How to prayer walk - and why you should add this spiritual habit into your routine

Hi friends. It’s been…awhile. But I’m here now and so are you, so let’s talk about what God has been teaching me lately: how to prayer walk. It all started with an adorable toddler asking to go for a walk and a tired mommy not really wanting to. Here’s what I’ve been learning about prayer walks.

finding out about prayer walks

I had seen a couple Christian influencers do something along the lines of “come on a prayer walk with me” videos, but realized I didn’t know exactly what they meant. And when I was Googling “What is a prayer walk?”, it was hard to find a straight answer – which of course, makes sense, because prayer is personal and unique to each person.

The lack of clear guidelines reminded me that my prayer walk doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s. I’m convinced there’s no one right way to do it, just as there’s no one right way to pray. But in case anyone out there is like me and thrives on structure even in your prayer life, I thought it might be helpful to write a little bit about what a prayer walk is, how it’s applicable in my life, and other ways that you might want to add this to your routine.

What is a Prayer Walk?

There are many ideas about what a prayer walk can be, but there are a few common threads I’ve seen that I want to share with you today. Some prayer walks focus on location, some are personal, some are community-oriented, and many are a combination of all of the above.

1. A Location-Based Prayer Walk

Essentially, you walk around a specific location and pray for people in that location. This connects your prayer to your physical location, as well as make you more focused on and aware of praying for those in your community (or the community you are walking in). Some locations you might try could be your neighborhood, the neighborhood around your church, or a neighborhood near a school or other community center.

A location-based prayer walk might be something you do alone or with a group, such as having your small group meet at church and walk around praying for the neighborhoods near your church. Some things you might prayer for as you pass homes or buildings:

That those in your community would come to know God (and that you might be bold in leading them there)
That any pain or trials would bring them closer to God so they can be healed
If you are walking in your own neighborhood and know your neighbors, pray for them by name
The safety, health, and wellness of those living in the homes you pass by
Provision for community programs or schools

Another great article for this kind of prayer walk: 3 Steps to a Prayer Walk

add a pinterest sized image here with the 3 types of prayer walks

2. An Evangelistic Prayer Walk

The second type of prayer walk I’ve come across or heard about in my own circle of Christian community is all about praying WITH the people you come across. Which, to be honest…scares me a bit. But the general idea is, you’re out walking wherever – church, neighborhood, etc – and as you see people, you talk to them. Something simple like:

“Hi, we’re going on a prayer walk today, is there anything you need prayer for today?”

If they say no, take it lightly and move on. If they say yes, pray with them right then. For any non-Christians you pray with, this is an opportunity to invite them to know Jesus. This is a chance for them to know God’s love through the kindness and the boldness of his people (see Acts 4).

We have a friend in our small group that has such a strong faith in Jesus’s power to physically heal, and he will regularly take prayer walks or visit a location to pray specifically with people that God would heal their pain. He will ask if there’s any pain in your body that he can pray for, what level their pain is at, and lay hands on them to pray that Jesus would cast that pain out from their body. We’ve heard amazing testimonies of how this practice has brought people closer to God.

I am always so impressed at this friend’s faithfulness. He is often met with people saying, “Yeah, no thanks, weirdo” (or the like), but still he presses on to plant those gospel seeds, pray with those who would receive, and live into how God is calling him to touch his community.

3. A Personal Prayer Walk

This is where I’m at right with my prayer walking practice. How do you do a personal prayer walk? You just walk and pray. This type of prayer walk can be done anywhere, with anyone, and the fact that it’s so unstructured makes it perfect for stroller walks with my toddler.

Though the other kinds of prayer walks we’ve talked about today were location or community focused, this type of prayer walk is just about you and God. For me, it’s often an opportunity to just unburden things that are on my mind. I usually try to start with praise and thankfulness to keep my heart focused on the nature of God and his provisions before I come to him with my problems or requests.

Another way I’ve seen a personal prayer walk modeled is to spend the first half talking to God. This can be praise, thankfulness, requests, confessions, or anything in between. Then, you spend the second half listening to God (which is always so much harder for me than it sound like it should be).

My brain is constantly in go-mode, so when I try to quiet my brain and receive what God might be saying to me, it doesn’t always work well. I found that if I couldn’t quite focus on listening to God, it helps to listen to the sounds around me. At the very least this keeps me grounded in the present moment, which always makes me feel more in tune with the Holy Spirit.

why you should start prayer walking

Prayer walks have been such a blessing in both getting more movement and more prayer time in my life. God knew I needed something different in my prayer life and this was exactly what I needed. Here’s why I think you might love adding prayer walks into your routine too.

Prayer walks can be:

a calming way to practice the spiritual discipline of prayer
a personal or a community activity
a chance to reconnect with God when your prayer life feels a little stagnant
as frequent or infrequent as you want
simple and slow or active and fast-paced

My toddler is the reason I started prayer walking. He saw the stroller sitting in the entry way and in his little toddler way asked to go for a walk. Sometimes even a simple walk around the block feels like such a big effort, but I knew it was good for him and good for me, so I decided it was time to try out what a prayer walk might look like in my current season. I popped him in the stroller, made sure we both had water and a snack, walked outside my house and started praying out loud. Just walking and praying. And I am so, so glad I did.