Prayer Driving
Summer Sampler 2025: The Spiritual Disciplines That Form Us
What are spiritual disciplines? And why are they relevant to our lives? Spiritual disciplines are purposeful practices that cultivate a deeper, richer, and more intentional relationship with God and others. They are not simply rituals, but tools for growth, transformation, and living a more Christ-like life. Each week in our Summer Sampler we will be exploring one of these disciplines. Our hope is that you’ll discover one or more that are a fit for you and that you can incorporate into your walk with Jesus.
By Krisie Brown
Prayer walk? When am I going to find the time for that? I recently watched a blog on the fact that there would be an official New England prayer walk day at the end of May. I was inspired and wanted to participate, but when could I carve out the time?
I don’t know about you, but I spend more time in my car than I do walking outside.
Don’t get me wrong. I love walking and noticing God’s beautiful creation, especially in spring when I literally stop and smell the flowers, but with three children I find myself more often in the car than getting my 10,000 steps. Could my drives be that prayer time?
I started turning off the music once the kids were safely delivered to their destinations. I noticed I was driving regularly by a friend’s house who I had promised to pray for because she was fighting cancer. I decided to start praying for her every time I drove past her house, which was at least four times a day since it was on our school route. My heart ached for my friend, and I realized I had a valuable gift of time in the car that I could put to eternal use. Sometimes the prayer was simple: Lord, bless her. Lord, heal her. Other days my prayers became more involved, lifting up her side effects from chemo and praying through her family, asking God to care for each one and knit them together in love.
“Prayer isn’t inaction any more than meeting with a powerful world leader to request help is inaction. Prayer is often the very action God wants us to take”
As I turned off the constant noise, I started to pay more attention to other church family and friends I drove close to or right by on my errands and commute. I lifted each as they came to mind, and if I didn’t know what to pray, I simply asked for Jesus to draw them closer to Him. Sometimes I’d find myself praying out loud in tongues as my brain considered what I knew of them and their situations and laid it all before God. After all, the Holy Spirit knew better than me how to pray for them. As I ruminated on each person, I remembered warm memories we had made together and took time to be thankful and joyful in the moment for them. I often felt joy as I considered how they serve the body of Christ, their neighbors, and families.
I remember being inspired by Hannah Whitall Smith’s writing, “to see someone is to pray for them,” and how I long to truly embody that in my mind and soul to glorify God in my everyday by lifting others into His healing, strengthening, wise, holy presence. I’m not saying I do this constantly or consistently. I too often focus on other drivers’ mistakes on the road or get frustrated by the flow of traffic. However, I am seeing spiritual growth, and I find myself quicker to let it go and turn back to God.
Luke 18:2-8 recounts the parable told by Jesus about the persistent widow.
He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:2-8 NIV)
Persistence in prayer is a good thing. I’m so thankful for Lori Roeleveld’s thoughts on this in her book Graceful Influence. She writes, “Persistence in prayer can be a powerful force, but many of us give up too quickly. We imagine either God hasn’t heard or He hasn’t responded, when really He’s urging us to persevere, to continue to pray, to petition, or to intercede without ceasing. Prayer isn’t inaction any more than meeting with a powerful world leader to request help is inaction. Prayer is often the very action God wants us to take.”
My prayer (and driving 😉) life is a work in progress just like the rest of my life. I am thankful that a large chunk of drive time can be reclaimed for God’s purposes and glory. I’m so thankful I’m still able to pray for my dear friend, who has continued in her healing journey these past three years and I’m praying for many more.
For more about Spiritual Disciplines, check out the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Calhoun.
Krisie Brown has been involved in both the Women’s and Children’s Ministries at First Congregational Church of Hamilton for close to 30 years. She and her husband live in Ipswich, MA with their three children (Morgan, Calvin, and Sydney). Currently, she is on the board of By Design Ministries and the teaching team for the Women’s Bible Study at her church. Krisie loves to be involved at church and in her children’s schools, building community.