Prayer Walking for VBS? I think so!

I have a confession to make. First of all, although I started my time here with a strong committment to prayer-walking, over the past year, the business of life and ministry has gotten me out of the regular prayer-walking loop. However, I will let you know that if you had a VBS in Northwestern Nevada last year and I knew about it, I did at least prayer-drive your area. I hope to do as much prayer-walking as possible for activities this summer also (anybody want to help?).

We had five kids in children's church Sunday morning for the early service. I have taken two of the children in the class prayer-walking on at least two or three different occasions for other events.

Both girls expressed that they wanted to go do that "thing where we walked and then got ice cream (yes I reward the kids for good behavior, sometimes the weather conditions aren't great, but the kids have great attitudes!)

Now, before you accuse me of using bribery and tell me that the kids don't care about prayer-walking as much as they care about the ice cream, let me share a couple of stories.

When I prayer-walk with anyone I give them the freedom to pray however they like, whether that be out loud or silently. I encourage them to pray for things they observe, such as signs that kids live in the house or things that show an interest, like fishing or boating. Sometimes the kids pray for off the wall things that have nothing to do with the event we are praying for, but as a learning experience, I'm willing to deal with that.

One day I was prayer-walking with a girl and her mom. She went down the street praying for the man who worked on the sidewalk and the man who painted the fence. Amazingly, she wouldn't pray for anyone that she saw as we walked because she "didn't know them." Personally, I believe that whoever painted that fence (which looked like it may not have been painted in years) needed a special blessing that day.

Another day I was walking with another leader and 4 or 5 children. It was refreshing to hear the prayers of the kids who would pray out loud. Ranging in ages from 8 to 12, this crew knew their task and was eager to pray for everyone they saw.

Another group prayed for every house that they saw. It was a blessing to hear what they said.

With VBS coming up, will you consider using your children to pray for the event? Imagine how they will feel knowing that they had a big part in praying for VBS this year! Don't worry, you don't have to bribe them with ice cream!