Last week Jeff invited people to take on a challenge to prayer-walk their neighborhood every day for seven days. Jeff and I had prayer walked our neighborhood already several times, but this was a new level of discipline, making sure it happened consistently every day for a week. Now that the week is at an end, I find that I enjoyed our daily neighborhood prayer time and I hope this is a habit that we continue to stay faithful to.
Because of our family schedule, we ended up taking our daily prayer walk at different times–sometimes in the late afternoon, sometimes in the late evening. Late afternoon was neat because we would see many of our neighbors out and be able to pray for them and say hi at the same time. But late evening was my favorite–the stars shining down on us, the chilly air, and the quiet that enabled us to really focus and pray for each family, each house.
We prayed for our neighbors’ salvation, healing, help, hope. We prayed for specific needs that we knew about–and even saw one family’s need answered in a very practical way. We prayed for opportunities to share Jesus–and saw that answered too in a big and surprising way through an opportunity that opened up for Jeff.
Scripture tells us that there is spiritual battle going on. I am thankful for the opportunity to engage in battle on behalf of the neighbors on our street. Oh how I want them to know Jesus, to know the life He gives! Walking our street every day and praying out loud together for each and every house is meaningful–I believe it is an important part of the spiritual battle for our neighbors’ hearts, and it draws my heart toward my neighbors in a new deeper way than just sidewalk chit-chat.
In Matthew 5:14 Jesus said that we are the light of the world. May He shine so brightly through us that every neighbor on our street and beyond sees Him and comes to Him and is transformed by Him.
