Prayer Walk

For many years, my friend Roger Tompkins would take a walk through his neighborhood. As he would walk, he would pray. This was a big part of his prayer life, and I imagine the exercise would clear his mind and open his heart.

In one of my seminary classes, we were invited to take a “prayer walk” through downtown Atlanta. We were to walk with our eyes tuned in to the people and situations all around us and to pray for them as we went. As we walked, we saw a homeless man on a park bench and a group of harried business women rushing back from lunch. We saw children alive with energy playing in a park, and we saw a woman digging through a dumpster looking for her next meal. We saw police officers and moms and firefighters and construction workers. We also saw beautiful trees and birds and the reflection of a brilliant sky on glass windows.

As we reflected on the people around us, we prayed for them, asking for protection, for help, for daily bread, for grace, and for hope. We also prayed for the city and for the nation and then for the earth. The walk opened our eyes and our hearts.

I invite you today to take a prayer walk. If you are not able to walk, I invite you to take a walk in your mind’s eye. Leave the phone behind. You don’t have to go fast. In fact, a stroll may even be better. Notice God’s creation teaming around you. Notice the people God loves. Offer your prayers, and feel God’s peace and presence.

Let us pray: Living and Giving God, Thank you for your love for us – a love that wouldn’t stand at a distance, a love that had to come and walk the earth. Help us to walk today with eyes and hearts wide open; through Jesus Christ. Amen.