Friday, November 18, 2011

Book Review: Prayerwalking

Prayer is something I have never felt I was very good at. It seems like it should be an easy thing for a Christian--just talk to God--but I have always had difficulty knowing what I should pray for and how I should go about it. Especially when it comes to big prayers that require a bit of vision. Prayerwalking: Praying On Site with Insight by Steve Hawthorne and Graham Kendrick, is an introduction and practical guide to prayerwalking--the practice of walking through your community while offering up prayers to God on its behalf.

According to the authors, the benefit of taking your prayers to the streets of your neighborhood or city is that you gain a larger vision of God's purpose for that community. It takes less imagination and effort to pray that God's Kingdom will come to your town when you are on the streets, seeing and praying for the needs first-hand.

Contrary to what is commonly assumed, prayerwalking is not for the purpose of physical exercise. Prayerwalks are slow-paced and punctuated by frequent stops at locations of significance like schools, government buildings or the sights of historic events.

I especially appreciated how the authors included the testimonies of Christians across the globe who have prayerwalked in their communities and seen God move in mighty ways. Prayerwalking helped me to see beyond the walls of my prayer closet or church and see the purpose of my community for the glory of God. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for ways to get into their community and bring Christ to their neighbors. Prayerwalking is a great place to start.

*I received Prayerwalking: Praying On Site with Insight by Steve Hawthorne and Graham Kendrick by request for review from a Mission Frontiers promotion (http://www.missionfrontiers.org/).

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Sleeper: A Short (True) Story

There was a chill in the air early this morning, when I first awakened. It was pitch black outside and I was still tired. I reached for my extra blanket, pulled it over me and curled up to go back to sleep. While still only half-conscious, I remembered that it was time to get up and get ready for work. Ugh. I knew that once I was up and moving I would warm up and wake up, but I was just so comfortable there under the covers. Who gets up before the sun anyway? Especially on a chilly morning like today. And yet the alarm clock still came blaring into my room, chasing away any thoughts of sleep.

I'm living in a world absent of the Light, where the chill creeps into the very core of my being. My desire is to pull up the covers and stay warm while I sleep it all away. But then the Son comes into my room and beckons me to follow Him. He promises me that He will warm me from the inside-out with a fire that burns inside me, whether night or day. But first, I must get out of bed and look this cold, dark world in the face. I must get up and start doing the work of the Kingdom before the fire will start burning and chase the chill out of my bones. I must run to the ends of this bleak earth and share this light, this fire, that comes from inside me but not from me.

"Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead,
and the Messiah will shine on you."
Ephesians 5:14