I have been doing prayer walks for about ten years. I started right after I planted a church and decided to pray for the area where the church was located. Initially, I walked around my neighborhood, but later traveled to other cities by car, parked, and walked their neighborhoods. While walking, I talked to God, prayed for the city and people I saw, and interceded for the Church and the nations. Occasionally, when I met people and struck up a conversation, I shared my testimony and the gospel of Christ. For the last couple of years, I took a break because of back pain. I endured pain and walked 3-4 miles a day, but it became so painful that I could only do it 1-2 times a week. In November 2024, I learned from a back pain specialist that my problem was not my back but my hip. The doctor informed me that a hip replacement surgery would heal me completely and eliminate the pain. In January 2025, I underwent bilateral hip replacement surgery and am now without pain. After three months of recovery and rehab, my previous hip and back pains are gone, allowing me to continue my prayer walks without pain. I am so thankful to God for healing me and giving me a new hope in life! So, you may ask, “Why do you do prayer walks?” Well, here are three simple answers:

First, I do prayer walks because men of faith in the Bible walked with God. One good example of such a person is Enoch. Genesis 5:22-24 says, “Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Then in Hebrews 11:5-6, it says, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Walking with God implies a relationship with Him, and walking in faith means a relationship that pleases Him. I want to have a love-relationship with God and please Him by doing it.

Second, I do prayer walks because God promised men of faith that He would give every place where their feet tread. One good example of this is the promise God gave to Abraham, the patriarch of all men of faith. God promised, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you” (Gen.13:14-17). Then God reemphasized this promise to Moses and Joshua, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses” (Josh.1:3). For them, walking with God meant conquering the land for His kingdom. For Christians today, it means making disciples of all nations. I want to obey and fulfill Jesus Christ’s Great Commission.

Third, I do prayer walks because men of faith leave behind trails for others to follow in their examples. One Bible passage that comes to mind is Hebrews 12:1-2, where it says, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The “cloud of witnesses” the writer is referring to are the men and women of faith described in Hebrews 11. Again, Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” For them, walking with God meant following the examples of men and women of faith and continuing their legacy for the kingdom, and possibly leaving examples for others to follow after them. I want to imitate my forefathers of faith, especially of my Lord Jesus, and if God is willing, leave my footprints as an example for the next generation of believers.