It’s easy to say that we can talk to God whenever and wherever we are – but what does that look like? Outside of the four walls of a private prayer time, a church prayer meeting, or a 24-7 Prayer Room, how can we meet with God? 

In this blog, we’ll be looking at a few ways that you can take your prayer outdoors. When the weather is beautiful, there’s no need to stay inside! Move your time with Jesus out into the sunshine with one of these ideas: 

Go Prayer Walking 

At the most basic level, prayer walking is simply going for a walk with God. Invite His presence into your local area by praying as you walk around it. This is a tried-and-tested way to pray outdoors, and it’s an excellent way to begin to intercede for your neighbourhood and community. 

Take a walk through your neighbourhood and talk to God about the things you see there – praying blessing on the people, businesses, homes and green spaces that you pass. You can do this by yourself, or you can gather a few people together to prayer walk in pairs or groups! 

For more detail on how to prayer walk, read our brief guide to prayer walking and check out the downloadable prayer walk toolbox.   

Hold a Prayer Picnic 

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” 

Matthew 18:20 

When the weather’s nice, take your prayer meeting outside! 

If you have a regular prayer meeting you’re part of, or maybe a prayer partner or group of friends who pray for one another, why not suggest a prayer picnic? 

Choose a beautiful spot, pack a blanket, bring some snacks and a Bible, and eat and pray together. Start by praying for one another, and then move towards praying for your communities! 

One of the beautiful things about a prayer picnic is that this is a chance to weave prayer into your normal life. You don’t have to have a firm division between the time you spend eating the picnic food and the time you spend praying. Flow in and out of prayer as you enjoy the company of the people you’re hanging out with, and allow prayer to be casual and fun. 

If you have kids or grandkids, or if you’re leading a kids’ group or summer camp, this is a fun way to get them involved in prayer. The idea of a special ‘prayer picnic’ can be exciting, and you can take turns choosing things to pray for in between different snacks or elements of the meal. 

And that brings us to our third way to pray outdoors: 

Get Your Kids Involved with Prayer Activities 

Praying outdoors is perfect for kids for so many reasons – you can run around, use your body, and get loud; there are a million things to explore and turn into prompts for prayer; and you can do so many fun prayer activities. 

Some of these prayer activity ideas can be found in our blog on Creative Ways to Pray with Your Kids – there’s a whole section on outdoor prayer. But for even more incredible ideas, you’ve got to check out the outdoor prayer activities on the Prayer Spaces in Schools website. Designed to help parents and children connect with God in creative ways, we can’t think of a better place to start. From ‘Muddy Mess’ to ‘Wow!’ – there’s a way to pray for everyone. 

Create Outdoor Prayer Spaces 

Just as you can create places of encounter in prayer rooms, you can create spaces that foster communion with God outside. This can be done in individual homes, in Church gardens or in communal gardens. 

Outdoor prayer spaces can vary hugely depending on the size of the space you have access to and the scope of your imagination. It can be as small as using a sharpie to write a few prompting words of prayer on some pebbles and place them in a potted plant on your patio, or as grand as creating a whole prayer labyrinth to walk as you pray. 

Outdoor prayer spaces can be semi-permanent – additions to your garden or outdoor space that remain, rain or shine – or they can be more like outdoor versions of prayer rooms: prayer stations you set up for a defined amount of time. 

Outdoor prayer station ideas: 

• Print out and laminate scripture praising God – Psalm 96 or Psalm 19 are good options – and encourage people to read them out loud. 
• Fill a birdbath or a paddling pool, and have a selection of chalk pens and smooth stones nearby. Encourage people to write something they want to let go of on a stone and then drop it into the water. 
• Have a chalk available and portions of pavement or a chalkboard for people to write prayers on. 
• Create a ‘thank you tree’: hand strings from the boughs of a tree and encourage people to write what they are thankful for on strips of paper and then tie or clothes peg the paper onto the string. 

Final thoughts 

Many of us grew up thinking that prayer was something that you did while sitting down with your eyes shut – but the truth is so much more exciting. God wants to meet us in so many different ways. Hopefully this blog has given you ideas for a few more! 

If you end up using any of the ideas for praying outdoors, we’d love to see! Post a photo of your prayer walk, prayer picnic, prayer activity or outdoor prayer space and tag us @247prayer!