A Prayer Walk in Winona
Rain drips off the tip of my nose as my head began to bow toward the earth. A blanket of darkness surrounds me as I stand in the middle of downtown Winona. My conscience screams in my mind as thoughts of “they think I’m weird” are met by feelings of having the eyes of the whole world on me. But the lies in my mind die as soon as I open my mouth. Voicing the words “Dear Lord,” I begin my prayer for the strangers I just met. As I end this prayer with the words “in Jesus’ name, amen,” a great sense of peace comes over me, doubts fade, and I know that the Winona prayer walk group is one that I am meant to be a part of.
The Winona prayer walk group is a group of disciples of Christ who believe there is power in Jesus’ name. By this I mean that we believe Jesus is God and He is actively working within this world. When we pray in His name, He hears us, and answers according to God’s will. Almost every Friday or Saturday night of Winona State University’s calendar year we walk the streets of this small town, empowered by the love of Christ. Our group consists of members of the college ministry called H20, out of Pleasant Valley Church. And we walk, not to promote our ministry, but out of love for this community in hope to care for those around us through the act of praying for them. By walking we hope to spread God’s love and give ourselves in obedience to Him who created us. For we are empty vessels for God’s usage and a podium pointing to Christ our redeemer.
We will now go back to earlier that night which I stood with the rain dripping off my nose praying for those strangers. I walk into a friend’s house around 8:00 pm, gripping a guitar case in my right hand. By 8:30 pm there are about fifteen of us there. At that time, we begin to sing songs of worship to God, as we do before every prayer walk. While singing, we take breaks to pray for courage and boldness for those within our group, as well as ask that the Lord would touch the hearts of those we meet that night through us. After finishing our worship we split up into groups of about three people each. Our prayer walk leaders also encourage us and remind us to say “in Jesus’ name” at the end of every prayer so that people knew who it was we are praying to. I then put on my jacket and cowboy boots, and head outside with my group, trusting in what God has planned for us this night.
My group began walking toward campus as we expect to find plenty of students passing through campus either on their way to parties or leaving for the night after studying. While walking we began to make a strategy for when we came across people. As the only man in the group, we decide that if it was a group of guys I would address them, and if it was a group of women, then the women of my group would address them.
We were then near campus, and stood across the street from ZaZa’s Pizza. There was a group of three girls approaching us. My friend Krystle asks them how their night is going and begins saying, “we’re just out here seeing how we can care for people by praying for them, is there anything you need prayer for?” However, before she is able to finish, the women begin to smile and cut her off. They recognize what we are doing, having received prayer from one of our groups in the past. These women don’t have any specific requests, so Krystle prayed a blessing over their night. We then continue on our way through campus.
While walking through campus, we begin to notice that there is barely anyone around. Then feeling the Lord pulling me to head downtown, my group begins making our way down Johnson Street. When we reach the Freedom gas station we see a large group of about ten to fifteen college-aged students. I approach them and am filled with courage given to me by God. I begin a conversation with them, eventually asking if they need prayer. When I ask this, a couple of them start to walk away, but the majority stay. A couple women in their group call out to those walking away, and the group agrees to prayer, when these people make it back.
As a major in Communication Studies, I enjoy analyzing many of the experiences I’ve had with people while on prayer walks. One of the interesting things that often happens is as soon as we ask if people want prayer, they often look around at the reaction of their friends before deciding what their response will be. In the 5th edition of Introducing Communication Theory by Richard West and Lynn H. Turner, groupthink theory is mentioned. Groupthink theory suggests that group members desire for unanimity and don’t want conflict, and thus do not entertain views contrary to other group members (pg. 252–53, West & Turner). It was interesting to see those few people come walking back to pray with us without a fight that night. I believe this was partly due to groupthink and the fact that they sought unanimity, not wanting to disrupt the majority of their group.
After we finished praying for that large group of people, we continued to make our way downtown. Upon reaching 3rd Street, we are amazed to find crowds of people filling the sidewalks. Groups of partiers are slowly filling into, and out of, the downtown bars. We begin to make our way toward the bus stop, and I start to feel overwhelmed by the task of trying to talk to someone. So, I pray a silent prayer for courage and am met with overwhelming love for those around me. We then run into a few people who outright rejected the idea of being prayed for. When we reach the bus stop, a multitude of people run out of a full bus, going directly past us. We are able to stop a few people, however, none of them want to “waste their time” with prayer.
After the bus had pulled away, we turn around and begin walking toward The Legendary Tavern bar and grill. With people shoulder to shoulder passing by us on the sidewalk, we try to start a conversation with whoever would stop. A few groups of two or three agree to pray with us. One of these groups is a middle-aged couple who work on campus and want prayer for a co-worker who had recently been diagnosed with cancer. I pray with them but end up getting cut off when their friends come up to us.
Once my group had made it to The Legendary Tavern bar and grill it started to rain. And as we turned the corner onto Johnson Street we notice a man lying on the ground. He is resting against the outside wall of the bar with rain pouring off the building onto him. Two guys came walking over to this man lying on the ground with us. The man on the ground is nearly passed out drunk, and one of the guys bent over to try to talk to him. After minutes of frustratingly trying to communicate, he is able to get this man’s name and the name of his friend in the bar. He is also able to get permission to reach into the man’s damp pocket to get his phone to call the friend.
Unable to reach the friend of the passed-out man over the phone, the two men we ran into go into the bar to search for the friend. I continue to call the passed out man’s friend after the two guys had gone into the bar. Then my personal phone begins going off. As I am frustratingly answering my texts, Krystle gets ahold of the friend of the passed-out man over the phone. The friend then comes out and thanks us, and we start making our way back to the house where we started. We pray for the safety of the passed-out guy along the way.
On our way back, we are stopped at a stoplight when two men come up to us. For the first time that night I begin to feel tired and discouraged, just wanting to get back to a dry house. However, I ask them if they want prayer anyway. With rain dripping off the tip of my nose I pray for them, and that sense of peace comes over me afterward. My group then gets back to our home-base. And we share the events of our night with the other prayer walk groups. Like every other prayer walk, we end our night with a final prayer, thanking God for all He had done for us and for the ability to share His love with the community of Winona.
