Prayer-Walking: The Prayer of Jericho

On April 10th this year, we will launch our local mission's prayer-walking ministry. We plan to prayer-walk strategic target neighborhoods for 7 consecutive weeks (representing the 7 times around the walls of Jericho.) We often refer to this ministry initiative and experience as "The Prayer of Jericho"

We are beginning to recruit prayer-walkers now. On March 27th (Sunday after GIC), we will have a display in our UBC foyer and you can sign-up to prayer-walk within our community of Lebanon. Please stop by and sign up to join us. We begin our prayer-walking at 4:30 PM on these Sunday nights and return to hear the personal testimonies of our encounters with God working within our community of Lebanon.

Why prayer-walk? From the passage in 2 Corinthians 5: 12-21, we learn that we are God's ambassadors and as His ambassadors, we are to intercede on behalf of the residents and children within our community to be reconciled to God. God's love compels us to go, pray, and share the gospel.

Here are some key aspects of prayer-walking which you can develop in your life as you join God in His work through prayer-walking:

"Prayer is not incessant talking with God but unceasing walking with God" 1 Our mission is to develop our personal walk with God through prayer-walking.

"We define prayer-walking simply as praying on-site with insight" 2

Praying:

a. "Prayer-walking is genuine prayer--God working with and through people, on earth and in heaven--prayer-walking is essentially relationship with God--talking and walking with God Himself through Jesus". 3

1. Directed, intercessory prayer: praying for others, neighborhoods, homes, and people encountered while walking.
2. Intentional prayer

On-site:

b. Praying where we expect our prayers to be answered.

c." Sounds, sights, and smells, far from distracting your prayer, engage both body and mind in the art of praying." 4

d. "Walking seems to create opportunities to help or to pray for new friends on the spot, right at the times of great need." 5

e. "The act of walking emboldens pray-ers to push through feelings of futility and intimidation...Prayer-walkers gently defy such fraudulent claims of darkness over their community." 6

With Insight:

f. Responsive insight. "Prayer-walkers do their work with their eyes open, allowing the sights of people, objects, events and entire communities to flood their prayers with significance. Ordinary powers of observation yield abundant insights about the best focus of prayer."7

g. Researched insight. Examine history and settings, determine influence of crime, injustice, occult practices.

h. Illuminated insight. "When believers pray according to the Bible, very often God's Spirit illumines His Word with extra candlepower." 8 They subject themselves to God's Spirit.

To sign up Sundays for our Prayer of Jericho (prayer-walking) please see our prayer-walking team in our UBC foyer March 27-April 10th, or contact Sandy Huddleston: SCHudd1@yahoo.com or contact Mike Wright: mwright@urbancrest.org

 1 Sprinkle, Randy. Follow Me: Lessons for becoming a Prayerwalker. New Hope Publishers, Birmingham: AL, 2001 p14  

2 Hawthorne, Steve & Kendrick, Graham, Prayer-walking: Praying on Site with Insight (Lake Mary: FL. Charisma House, 1993)

3 Ibid., p.1

4 Ibid

5 Ibid., p. 17

6 Ibid., p. 18

7 Ibid

8 Ibid., p. 20