Why You Should Take Your Kids on a Prayer Walk

Taking Your Kids on a Prayer Walk

Pray without ceasing – 1 Thessalonians 5:17

When you are teaching your child how to pray, I believe It is important to teach your child about the vast world God created. Have you ever taken a walk in the park? We can step back to see how the world is just perfect and thank God for all he has created. A prayer walk is an excellent opportunity for parents to teach children about faith and what it means to be a person of prayer. As you walk with your kids, point out things, ask about how they feel. At this time, encourage them to pray for the needs of others in school and what animals they see as well as people who walk by.

What is a prayer walk?

Thinking of a unique way to teach your kids how to pray? Try taking them on a prayer walk. A prayer walk is an intercessory prayer, which is when you pray intentionally as you walk through a park, your neighborhood, around town, or even just in the front yard. You can pray silently, take turns or pray out loud so they can hear how you do it. You don’t have to plan it, as long as you take the time with them every so often to lay their cares before God for healing, safety from evil, and love from others. It is literally that simple. This is the perfect family activity and can provide one-on-one time with each individual child that will help them grow in their faith.

A Prayer Walks makes you Present

This is a time where you become aware and present in everything, use those five senses. Sight, what do you see? Hear? Are there sounds that you don’t typically hear? Is something catching your attention? Smell the air. What is it you smell right now? If there are flowers nearby (and you’re not allergic) sniff them. What does the scent remind you of? Touch things. I love to touch leaves, trees, and yes even flowers. Taste. Ack, I know, haha. But truth is many times if I smell something I can kind of taste it. Or maybe you picked up something on the way, how does that taste make you feel?

Here is a fun Prayer Walk Scavenger Hunt for your kids to use on the walk.

When should you take a prayer walk?

First, this is not something you can only do in the day or night, or has to be done daily or else. I do recommend you take your kids on a prayer walk whenever they ask about it or when you see something in need. It is always good to pray, and I encourage you to do it with them because prayer is a two-way conversation between God and us. We talk to Him through our words, but He also talks back to us through signs of His love.

What do I need for a prayer walk?

Getting started on prayer walks is really easy. All you need is your kids, find your shoes and a place to walk with them. That is really all you need. If you want to take pictures of the things around you as examples for future prayer points then I would suggest getting a camera or phone that allows picture taking because it will help your child focus in on what they are seeing. I will also say that a prayer journal is ideal for all the things you see and how God works through His creation.

What happens when they are too big to walk around with?

Wait, you mean your teenager doesn’t want to walk with you? That’s simple, assign them a bunch of chores. Something tells me a 10-30 minute walk is going to be something they look forward doing. Over the summer my three younger children (I have 2 adult children that live in another town) all went on morning walks with me where we talked about everything we saw and things we could pray over. Oh and yes I had a 14 and a 17-year-old. But if they are really putting up a fight, keep them home and spend time teaching the one that wants to go. Pray for them.

What are prayer walks good for?

While walking with your kids it is a great opportunity to bring up problems they might be having at school or in the home. (Listen up moms/dads, this could be when you find out someone is being mean to your child) It is also a good time as you come to Jesus with your own problems and how he is able to give you peace in the midst of them. (that’s right moms, you can go on these walks alone.)

A prayer walk can help you see what or who might need some prayers. If you come across a section that can use sprucing up you can pray over it, if you walk by a creek that is becoming dry you could pray for rain, if you walk by homes that have eviction signs you know who you can pray for. These are all ways you become aware of what is going on around you. A mother yelling at her kids could mean she needs understanding, patience, or pray for her children to give her a bit of peace.

The prayer walk can also be used as a form of praise for all God does. You see when we are thankful for all that God has already done then that brings us closer and prepares our hearts for what God is going to do in our lives. (That’s right everyone, you can go on a prayer walk and praise him too.) Take the time to show your child how they can thank or praise God for everything around them.

Ex: Wow Jesus! Thank you so much for putting a park that is near my house so that my child and I can enjoy these walks.

or thank God for the beautiful day it is that you can walk without having it pour down rain. For allowing you to spend some time together.

or maybe you see a momma bird feeding her babies: Thank you Lord for showing us how a momma bird feeds her children. Thank you, Lord, for protecting this tiny little family from any predators.

What we can learn from the prayer walk.

The prayer walk teaches us all about how we need to approach God with our needs instead of just always giving thanks for what he already has done. When we come to him with nothing that we want, then he can give us all of his grace and peace.

If your child is having a hard time at school it could be because they see things in this world that conflict with what you are teaching them at home. Take the prayer walk as an opportunity to pray for those issues. God wants to lead them into the truth, but they need to be open to it and at that age sometimes you just can’t because they don’t have the reasoning yet.

Prayer Walks are great for Homeschoolers too

The prayer walk is a great thing to include in your homeschool curriculum. It will help your children learn how to pray for others those needs around their community, while at the same time helping them understand God’s plan for them. Plus, you get a little bit of exercise in for that day and some quality time learning about your child.

The prayer walk is not just a fun thing to take your kids on, it is also an opportunity for the parent to teach their children about life, people around them, and how they need to be praying from a young age so that they will be more prepared for what God has in store for them.  By the time they are adults, you can already tell if they understand prayer or not by their actions and their words.

To add a bit to this you can begin keeping a prayer journal for your child or a nature journal and as they walk they can write or draw things they see. Later they can go back and write how they can pray over those things or thank God for them. If you have any questions about prayer walks, just let me know below in the comments and I will try to answer it for you as best I can, God willing! Have a great day everyone!