Jenny Hope

Prayer Walking
By James MacDonald

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 2 Chronicles 7:13-15

Is there any part of you that longs to participate in a movement of God that is in direct response to the prayers of His people? Page after page of Scripture reports God at work in areas where people invite Him entrance. First Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.”

Two elderly women in the Hebrides Islands of Scotland in 1949 believed God would bring revival to their islands if they would ask. They walked the county roads praying daily. They challenged their pastor to gather men for focused, fervent prayer. By year’s end, God had faithfully brought a downpour of revival to that spiritually dry land so that no home was left untouched by the power of His Spirit.

Do you have faith to believe that if you would only ask, God would show up and do His work in your home, neighborhood, and church?

Then I challenge you to let your actions reflect your heart. I want you to do something called prayer walking. Begin in your own home. Walk through your rooms and pray for Christ to be exalted where you live. Stand in the kitchen and say, “Jesus, You are welcome to be the center of life here—in our conversations and meals and hospitality that happens here.” Pray the same in your living room and den—everywhere you live.

Second, walk through your neighborhood and call out to God on behalf of the people who live there. If you know their names, pray personally for them to come to Christ. If you don’t, pray, “Lord, if You’ll give me a chance to meet them, I’ll tell them about the phenomenal things You’ve done in my life.”

Third, get to work early or stay late when no one’s around. Walk through, placing your hand on the chairs where people sit and ask for an opportunity to see God move in that place. Do the same at church. Walk through the children’s areas, the classrooms, and the youth center inviting the Lord to move in these places of ministry. Pray at the pastor’s door (he really needs it!) and in the worship center.

Start your prayer walking today. Determine by faith to be part of something God wants to do in the season of history right where you live. Let’s get on our faces before God and cry out to Him for the furthering of His purposes.