We are like Joshua, like his crowd of followers, circling, circling the walled city in silence, hoping, crying out from our souls only to You, Master of the Universe, to break through those daunting walls. People shout from inside, defaming you. They do not know you. They do not feel your loving arms around them. All they have are huge thick walls. So they assume they are just fine. We have to trust, circling in silence, that you will do what you have promised: crush those walls and break on through in your own timing. It will be a miracle and we will cry out shouts of praise! So we wait and keep on walking, walking with You, Your hand holding ours, the path before us clear, unchanged--- circling, waiting, heart-eyes fixed on You. And walls will crumble down.
A few weeks ago I got a call from a friend at my church, Margaret Hadley, asking me to join her on a prayer walk. Prayer walking is her passion – her book, A Prayer Walk through Washington D.C., came out in 2020. Now she is working on a marathon-length walk here in Michigan. Would I join her in the initial segment, a walk up Woodward in Detroit?
I live in Detroit and have come to love it. I am also a walker, and combining prayer with motion is delightful to me. So the two of us walked seven miles together from the Detroit River Walk, where Woodward Avenue ends, up to 7 Mile Road. Margaret was leading the event and had brought prayer prompts, the first verses of several psalms. They helped, but mostly we talked to the Lord about what we saw on our journey out loud, eyes wide open so that other pedestrians would see us as just engaged in conversation. We passed medical buildings, universities, restaurants, bars, churches of all kinds, beggars, families, and eventually neighborhoods. There was so much to lift up to the Lord of the Universe as we contemplated the needs of this city. At the end of the walk my feet were sore, but my heart was happy. Yes, there are many needs, but there is also hope. And it is our Lord who can break through all walls and bring change.
It brought back memories of another time years ago when my friend Cecilia Fueslein drove me to key sites in the city (the weather was cold) and we prayed together for its “peace.” I had recently become a resident of Detroit; she had a longer history here. We both really wanted to see change, and an evangelistic event was on the horizon. The Word says:
Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jer. 29:7 NIV)
Peace and prosperity are attempts to try to express the word “shalom” in the Hebrew. It includes concern for the welfare of the city, its health.
Another time, back in Ferkessédougou, I had joined some missionary coworkers in walking around the Baptist Hospital, praying together for God to do what seemed to be miracles. It was going through extremely hard times, and our hearts were deeply burdened. Praying together for its welfare, and against the Enemy attacks it was experiencing, we were united in asking for breakthrough. And recently we have seen that beginning to happen!
It all reminds me of the way Joshua and his people walked around Jericho (see Joshua 5 and 6).
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. (Heb. 11:30 NIV)
They were told to be silent, and only to shout on the seventh day after the seventh time the city had been circled that day. But the fact that the ark of the covenant was with them, seven priests carrying trumpets that also sounded at that critical moment, showed that they were counting on Yahweh’s presence and action. What would I have been crying out in my heart if I were among that crowd of people following the army, circling a city that hated me and my Master? How would I have handled my fear? I’m sure I would have been desperately calling out to him “in silence” with my inner voice. The people had not seen a city of enemies experience that kind of spiritual warfare. It was so scary, but they obeyed and exposed themselves to anyone guarding the city, on its walls, to walk all those days!
Prayer walking is truly a form of spiritual formation, and more and more Christian groups are practicing it together on university campuses, in cities and in neighborhoods. Our church uses the warm summer weather to take prayer walks in the community surrounding it. When someone asks a question that opens up the opportunity to talk, you are encouraged to ask if they have something they would like to ask prayer for. But mostly it is just about walking two by two, praying out loud as we pass different venues and people, asking the Lord to do his work in that community.
Often my morning walks in my neighborhood involve meditation, or prayer for dear ones near and far, but there are also many times when the Lord prompts me to pray for people I know as I pass by: a woman whose son was killed, an immigrant family from Africa, a woman involved in witchcraft, a friend who does not know Jesus yet. He continues to prompt me to pray for spiritual movement toward true knowledge of the Jesus Way, to actually know him. It is part of my current learning curve as the Lord pushes me to pay attention to the world around me and to walk with him in it, not just alone with my preoccupations and my intent to exercise!
One huge difference that this practice makes in my walk is remembering that he is right there with me—practicing his presence. When I walk with a partner, the same thing happens: we are not just two or three humans covering the distance together, but we are talking with the One who is the focus of our conversation. He wants us to pray, everywhere, constantly:
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. (Eph. 6:18a NIV)
And wherever we go, he is with us:
Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. (Ps. 73:23 NIV)
The right hand is symbolic for action, so this is not only about the comfort, guidance and protection we
need. It is also about doing what he wants us to do. Like praying “with all kinds of prayers”.
I appreciate this simple three-point outline that applies to this practice:
- Prayer-walking lets our context shape the prayers we pray.
- Prayer-walking reminds me of the vast opportunities around me and the finiteness of my resources.
- Prayer-walking enables you to engage real kingdom work in your vicinity, in a location where there may not be many (or any) other Christians.[1]
We can take prompts from what we see, what we hear, and from any of our senses. The ancient broken sidewalks in Detroit remind me that this city is broken and needs healing. I pass an old man, hunched over and limping; he needs prayer. I pass the home of a friend who is a missionary now on the field; even that is reminder to pray for her. I see kids’ toys out on the sidewalk and pray for their welfare, and for spiritual blessing on them. A police car rolls slowly by and I pray for them as they protect the people, for wisdom and integrity, and salvation! Leaves fall and I am reminded of passing seasons and the brevity of life. So I ask God to work in me and through me in the days I have left.
When God lays a word from Scripture on our hearts, we can let it structure how we intercede for people and for our interactions. One pertinent example is the commandment to love our neighbors. So as we walk and pray, we can ask him how we can show that love in words and actions.
Where we know there is evil at work, we pray against it.
Knowing that a community has deep spiritual needs, we pray for breakthrough, for openness to the Good News. It matters.
When we think about lurking danger, we can remember that we are protected by the One with whom we are walking:
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. (Ps. 139:5 NIV)
As Adele Calhoun says in her excellent book on spiritual disciplines, what I must desire when practicing prayer walking is “to align myself, while walking in particular places, with Christ and his intercession for the kingdom to come.” So it includes “deliberately walking through places for the purpose of intentional and listening prayer . . .seeing places through Jesus’ eyes.” [2]
Yes, I need to grow in my ability to see places and people through Jesus’ eyes, talking with him about them as we walk together. And where there are walls, he is the one who can make them crumble down!
[1] https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/the-prayer-walk/ By C.S. Lewis Institute on January 1, 2021 Series: Covid-19, C.S. Lewis Institute
[2] Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us. (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Books, 2005), 253
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