Three more days to go!

I will begin my 40 days prayer for community in three days and will continue to share articles, prayer tips and encouragement from SeekGodfortheCity. Today we are going to focus on prayer-walking or praying near the people you are praying for.

There’s a story rolling in everyone’s life. God has done and will do good things in people’s lives. He does good things long before anyone opens their life to Christ. It’s the kindness of God that leads anyone to repentance (Romans 2:4). Meeting, following and serving Christ is always a lifelong story. The typical stories have multiple encounters and experiences that turn people closer to or further from Christ. Someone researching effective ways to lead people to Christ found that most people have no less than five significant encounters in which the message of the gospel registers at the heart level.

On the verge of something good. As we connect with people in practical ways, those deep heart connections increase rapidly. I love to assume that God is on the verge of doing something good in the lives of everyone I see in order to bring about yet one more significant encounter with His love. I enjoy getting in on the story by praying my way, or “noticing” my way into what God may be up to next. Praying for people is the simplest way I know to start seeing them from God’s point of view—to notice what they’re facing or to get a hunch about what God may have underway.

Prayerwalk to get in step with what God is doing. When we live at too fast a pace, we can miss God’s invitations to become part of the story He’s unfolding in people’s lives. Prayerwalking is a way to slow down and begin to naturally pick up on the concerns of God. His heart begins to merge with ours. We allow what causes Him excitement or anguish to affect us in the same way.

Prayerwalking is praying near the people you are praying for, in the places where they live or work. Prayerwalking isn’t really about walking around. It’s praying with your eyes and heart wide open so you can take notice of what God may be wanting to do in their lives. You can pray quietly with your eyes open without people necessarily knowing that you are praying for them. Be on the scene without making one.

What to pray You don’t have to have an official “prayer request” to start praying creatively. Try praying in these three ways:

1. Thank your way into God’s story. How has God provided, protected or guided them? We’re told to offer “thanksgiving on behalf of all people” (1 Timothy 2:1). When you think about it, it’s not hard to do. What you’re doing is “noticing” what God may be doing. Such “noticing” makes it easier to pray and easier to see what part God may give you in what’s coming next.

2. Notice what they may be facing. What fears, pain or ambitions are driving them? What relationships or disappointments have paralyzed them? What turmoil or crisis may be overwhelming them? Pray accordingly.

3. Pray with scripture. Almost any of the passages of scripture in this prayer guide can give you ideas about how to pray.

Resource:

vai SeekGodfortheCity