Approx 1 hr

At Baptist Mission Australia, we encourage short-term mission exposure teams to prayer walk when overseas so they can be involved in what God is doing in the area. Prayer walking is not just the practice of enjoying personal communion with God while walking, it is intentional intercessory prayer for others. It is praying in the very places that we expect God to answer.

It is just as important to do this in our own neighbourhood. Choose some key sites in your community where your group can walk and pray.

You could do this as a whole congregation, during the service (what a testimony to the community to see you out and about on a Sunday morning!) or as small groups during the weekend. As you walk, pray for your own neighbourhood as well as praying for the neighbourhoods where least-reached people groups live.

Activity

  1. Introduce the practice of prayer walking, explain where your groups will walk and what time they should return to the meeting place.
  2. Pray together and read scripture to set the tone of engaging in God’s work. Some relevant passages are: Col 1:9-14, Eph 1:16-21, 1 Tim 2:1-6, Psalm 108:1-6, Jer 29:11-14a.
  3. Send people off in pairs. You can give a specific route or allow them to wander around the local area.
  4. Walk and pray:
    • Pray out loud, talking with God about what you see and feel. Be sensitive to his guidance.
    • Reinforce and multiply each other’s prayers - building on, not always changing the “topic.”
    • Allow for silence - listening is half the conversation.
    • Pray for what you see as you walk.
  5. Remember to pray for those people groups who still do not know Jesus. Consider praying at:
    • A court house – for justice for the least-reached.
    • Government buildings – for those who have not heard the message of Jesus due to political barriers.
    • Banks and business – that our money and resources will be distributed fairly.
    • Schools – that the children in least-reached people groups will have the opportunity to hear about Jesus.
    • Parks, cafes and local gathering spaces – that these spaces all around the world will become gathering spaces for followers of Jesus, where they can openly worship God and testify about him.
    • Places of worship – that least-reached people groups will come to know about Jesus in ways that are meaningful within their culture.
  6. When you gather back as a group, discuss your experience and insights.