Prayer walkers have been waiting almost 8 months to set foot on the final stretch of Southwest Florida’s public beaches to reopen after hurricane Ian forced nearly all the local beaches to close. Last week Delnor-Wiggins State Park welcomed residents and tourists back to its shores, and some faith-filled believers were eager to walk the land and pray over it. Among the crowd at Wiggins are families with young children, young adults, and seniors soaking up the rays and swimming in the waves. Praying Christians, also called intercessors, are there too, but they’re indiscreet. You’ve probably crossed paths with them all over the world unknowingly. Sometimes they will make declarations, other times they’ll be praying quietly, or silently.
Linda Milligan is a prominent intercessor for Florida and has been praying over the state for decades. She says “I believe our declarations over our countries and our state are an integral part of occupying our local areas and our state”. Another local intercessor to Naples, Kristiane Forrer says, “we are supposed to subdue the land and take dominion over it.” She goes on to explain that we do this “by calling the land blessed” and “by doing so we open a means for God to bless, prosper, and protect” and “we remove what’s not of God, ungodly altars that hinder blessing and produce an ungodly harvest”.
So practically speaking prayer walking is taking ground quite literally for God’s Kingdom. After a hurricane is prime time to claim land for the Kingdom of Heaven. As we are rebuilding on our land in the natural, we are also rebuilding something spiritually. Many Christians believe that what we see in the Earth is often a reflection or even a foretelling of what is happening spiritually. So, what about hurricane Ian? “I don’t’ believe that God was cursing us through the hurricane,” Kristiane stated. Whether it came from God or not, the hurricane definitely shook the land and the people in SW FL. Cataclysmic events get people thinking about God and perhaps open their eyes to the hidden spiritual realities that surround our lives.
You’ve heard the saying that your thoughts become words, actions, habits, character, and destiny. Prayer walkers are speaking life, creating God’s Kingdom which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Anyone can easily take part in this and here are a few ways. Walk the land you want to claim and say “this land is blessed by God”, “I tear down any ungodly altars and break all power of darkness over this land”, or something like “I declare God’s protection over every person that comes to this land”. You can ask for angels to come and watch over the land and the people. Listening to or singing praise and worship music will also increase dominion for God’s Kingdom over our land. Praying in the spirit is one more way that prayer walkers cover land, but that’s a topic that deserves its own story for another time!
The Bible says that believers walk by faith and not by sight (Hebrews 11:1). While they may not see the manifestation of what prayer walking does instantly, intercessors take their assignment very seriously and have faith that their prayers are moving out spirits of darkness and inviting God’s Kingdom to occupy and increase.
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