PRAYER RUNNING

One of my great pleasures in life is to get up, lace up my ASICS and go for a run.
When I’m running, I feel such freedom, not just because I’m away from work, but because of the wonders of running through the glorious great outdoors.
And to add to that blessing, I love that whilst I’m running, I can talk to the best running partner ever, God Almighty!

And here’s the thing, when God is part of your regular run, the pace is just right.
Have you ever been out running with somebody who wants to chat, but they are running at a pace that’s way too fast for you to keep up with conversation comfortably, and so you’re desperately gasping out one word answers? 
Well, it’s not like that when you go for a prayer run with God. 
You can run at your pace and chat with God as and when you feel inspired to.
Do you know what’s better?
It’s ok when you’re digging deep, tackling a steep hill and your words are few, because God hears our heart.

Pray As You Go (PAYG)

As Kingdom Runners we can practice what I call the ‘PAYG’ principle.
Apostle Paul would certainly agree with as he told the early Church to ‘Pray without ceasing’, making prayer more than just something we do in moments of crises, or when attending Church services. 
Rather, prayer should be a lifestyle.

WHY DO I PRAY?

1. As a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ, Jesus expected his followers to pray and that’s why he said, “when you pray”.
   Jesus set an example of regular prayer for us to follow.
   Have you noticed that Jesus commenced, continued and concluded his earthly ministry by personal prayer?
   If Jesus did his life on Earth through the power of prayer, I also should follow his example.

2. Prayer is one of the keys to revival!
   As Kingdom Runners we often run through communities that appear to be hurting and broken.
   We see evidence of sin and feel the cold darkness lingering over that neighbourhood.
   The power of Satan is all very real but the power of Christ is greater!
   There is no chain Jesus cannot break, no addiction he cannot set people free from, no sickness that he cannot heal and no sin that he cannot forgive.
   So, as we run through dark places, our natural response to the great needs before us should be to pray that God will revive our land.
   God encourages us to pray for revival and promises to respond with a work of grace that only He can do.

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

3.  Prayer brings us into spiritual victory!
   The enemy doesn’t take vacations from tempting mankind to sin and his prime targets are Christians as he wants to divert us from our primary purposes.
   The devil causes us to feel defiled and guilt ridden when we fall to his wiles.
   Even though we are in a cosmic battle with the enemy,  we can be assured of victory when we stand our ground and pray.
   The people of God experienced victory over their enemy whilst Moses was praying for them!

As long as Moses held up the staff with his hands, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites gained the upper hand.

Exodus 17:11(NIV)

4. Prayer is the God appointed way to obtain help and blessing from heaven. Wow! Heaven is filled with immeasurable blessings for the Children of God.
   The Apostle James said, ‘You have not because you ask not!’ (Jam 4:2-3, NIV).
   Of course God graciously blesses us all the time, but He wants us to look to Him in faith and lean into Him so that we can receive all we need. 

So what do I pray about? Literally ‘Anything and Everything!’

 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father.

John 14:13 (NIV)

There is so much in what Jesus says to us in this verse and it can be summed up with the following pointers: 

• The greatest simplicity – “ask”
• The greatest possibility – “anything”
• The greatest authority – “in my name”
• The greatest security – “glory to the Father”

HOW TO PRAYER RUN?

Once you’re settled into your run route you can begin to praise and thank God for the beauty of creation all around you.
Praise and worship is always a good way to come before the Lord and as long as it’s coming from a sincere heart, it doesn’t matter if we’re standing in the sanctuary or running through a forest.
For me, I like to listen to up-tempo praise and worship music whilst I’m running and I often sing along with the band. 

Personally I find prayer running is more inspirational than methodical.
I might work through a list of people and things I feel that I should pray about beforehand, but whilst in prayer, I am very much attuned to what the Holy Spirit puts in my heart and where He might guide my prayer towards. 

Prayer running helps us to be more holistic in our communion with God.
It enables us to combine prayer with something that we love to do.
It promotes well-being with spiritual activity that energises us and helps us draw closer to God. 

Most of us Kingdom Runners run several times a week.
Imagine the blessings upon our lives if we combined those runs with prayer.
As my old pastor used to say, “MUCH PRAYER, MUCH BLESSING!’

Questions:

1.  If prayer is one of the hallmarks of authentic Christian discipleship, how do I measure up to this mark of quality?

2. Can you imagine what your community would look like if revival came?
   It looks awesome doesn’t it, so next time you run through the community pray for revival.

3. Are you losing battles with temptation, with your old nature and other spiritual attacks? 
   If so it’s time to pray like never before, and remember you pray from a place of Victory in Christ. 

4.  Challenge yourself take the concept of a run buddy to the next level by asking your run buddy to become your prayer buddy as well – that way you can both be like Moses and pray for each other as you battle with the enemy.