PRAYERWALKING: SATURATING YOUR CITY WITH PRAYER

BY STEVE HAWTHORNE

Steve Hawthorne is the director of WayMakers, a ministry focused on united, citywide prayer. He is best known as one of the designers of the mission vision course called Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. Steve has coauthored, with Graham Kendrick, the book Prayerwalking: Praying On-Site with Insight. He has trained teams in on-site prayer in a dozen countries. Steve Hawthorne is a member of Hope Chapel in Austin, Texas.

God is rousing Christians to pray for their cities in an "up close and personal" way. We are seeing Christians press their prayers beyond the walls of church buildings to bring clear and quiet blessings upon their neighbors in Jesus' name. As they put feet to their prayers, God helps turn their fresh hope into obedient action.

PRAYERWALKING: PRAYING ON-SITE WITH INSIGHT
We've come to call this sort of on-site intercession "prayerwalking." It is simply praying in the very places we expect God to bring forth His answers.
The prayers are intercessory rather than devotional. Prayerwalkers learn to pray beyond their own concerns, focusing prayer on behalf of their neighbors.
Prayerwalking is usually a low-profile affair: Friends or family strolling two-by-two through their own neighborhoods, schools and work places, praying as they go. It's being on the scene without making one.

CITYWIDE WALKS: COORDINATING TO COVER THE COMMUNITY
Most prayerwalking has been sporadic and scattered, as Christians pray occasionally for a few neighbors during morning walks. We encourage those prayers, but we are now seeing a rise of organized citywide prayerwalks designed to saturate entire cities. Plans are varied and creative. Every community seems to require a unique approach. Sometimes God inspires the vision to the people of one church. More often, many churches find they share common hope and mission on the (literally) common ground of their streets.

ONE-DAY PRAYERWALKS AT KEY SITES
Some communities have used a one-day approach, arranging routes that symbolically cover the entire city. "PrayerWalk Nashville '95" was this kind of effort. On a September Saturday morning, Christians from 29 Nashville churches gathered quietly at 32 preplanned sites along Old Hickory Boulevard, which encircles the core of the city as a "ring road." At 9:00 A.M. 32 groups (usually comprised of folks from the same church) began to move counterclockwise along preassigned routes. They gathered afterward for a time of celebration. Even more churches joined as they expanded the effort the following year.
In Los Angeles hundreds of churches participated in what was called "Lift LA" during mid-November, 1995. In conjunction with a call to prayer and fasting, organizers helped local church leaders plan three successive mornings of prayerwalking. Scores of teams set out on short prayerwalks they had planned-most synchronized to depart at 5:00 A.M.
I was able to join in the endeavor. Our assigned route: Hollywood Boulevard. As we walked along the brass stars embedded in the side- walk during the morning dark, it wasn't hard to plead for God's light to dawn anew, eclipsing the seductive starlight of our idolatrous entertainment industry. How thrilled we were to know that at that very hour, hundreds of others were putting feet to their prayers all around the city.

COMPREHENSIVE PRAYERWALKS
Some citywide prayerwalks aim to cover every street or even every home. We recently completed an effort such as this in Austin, Texas, called "PrayerWalk Austin." We called Christians to prayerwalk every street in the city during the 24 days between Halloween and Thanksgiving, 1995.
We divided the map of Austin into 740 small sectors, each requiring about an hour to cover. We invited Christians to register for two of the numbered sectors: one area near their home, work or church; and a second sector in a part of Austin they didn't often see. We invited participants to find their own styles and schedules to prayerwalk their areas anytime, but at least once during the 24-day period. We kept it simple. No literature was distributed. We just asked God to bring the transforming power of the gospel to every home, school and business. We closed the event with a citywide Thanksgiving Celebration on the Friday evening after Thanksgiving Day.
Christians from 70 churches had prayerwalked the city. The walk had been accomplished with minimal publicity, a steering committee of pastors and an eager volunteer team. More than 58 percent of the map had been assigned to prayerwalkers in a short time.

THE NEXT STEP
The next step is probably near where you live, work or worship. With a friend, pray with biblical hope for the families, educators, leaders and children of your community. It's so simple that you can start tomorrow. Focus on Christ, asking Him to fulfill all of His heart for every neighborhood. As you find creative, persistent ways to bless your neighbors in Jesus' name, you will be among the first to see God's hand at work in their lives.
Many are recognizing God's timing to organize citywide prayer~ walks. March for Jesus, USA has lifted a vision called "Prayerwalk USA" seeking to strengthen local efforts by providing resources and referrals. PrayerWalk USA will help local leaders encourage and fortify each other, suggesting common approaches for coverage and publishing reports of progress. A PrayerWalk Organizer Guide (pre- pared by WayMakers) is available. It is designed to help local church leaders develop customized plans to prayerwalk their cities.
Many hearts share our hope to cover every community in America with prayer-street by street, home by home. Why not aim to cover every zip code with prayer at least once by the year 2000? Eventually we may see every home upheld in prayer daily by caring Christian neighbors: Step by step Street by street Family by family.
As we bring our prayers near our neighbors, we will prepare the way for gospel harvest and Christ's greater glory.

For information about organizing a prayerwalk in your city, contact:

WayMakers Box 20 3131 Austin, TX 78720-3131 Phone: (512) 419-7729 Fax: (512) 219-1999