Our Second Prayer Walk

Today Greg and I went for our second prayer walk. I picked the more affluent northeast side of town to see what God would reveal. I spent about 3/4 of the time silently praying, Greg about 1/2 and the rest of the time we listened for anything God wanted to tell us.

When we started out, Greg told me to lead where we would walk. As I turned down a court, he told me that we were starting exactly where is platoon (group of young men he discipled last year) had left off on their prayer walk. That was cool!

When we got back to the car, we 'debriefed'. We talked about what we felt God had communicated to each of us and it was amazingly similar. Basically, that both this part of town and the West Side had many similarities. Though the West Side was concerned with what they didn't have and the northeast side with what they did have, both had domestic problems. There were addictions to alcohol and drugs, physical abuse, fathers who were too hard on their kids, and those who were almost absent. Both neighborhoods had homes where they weren't taking care of the yard. Too busy? Unexpected life situations? Other priorities? I saw one huge house with a Mercedes, a BMW, and a Cadillac in the driveway, but their roof was bare in places where they needed shingles, if not a new roof.

As we talked about the domestic issues, we explored the differences in how the husbands in both neighborhoods reacted to divorce. My impression was that because the Hispanic culture is very family oriented and dedicated, a divorce would be devastating both emotionally as well as socially. Their whole family would be disappointed. In the predominately white affluent neighborhood, the social aspect may not be as present or severe. That might contribute to the higher divorce rate among whites. Just a thought.

I was very excited to see that God told both of us that the neighborhoods were very similar, even though the income levels were so different. I would encourage anyone to go on a prayer walk in any part of town. Spend part of the time praying and then just listen for God. Start with your spouse. Take your small group. Take a friend. Go by yourself. I'm so looking forward to the next one!