Prayer Walking

In PrayerWalk: Becoming a Woman of Prayer, Strength, and Discipline, Janet Holm McHenry shares her experience in combining the two disciplines of walking and prayer.  When I saw this book, it was another case of "why did I not think of this before?"  I love to walk, and I have been known to pray while walking, but I've never been intentional about praying while walking.  This book opened my eyes to the possibility of spending time with God while doing something I love that's actually good for me.

In the first half of the book, Janet talks about walking: why it's a good thing to do, both physically and mentally, how to walk correctly to avoid injury, how to reduce aches and pains, and how to prayerwalk with a partner.  The second half of the book explains how and what to pray while walking.  This 2011 edition includes a study guide, with questions for small group discussion, resources on walking, a Thirty-Day PrayWalk challenge to get you started, and an appendix explaining how to organize a community prayerwalk event.  It also includes an epilogue talking about some set-backs and victories the author has experienced prayerwalking over the 10 years since the book was first published.

I liked the book, because it helped me to see how I could combine two activities that I really would like to do more of, and I enjoyed reading about the author's experiences and results.  I also appreciated how the author emphasized the importance of spending time with Scripture as well.  Do you really need to read this book in order to prayerwalk?  No.  But I found it to be inspiring and an easy read, and definitely worthwhile to read.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for my honest review.

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If prayerwalking sounds interesting to you, you might want to check out Daily PrayerWalk: Meditations for a Deeper Prayer Life, also by Janet Holm McHenry.  I haven't read it, but I'd like to--it sounds like a great devotional to read before heading out to prayerwalk.

Here's a review from Publishers Weekly, posted on Amazon.com:
Janet Holm McHenry follows up her popular book PrayerWalk with Daily PrayerWalk: Meditations for a Deeper Prayer Life, once again encouraging Christians (especially women) to enhance their prayer time by walking. Fifty prayer-related meditations can be used as daily devotions before setting out. McHenry also offers quick fitness tips to complement the Scripture verses and "prayer starters" that accompany each devotion. 



Here's a review from "prayerwalker," posted on Amazon.com:

If you are searching for a deeper prayer life, or wanting to put your faith into action, Daily Prayerwalk is a great devotional for getting your day started on the right foot!! Daily Prayerwalk contains daily scripture readings that challenge you to be in God's word and focus on His desires for your prayer life. The meditations that accompany each day's scripture challenge the reader to get more out of their daily prayer time, and the testimonies of answers to prayer will increase your faith and encourage you to get out and try prayerwalking for yourself. The fitness tips for each day also provide practical helps for using prayerwalking to become physically fit as well.

I was looking for a devotional that would encourage me daily to not just read the meditations, but really dig into the Bible, and I found that in Daily Prayerwalk.