As I have mentioned before, the earliest monastics, the Desert Fathers, believed that they entered the wilderness (or desert) in order to battle demons.  The Desert Life would give them the opportunity to engage and overcome the most deeply rooted habits of sin in their lives.  To them, the Devil and demons dwelt in the wilderness, away from the well-ordered cosmos of civilization. 

These days, while we acknowledge that entering into a fasted, Desert time is one of the best ways to battle our demons, we also realize that the well-ordered cities are also places of deep spiritual bondage.  When we walk about our communities, we often sense that we as followers of Jesus Christ are on foreign spiritual ground. 

Taking prayer walks is one way of engaging in an active form of fasting and prayer.  Often, we see fasting and prayer as something we do when we withdraw; prayer walking is a way of encroaching on that foreign land.  In Lent in particular, this kind of prayer walking intentionally engages the city spiritually, taking on powers and authorities as we invite God into places he normally might not be invited. 

In doing so, we put up our “spirtual radar” and invite God to reveal to us what is going on around us in the aspects of this world that we cannot see.  We may observe, then, that we are as foreign to the place we are walking as a ship’s bow is to the waves.  As we thus plow the sea – walking through our neighborhoods and city centers – we begin to discern not just what the problems are in whatever place, but we begin to gain insight and vision into what God sees and desires for a particular area. 

Given that Lent is a time for self-examination and reflection on the habits of sin and destruction in our lives, Lent is an appropriate time to begin to pray for a city, a neighborhood, a center of human habitation.  Cities are full of patterns of life.  And just like human beings, our cities need transformation of habits of sin and destruction.  This is done by both detecting the spiritual issues at work in the area and by praying toward what God is up to. 

As we gain a sense of what God is up to, we can begin to prayerfully declare that what God says is true and that we desire to act with him in what he does.  In this way, we will begin to reap the transformation that God desires in our cities and communities. 

So invite God to show you a route to walk – one that covers the neighborhood in which you live.  Invite God to show you things about your city as you walk.  Begin to pray toward what God’s vision is for that area.  And as you see him at work, begin to act alongside of him.  Prayer walking is an adventure of the experience of the power of God to transform us and our surroundings.

What is God leading you to in this area of spiritual discipline?