Circling a City in Prayer
One of my neighbours sat at my kitchen table, sobbing in fear.
“I belong to the Light now, to Jesus! Why will they not leave me alone?”
She was talking about the most notorious drug lord on our estate (government housing project) in South London. He did his dealings quietly, but we had started noticing violence breaking out in front of his flat (apartment). Some people, like our distraught neighbour, who had gotten free of their crack addictions, had had unwanted visitors at their doors, offering them drugs and trying to get them to hold the packages.
I was furious with the enemy’s activity through this drug lord. The group of women who regularly prayed with me around the estate allocated time to pray right in front of the drug lord’s flat, even blessing the pavement and stairs leading up to his door.
The very next afternoon we saw everyone in the flat moving out! The drug lord completely left the area. It was a miracle.
I didn’t move to this estate intending to launch a movement of prayer and transformation. My husband, four children, and I moved here nine years ago, motivated by a simple desire to be close to our church and school. Little did we know this move would become not just a matter of personal convenience, but a love-fueled commission for us from God. God wanted us on the estate for such a time as this.
Our first few years on the estate were spent settling in and getting to know our neighbours. But about five years ago, when our youngest son started school full time, I hit a turning point. I did not know what to do with my sudden free time, so I decided to do something I’d never done before: I asked the Lord what he wanted me to do.
God was swift and clear to answer: “Love your neighbours.” I was scared; I didn’t know what it might mean. After two days of wrestling, I came back to God, telling him I was willing and trusted him, but needed his help to figure out how to do it.
Our estate has many of the same problems you’d find in other deprived places and major cities: drug abuse, gang violence, youth and knife crimes, broken families, loneliness, various forms of occultism and witchcraft, apathy, extremism, radicalism, mental health issues, and unemployment. There are over 1000 flats here in just a few square miles. Overcrowding and lack of privacy are ongoing challenges.
This new journey of loving my neighbours began with making lots and lots and lots of coffee and inviting people into our home—listening to their joys and struggles, getting to know their family members and friends, and offering love and prayers.
I soon felt that more needed to be done. A close friend gave me a book called The Circle Maker, which had inspiring stories about “circling” the important things in your life with prayer. As I read it, I had a revelation that I could physically circle around our estate in prayer by walking its perimeter and crying out to God—to God who is bigger than the estate, bigger than the problems here, bigger than our secret hopes and dreams.
Soon a few other people joined me in these prayer walks, and we joined others. We started piecing together a jigsaw puzzle of shared intel—a spiritual map of the estate (what we were sensing and observing in different places) as well as the promises of God for this land.
With Jesus’s help, our little prayer group found ourselves falling in love with the place and the people on the estate. As we got hungry for more of God’s ways, our strategies changed, too.
The more time we spent in God’s word, the clearer his voice and teachings became.
Ephesians 6 taught us to “put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand safe against the strategies and tricks of Satan. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world.” We learned this was an ongoing battle and that we had to be a step ahead and not behind the enemy.
Jesus’s declaration from the cross, “It is finished!” gave us hope for the most challenging situations around us. We needed greater levels of faith, bolder dreams and prayers, and heightened anticipation for big changes to our estate because Jesus had already conquered evil.
We learned that we can only accomplish this work if our cup is overflowing if there is sweet time carved out from the busyness of life to know Jesus intimately—not just to know about his many characteristics, but to really know him. We were flooded with joy when we felt this invitation to know him as a friend. And the more we listened to him, the more he would share the secrets of his promises with us (Psalm 25:14 TLB).
We learned that prayer is a daily rhythm of life. It takes many forms: praising, singing, worshipping, lifting our voices and hands up to God, battling with strongholds, shouting from the rooftops, repenting, fasting, forgiving, thanking, prophesying, humbling ourselves, having regular communion, and speaking truth over the land and the people.
As we grew in prayer, our boldness also grew. At one point we sensed the presence of a stronghold in our local school, so we asked the headteacher if we could have an hour to quietly pray there. God’s favour was with us and they offered to let us use the music room during an empty period. After circling the stronghold we had sensed in prayer, we spent time praising God and declaring his promises for the school and community. At the next school assembly, the youth worker in our prayer group boldly stepped out in faith and shared the gospel. She encouraged the children to invite Jesus into their lives, and dozens of children lined up to be prayed for. Afterwards, they needed extra volunteers for the lunchtime club at school because the children were hungry for more of God’s presence, asking for more prayer and sharing their joys and struggles with the volunteers.
Sometimes breakthrough comes in less noticeable ways. As we walked the estate, we constantly saw dog waste and garbage in the streets. In response, we started praying for people to have a sense of ownership where they lived, enjoying and looking after their home environment. Just recently the council who runs our estate launched an initiative with funding for housing blocks to create small community gardens. These projects bring people together to care for very neglected areas on the estates and form community. Since then we have seen many of our neighbours planting small flower gardens. One of the new gardens is in a place where we used to find knives and small electric scales (for measuring drugs) hidden in the overgrown weeds.
During five years of prayer walking our group has seen and experienced miracles—like the situation with the drug lord—and encountered the good, the bad, and the ugly on our estate. We have seen more peace, conversations on the streets, kindness, joy, and laughter. There is more openness to spiritual conversations. We have also grieved setbacks and losses in our community, including loss of life in tragic ways. We’ve learned that this is the normal ebb and flow of the city. It is easy to get discouraged at times, but we know we need to carry on walking, praying, and trusting. Throughout it all, we’ve obeyed God and persevered.
We’re not seeing a movement yet, but we know God is good and has good plans for this area—mighty plans. We are here to ask and seek and knock until the obstacles are removed and our estate is filled with God’s holy presence, making way for the gospel to reach the multitudes. We’re seeking for revival that touches not just a few, but all generations and people, even those on the fringes of society. We dream for the day when praise and worship will flood the streets from every door and window.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
When we gather in prayer, God is also there with us. In his mighty power at work within us, he is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. Have you discovered God’s plans for your neighbourhood? Imagine with him the various things you can do together in your place, your land, your neighbourhood, to change the status quo.
