First, God calls us to pray for our communities: the people around and over us. The Bible is full of examples of God’s servants praying for the people around them and their leaders. But more specifically, we, like the Israelites, are commanded to pray for the welfare of the city where God has placed us (Jer. 21:7). Jesus tells us to go beyond loving our neighbors by praying specifically for those neighbors who abuse us (Luke 6:27-28). Paul instructs us to pray for all people (obviously he didn't mean every random individual on earth, but particularly everyone in our community), and for those in direct authority over us so that our communities may live in peace (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Finally, John says that if we see someone close to us committing sin, we must pray for them and God will give them life! (1 John 5:16), just as Paul prayed for the salvation of His community (Rom. 10:1).

Second, God calls us to go! We know from John 3:16 that Jehovah is a sending God. It should not surprise us that if God sent His only begotten Son, then He will also send us, His adopted children! (John 20:21). That is exactly what we find when Jesus commissions His followers to “go make disciples” (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15;; Acts 1:8). Furthermore, we find the early church constantly obedient to this command as a part of their identity. They understood that we are “people for His own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). But perhaps the most striking instance of Jesus combining these two commands comes in His instruction to “PRAY earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. GO your way; behold, I am sending you” (Luke 10:2-3).

We meet at ODBC at 4:30 PM on the second Sunday of the month to get a specific map, partners, and prayer invitations. Then we briefly pray together for God to bless our ministry. 

With maps and prayer invitations in hand, we team up in groups of 2-4 and head out to our assigned neighborhood and addresses.

Each team moves slowly down their assigned street, pausing to pray for each home, family, and neighbor. Some folks walk, some folks roll, everybody prays. Of course, if God brings anyone into your path, stop and pray for them on the spot!

We want to encourage the people we pray for, so we leave a signed prayer invitation hanging on the door of each home. It simply lets them know that we "love our neighbors so we are praying for our neighbors" and it invites them to contact us with any specific concerns.