Prayer Run

“Confess and acknowledge how you have offended one another and then pray for one another to be instantly healed, for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!” (James 5:16 TPT)

A friend of mine recently told me about an epic running project that was organized by her pastor. He marked off a circular course. He wrote the names of all the countries around the globe, frontline workers, community issues, names of those who were ill, those who were relationally wounded, and all other prayer requests that people mentioned to him. He placed these written prayers on a refreshment table at the start of the loop. Every lap, he picked up a new prayer request and lifted up the need to God. He invited others to join him in prayer for 60 hours as they ran or walked with him or in their own locales. Every participant did what they could in their own capacity--some ran 5km while others ran over 100 miles. 

Praying while running is difficult. It feels like you are carrying a heavy weight on your back. It makes a strenuous activity even more arduous. Running long distances like marathons and ultramarathons are also laborious. However, when you are running with a group of people who are moving forward with a unified mindset, everyone is strengthened. Praying with others, even while running alone, can create a sense of communal purpose. It can feel like you are sharing in the collective burdens of the world. 

When we admit and acknowledge how we have hurt one another and then pray for one another to be healed, we introduce the tremendous power of the Spirit into the brokenness.  Interceding for others, especially strangers, increases understanding and empathy. It expands our compassion and shifts our focus from our own struggles. It gives us a mission that is bigger than our own personal concerns.  When we stand in the gap and pray, it enables us to participate in God’s healing process. We become witnesses to wondrous transformations. This empowers us to lift up more and more people and to continually glorify God as we move closer to Him.