One high school student said, "I learned so much about my neighborhood the first time I went on a Prayer Journey. Houses became homes. People became neighbors. The lost became my responsibility."

Prepare to reclaim an area in Christ’s name for concentrated prayer and witness. Prayer Journeys use field teams that walk, drive and use all other forms of transportation to cover a community in prayer. Support teams usually include those who cannot walk or travel well but still want to be involved.

A. Field teams: Field teams travel into the communities for direct contact prayer with the areas they are seeking God to touch. The Prayer Journey helps believers learn how to cover a community with prayer. Field teams also learn to be sensitive to respond to the divine encounters that occur during the Prayer Journeys. A divine encounter is when the Spirit of God leads someone into the path of a believer so they can hear the gospel, be encouraged, or receive ministry. This happens in every Prayer Journey where field teams come into contact with people.

Everyone who studies Prayer Journeys will be richly blessed by taking part in a field team or support team. There are always excellent testimonies from people who practice covering the community with prayer. One pastor said, "It’s not nearly as hokey as it first sounds."

1. Field teams may walk, drive, bicycle, rollerblade, fly, or ride a subway or train. A field team that is walking may have two or three people in it. Field teams walk with heads up and eyes open. Other modes of transportation may include 2-5 people. The point is to cover the community in prayer and take advantage of divine encounters. Team members listen for the Spirit to speak to them based on what they see, hear, and smell. It is not just a devotional walk or drive, but an intentional time of intercession for others. Walking and public transportation have the advantage of meeting more divine encounters.

One prayer team had a check engine light come on in the van. The driver pulled into a service station and asked the mechanic to check it. The mechanic gladly heard the gospel from the driver while they searched for the problem. No mechanical problem was ever found. But spiritual needs were diagnosed and treated!

2. The teams usually do not stop in front of a home or business. As the teams walk or ride they pray silently or softly voice aloud a prayer based on what they see and feel. The prayers are short, specific, and powerful. As E.M. Bounds wrote, "Our short prayers owe their point and efficiency to the long ones that have preceded them. "
3. Teams may want to pause to prepare for prayer before leaving. Read James 5:16b "The effective prayer of a righteous man avails much." Take time to privately confess sin and ask the Holy Spirit to guide the team.
4. Field teams can begin with the neighborhoods closest to the church Take a map of the area if several teams are praying through an area. Duplicate prayer is not a problem but try to pray through every neighborhood in the community. One team reported, "We got confused on the maps but we knew that extra prayer would not hurt. Plus the Spirit led a young woman that was walking her dog to hear the gospel."
5. Take precautions for the safety of team. Some areas require larger field teams or should be driven through. Encourage teams in problem areas to have a cell phone with them. In some areas it may be a good idea for the coordinator to drive around the target area to check on each team every fifteen minutes. Do not avoid these areas, they need prayer. But, "be shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves." Matt. 10:16 (NASB).
6. Provide each person a copy of the Taking Prayer to the Streets: Prayer Journeys Pocket Guide. The pocket guide provides helpful information for Prayer Journey field teams and support teams to enjoy effective, specific prayer. It summarizes many of the specific prayer scriptures to help team members as they participate in the Prayer Journey.

B. Support teams: Support teams remain at the church to provide prayer support for the field teams. Those who cannot physically journey with the field teams will pray through church and home-based prayer support teams. One shut-in can’t even travel to the church but says that she "wouldn’t miss the chance to pray for our church leaders and community."

1. The support teams will pray over maps of local and global areas. They will pray for each house, apartment and business on the streets where the field teams are journeying. Create one or more teams of 2-5 people to pray over the areas where the field teams are praying. This type of information is often available from the associational office. It also is available from the Mapping Center for Evangelism, www. map4jesus.org.
2. Support teams intercede on behalf of church prospects and lost people. Senior adults have taken great joy in being active in support teams covering their community, and the field teams, in prayer.
3. Support teams pray for the church facilities. It is usually best to create one or more teams of 2-5 people to pray through the church. Each team can go separately to every room and pray for the teachers. They pray for the maturity and witness of the believers in the class and for unbelievers to come to church and to accept Christ. They pray for the staff, program leaders, and worship leaders. They pray for the Holy Spirit to empower the services and outreach and for the members to reach the lost and introduce persons to Jesus as their savior. They can even walk through the parking lot and pray for the light of the gospel to reach into the community. They pray for every visitor’s spot to be filled with visitors.

A support team in Salt Lake City was led to pray for every visitor’s parking spot in the parking lot. They reported that the next Sunday every visitor’s spot was full for the first time in many years. (And they add that is wasn’t church members parking there either!)

C. Decide how long the teams will be out. The field teams and support teams need to decide the length of time they will pray on this Prayer Journey. The length of time depends on many factors. Usually assign the field teams to be out for about one hour. It passes surprisingly quickly. Vary that amount of time depending on weather, geography, number of houses, and number of field teams that are walking or using other transportation. Begin at the door of the church and fan out down the streets. Send some teams out to other neighborhoods in the community. Some teams will need to drive to the community. Park in a safe place and walk the neighborhood.

1. Decide on a time for everyone to come back together to report what the Lord has taught them. Usually a thirty-minute to one hour session is enough.

D. Practice field prayer. Consider some sample prayers to help the field teams understand the concept. Most field teams will want to keep moving as they pray. Probably the teams should not stop for more than 20 seconds, particularly for the field teams that are driving an area! A sample prayer might be "Lord, we pray for this home and for Your Spirit to draw them into seeking the truth. I see a boat there and pray that while this family is on the boat that Your Spirit will prompt them to seek You. I see the children’s bicycles and pray that the children will grow in the wisdom and stature of the Lord. We pray for the congregation to be able to follow-through with these people and that they will be responsive."

1. The teams may be led to read Scripture and claim the promises of God (John 15:7). There are some appropriate scriptures on the back of the follow-up card in Appendix F and in the Pocket Guide. Enjoy the presence of the Lord as you journey through His creation. Pray in intercession for each person, home, and business. Pray that each person will meet Jesus and be influenced by a local church. Pray for the believers in that area to be encouraged and strengthened. Pray for a bold witness to touch lives with caring and compassionate evangelism.

It is such a blessing to hear what the Spirit leads people to say while praying on-sight. One person prayed in tears for a house where the trash can was full of beer bottles and baby formula containers. Another prayed for a man with a fishing boat to become a fisher of men. A young woman prayed for relationships in an apartment complex they drove by. In each instance they were lead to pray for the salvation of the lost and the outreach of the church into those areas.

II. Campus Prayer Journeys

Campus Prayer Journeys began in Arkansas in 1998. The Baptist State Convention there has materials to help parents and other adults pray for students, teachers and administrators on school campuses the night before See You At the Pole. Campus Prayer Journeys then encourage prayer throughout the year for the salvation, safety, and spiritual growth of everyone on the campus. For a Church Guide, a Participant's Guide or for more information contact Campus Prayer Journeys, (501) 376-4791 or visit www.studentz.com/prayer.

III. Response Time

Pause for a time of prayer. Let each person voice a sentence prayer. Ask for wisdom in praying for the community of the church. Pray for people to join field teams and support teams. Pray that every community will be covered with prayer.

"Pray as though everything depended on God; work as though everything depended on you."