them that God has heard your prayers and will answer
them in His time and way. Use this as an opportunity to
teach them about trusting Him and waiting on Him to answer.
Prayerwalking In Small Groups
Prayerwalking
can be done in groups of two or three people. It is best
to have teams of two to three people. Praying with one or
two team members enables you to pray in agreement. God loves
it when His people pray together in agreement (Matthew 18:20).
God's power and blessing are released when His people put
this truth into practice.
When prayerwalking in small groups, remember the following
general principles:
Form
prayer teams-Usually prayer teams will come together spontaneously.
Yet, there is good reason to be deliberate in forming teams.
You must consider matters of safety, local sensitivities,
and prayer maturity of the individuals.
Shuffle prayer teams. It is
wise to place experienced intercessors with those who are
struggling in prayer. When you do this, you are giving the
experienced intercessors an opportunity to mentor and encourage
the ones who are struggling. Prayer is contagious. Take
advantage of this opportunity. There are times when a prayerwalk
is designed so that prayer teams meet at certain points.
When they meet, they rest and re-assign the prayer teams.
Develop a rhythm of prayer.
Allow each person to pray in the group. Take turns praying
and be sensitive to what the others are praying. Seek the
filling of the Spirit and allow Him to lead the praying
of the team.
Prayerwalking In Large Groups
There
are certain situations that are ideal for prayerwalking
in large groups. A large group for prayerwalking is from
seven to twenty-four. This type of prayerwalking is ideal
for prayer rallies, evangelistic crusades, or protests and
demonstrations. Some churches have left their sanctuaries
and made a broad sweep of their communities with prayerwalking.
When you are planning or are
involved with a large group for prayerwalking, consider
the following:
Pray
fervently for the Spirit's leadership. Prayerwalking in
a large group requires careful planning under the Spirit's
direction.
Plan the routes well. There
are a variety of factors that you must consider when carrying
out a large group prayerwalk. Think about how to negotiate
the traffic lights and street signs. At what points will
you stop and how long will you stop? Walk the route and
estimate how much time will be needed to do the prayerwalk.
You might consider dividing the large group up into teams
of two and sending them out behind each other in one to
two minute intervals.
Stay within the legal restrictions
of your area. Some places may have laws requiring advance
permission to walk. They may have other laws concerning
group functions. Make sure that you know the requirements
and restrictions and then adhere to them.
Prepare the way. You might
consider sending teams of experienced intercessors on the
route before the group prayerwalk. These intercessors can
cover the route with prayer and prepare the way for the
large group.
Use prayer guides and music.
You can allow for spontaneous praying and singing. Yet,
you might also consider having prayer guides and programs
of music for the people to use in worship.
Dr. Kevin Meador © 2005....................CLICK
HERE to view a MS WORD version of this guide.
