Behold my first research project in a long time.
Here are the main questions that I’ll be investigating for now:
- What is it?
- Is it in the Bible as history?
- Is it in the Bible as teaching or doctrine?
- What are its purposes and goals?
- What are its benefits?
- What are its cautions if not dangers?
- Who uses it?
- Who is objecting to it?
- Is it in the news?
I hope to post the results sometime. But I have to get them first. Hopefully, it will be before my 50th birthday.
Happy Birthday, Mark!
T. just hit 50 before you. D.’s already been there, and passed it. It’s not too scary; even if you are a half-century now. The beauty of old men is the gray head — Prov 20:29.
Prayer Walking first began to be popular in the early 1990’s with the Pentecostal/Charismatics. They felt they could not only pray for people as they passed by their houses or saw them on the streets, but also would have the ability to rebuke and bind the evil spiritualpowers that affect the town/city where they walked.
One woman we knew way back when said the demons called her “The Woman Who Walked in Prayer.” How she knew they gave her that title, we weren’t sure, and weren’t asking. Spooky.
We prefer to pray the Bible way…on our knees, with the brethren or alone, in accordance to God’s written will.
I will add to this though, many conservative groups use prayer walking as an effective means of praying for people and places in spiritual need. It can take 2 forms, praying while you are walking along and see something that causes concern, or going out just to pray in this manner. It does not take the place of personal prayer time, but is an effective means of prayer for the lost as well as a way of helping you focus on spiritual needs around you. Global Tribes Outreach (GTO) and the Institute for Global Opportunities (IGO), two conservative anabaptist groups working in Asia, both use this as an effective means of prayer (and may be largely responsible for its popularity in our circles)