Walking 30 minutes in your neighborhood, praying for its residents
There is a way of praying that doesn't look like a closed room: walking in your neighborhood, eyes open, and praying for what you see. This monthly quest offers you thirty minutes to do it. It is a discreet, concrete prayer, and one that often changes how you see places you thought you knew.
What it looks like in your day
Choose a moment when you can walk quietly: in the morning, late in the afternoon or on the weekend. Put your phone on silent, wear comfortable shoes, and go out. A few tips for the walk:
- Set out with a simple prayer. "Lord, open my eyes to what you see in my neighborhood."
- Look and pray. In front of an apartment building: "Lord, bless the families who live here." In front of a school: "Protect the children, support the teachers." In front of a shop: "Bless those who work here." In front of a bench where someone is alone: "Let them feel that they matter."
- Pray with the other senses. Listen to the sounds, notice the state of the streets, the faces. Nothing is insignificant.
- Pray for what is missing. A neighborhood with no meeting place, young people with no activities, isolated elderly people.
- End with thanks. For what you saw that was beautiful and good.
If you are shy, remember that you are just taking a walk, nobody guesses that you are praying. If you are in a hurry, you can split the walk into two fifteen-minute stretches. If you don't like walking, a bike or bus trip, looking around you, will also do.
What the Bible says
God tells Abraham to walk through the land he will give him:
“Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.”
Walking through a place means taking it seriously, making it your own through sight and prayer. You walk through the neighborhood where God has put you.
Jesus himself looked at the crowds with compassion:
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
He doesn't see vague "people," he sees weary, disoriented persons. When you walk in your neighborhood, ask God to give you a little of that gaze. Mark reports a similar scene (Mark 6:34): faced with the crowd, he is moved with compassion and begins to teach them.
And God told the exiles to seek the peace of the city where they lived (Jeremiah 29:7). The neighborhood where you live is the concrete place of this mission.
Pitfalls to avoid
Walking to "claim" territory. Some "prayer walk" practices take on a warlike tone. Here, it is not a battle against a place or people: it is a walk of blessing.
Judging what you see. You will probably see dirt, graffiti, poverty, behavior that saddens you. Instead of judging, ask: "Lord, what do you want to do here?"
Praying without ever speaking. One day, you may need to say hello, lend a hand, meet someone. Prayer opens the door: dare to go through it.
Doing the walk as a spectator. Some days, you risk being distracted by your phone. Leave it in your pocket.
Exposing yourself needlessly. If some places are dangerous, choose a safe route, in daylight, or walk with someone. Prayer doesn't call for recklessness.
This month, set aside thirty minutes. Go out, look, pray. You will see your neighborhood with different eyes.