From southeastern coastal cities to the northeast and even to the dry northwest regions, different mission teams and Christians individuals are engaging in prayer walking. Some pastors encourage believers to participate in it, while others say that it has changed the spiritual climate. Some also express that they have seen God's work during prayer walks.
Grace, a sister in Christ who has been doing prayer walking for over ten years, said, "Just as Jesus walked through every city and village, Christians also need to go out to pray for the people. Sometimes, only by going out can you find out where people are suffering, and what kind of suffering they are enduring. And you have to become a vessel of blessing to pour out blessings and His love through your prayers."
Grace said that to do prayer walking, she moved from a comfortable place to a province with a completely different climate, culture, and lifestyle habits, where she has resided for a long time. For quite a long period, she lived in a remote village for many years, occasionally staying in hotels in the city for bathing or refreshing.
She embarked on her prayer walks from there. She would pray at some historical sites; she would pray for the people around temples, sensing the bound souls; she would plan tourist routes, admiring the scenery while praying. She would also pray for the place she lived, even walking into the fields to meditate like Isaac.
Believing that God listened to her prayers, she stated that often after prayers, she could see God's work the next day and that sometimes she needed to wait patiently. She once prophesied the message of resurrection of dead bodies on ancient ruins, which later became a new district built by the government.
When she meditated in the fields, God told her through the scenery what she should do. Sometimes she encountered the season of sowing, the season of growing or the season of harvest. She was led differently by God in different season.
Grace believed that external changes required spiritual breakthroughs. In China, especially in rural areas, she saw many places still controlled by evil spirits, so she often declared God's word to break the curse of idols. Sometimes, she simply prayed, using the Lord's Prayer, for the land beneath her feet and the souls there.
She is fond of a sentence from the Apostle Paul: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice." She said that in the process of prayer walking, she is also offering herself, just as Abraham walked to the land God showed him and built altars there. She encouraged Christians to go out and establish prayer altars wherever they go. Therefore, in her view, believers could possess the land through prayer walks, declaring that the land belonged to the Lord.
Furthermore, during prayer walks, she said that she miraculously connected with local believers at times. Not measuring the effectiveness of prayer walking by whether it benefited evangelism, Grace added that any change could be God's response to your prayers.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
