Praying with your eyes wide open

2009-04-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

Prayer-walking is "Praying on-site with insight." The purpose of prayer-walking is to seek God's guidance—both for the community and for ourselves as God's servants in the neighborhood. Prayer-walking is listening with our eyes. Think of prayer walking as a spiritual journey.

Guidelines for prayer-walking

Walk in groups of two or three
Pray silently. Don't call attention to yourselves. "You can be on the scene without making one."
If anyone asks what you are doing, be prepared to respond: "We're praying God's blessing on this neighborhood. Is there any special way we can pray for you?"

What do we pray for?

Pray for discernment -- Seek the gift of seeing the community through the eyes of Jesus.

Pray for blessing – Pray over every person, home; for God's intervention in each life, so that each one can be fruitful in God's kingdom; for God's will to be done in this community "as it is in Heaven" (Matt. 6:10).

Pray with empathy -- See and feel what residents live with every day. Look for things like:

Handicap license plates or wheelchair in vehicles
Children’s toys and basketball hoops
Yellow ribbons in trees
Broken down vehicles
Vacant homes
Parched lawns and dying shrubs
Stray animals

Take note of your own response to what you see. What kinds of "vibes" do you get from your encounters in the community? What feels familiar or strange? Safe or dangerous? Friendly or hostile? Happy or sad? Pleasant or uncomfortable?

WWhat needs and concerns are in evidence? What do you see that might detract from people's quality of life or hinder people from developing their potential? What challenges are people likely to face as they go about their daily life?

Prayer Walking

Praying with your eyes wide open