I'm sure you have been made aware of just how many families are hurting at the present moment in the US and in other countries around the world. With all the recent tornados destruction of towns after town in the south, the flooding of thousands of acres near the Mississippi, as well as the thousand of homeless and hugry people in Japan after the earthquake and floods. These are just the bigger news stories we hear! People are seriously hurting everywhere around the world, and right next to you and me, regardless of where we live. So I don't wish to bore you with details you may be aware of already, so I will assume you know who right next to you, maybe in your very neighborhood who needs your help in one way or another. It may be in a small, quick fix way or in a great big way, you know the difference.
A lot of folks automatically grab their wallet when someone begins to detail how someone else needs help. I will put your mind to ease and tell you that what I want to inform you of requires NO money from yours or anyones elses wallet or require anything too difficult for the average person! If you will look around your home, place of business or your childrens school you will have no trouble in finding someone that needs help. Right now if you live anywhere in the southern US you can eaisly see just who needs assistance and who doesn't! It's been made easy for you, either a tornado destroyed ones home or it didn't. The same applys to homes flooded out. We all have people near us that need our help, right now!
I understand that with the condition of world we live in, there seems to always be something terrible happening to someone somewhere! One could find themselves becoming very negative quickly. The purpose for me re-telling or mentioning the misery of so many families is not to make anyone more negative but rather a reason to begin a type of Christian ministry to aid those hurting referred to as prayer walking! For those of us in wheelchairs we still refer to it as prayer walking for ease of understanding. If we were to begin talking about prayer rolling or something like that many would be lost! So for ease of use, I want to inform you of a way to help others that only requires you to 'walk' and for you to pray. Do you see just how easy it can be?
Prayerwalking: Praying On-Site With Insight. Prayerwalking is not a program, a process, nor a prayer event. It is intercession that transforms the intercessor and his/her praying. Usually, it is much better to prayer walk with a group of like-minded people. People from your church or relatives that live with you. We say that it should be at least two people for safty sake and because two or more 'heads' are better than one when judging a needs of another! We've come to call this sort of on-site intercession "prayerwalking". It's simply praying in the very places that we expect God to bring forth His answers to our prayers. The prayers are intercessory rather than devotional. Prayerwalkers learn to pray beyond their own concerns, focusing their prayers on behalf of their neighbors. Having a focus based on a purpose will help you be consistent in your commitment to praying for others. Some people also believe that being close to a location allows them to “pray nearer to pray clearer.” Prayerwalking is usually a low-profile affair. Prayer walks are taken by individuals, groups, and even whole churches. They can be as short as a block or as long as many miles. The idea is to use the five senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—to increase the intercessor’s understanding of prayer needs. Though they usually walk unnoticed, prayerwalkers quickly become aware of the realities and needs of their neighbors. Prayerwalking or prayer walk with the Lord could also include riding, jogging, boating, biking, or any other means of transportation again, including those of us in wheelchairs. The method of communication is to pray on site, rather than from a distance. I'm sure you remember the old adage of having to get 'close and dirty' to the problem to be able to correct it. Well, yes, close but not too close or too dirty, you do have your own lives and families to be responsible for. However, your emotional levels will be peaked when close to those who need help and high emotions translate in to powerful heartfelt prayers!
Now before anyone makes 'things' more difficult than they need be, allow me to say that it is easy to get a 'feeling' of just who needs your help/prayer. Something as easy as a overgrown lawn or dead brushes and trees are good indicators that the person in that home needs 'phyical' assistance with their yard or they need prayer assistance over a health condition. It may also means that if there are children present, that discipline is a problem and a few prayers about respect are in order. Now this is just a few suggestions and not concrete in anyway. You wll come to know your neighbohood better than I from a distance. The suggested needs are just some of the possible needs. Other easy to decipher needs are homeless people, people with multiple layers of coats in warm weather uually points to a homeless person. What about a child siting on the front porch crying into their hands? It could mean anything! Don't ever jump to a conclusion. Mybe it's best to make a note about the crying child and about the conditions of their home and so on. Then continue to move on. If the next couple of times you see the same child crying you will be able to decipher the need eaisier. Why not ask from a distance ,"what's the matter"! You, as an adult, know when it feels right to talk to another and when to not. Sometimes a simple hello and how are you doing opens the 'floodwaters' of emotions and problems! Just keep this all in mind and make notes about everything, because then you can re-visit a situation and decipher a need. Other cases will be easier like I said about tornado ruined homes or flooded property. As you do more and more prayer walks you will develope a means of pinpointing problems or the partners you walk with will develope the gift. Lastly, and before I get into why you should get a prayer journal allow me to just point to recent comments and remind you that if you've noted a situation before and you find the same situation happening again, you will quickly know what the prayer need is. So either get fansy or get simple and make a lot of notes in what others refer to as 'Prayer Journal'.
Many prayer walkers find it very beneficial to keep a 'prayer journal' detailing who, what and where they prayed while on prayerwalks and then record the notable differences or results in later re-visits. Your prayer journal can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. A simple method would be to get a notebook or binder and draw a line down the middle of the page. Label one column "I prayed". Label the other "God answered". Right down some specific prayer requests and the date you start praying for it. You will find it benefical for you to keep looking over the pages from time to time and pray over those older things that haven't had notable effects/changes yet. . When you notice that your prayer has been answered right down how God answered it and the date. Remember it is easier to detail at frist rather than later, how you felt, why you felt the need to pray, what were some of the outward signs that led you to pray. Lastly, another great personal reason to keep a prayer journal is that over time you will have a record of how God has answered your prayers. Then if you are ever discouraged you can look it over and see how God has been with you in the past and will continue to be with you in the future! Unfortunately, we know of no better way to be able to track your prayers then with a prayer journal. Prayer walking experiences are just one reason to have a prayer journal. There are many other reasons and methods for keeping a Christian prayer journal.
In closing we want to offer you some tools to further aid you in developing your prayer walking team. We have found a couple of good e-articles and e-guidebooks on prayer walking and methods that others have found successful. We've also included a nice print and carry with you while prayer walking card. All you need to do to get your hands on these is to click here . We aren't asking for your personal information or the names and e-mail addresses of five friends to receive this important informtion! This is a more serious of situation and we want to get as many groups out praying right away! There are too many families hurting and we need to ask God to put an end to it right away! When we consider the number of unemployed added to the other groups I've mentioned, the need is endless however, the solution is truly at hand! It is time for us to stop waiting on our President and Congressmen to make a change for so many hurting families! Change almost always must come from the people instead of from the leaders. The leaders usually wait to then jump in and assist, but only after the people have made the effort and some correction to the problems!
Now as for the prayer journals. Yes we sell them and a very nice and useable journal with Christian stationery. However, to get you started right away and to have no reason for delay allow me to inform you of where you can get some free journal paes to add to any you have thought of making out of plain paper. Go here and go to the bottom of the page and you will find free source pages to get you started on your personal prayer journal. Later when you want to upgrade and have a nicer prayer journal just remember that page and return to purchase it. For now though, you have everything needed to begin prayer walking! Get a few friends together, allow them to read this and the free help files and then start prayer walking and getting God to fix the problems effecting so many families! If there is anything else we could do to assist you, please don't hesitate to contact us here at Director@olinepublishing.com May God bless you and yours and may your prayer walking assist many in need!
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Roy Twogood Jr. is Managing Director of OLIN e-Publishing Company & OLINeBooks, Denver Colorado- http://olinepublishing.com. This and any other article here can be re-posted for free. All we do ask is that any URL's and this byline remain intact somehere in the re-post. Thank you and God bless!
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