prayer walk

i meant to write this entry weeks ago, but i was busy. sorry!

a few weeks ago, our church had a YA Conference. for the group activity, we were supposed to go on a prayer walk. i had never done this before in my life, so i had zero expectations for it. i just thought it'd be a nice thing for us to do - to pray over different parts/neighborhoods of nyc. i had no idea that it would be so powerfully eye-opening for me.

my group was assigned to pray over columbus circle. we ate lunch at bouchon bakery, somewhere i have gone to so many times in the past. everything felt very ho-hum, very standard, like an everyday experience. but that changed the moment we began walking around to pray.

as i walked through those very familiar floors, i saw columbus circle as God may see it. i found myself praying against all the materialism that lives in this building. i prayed against all the idols of money that sweep through this place day in and day out. and it was surprising for me to pray these words, bc i, too, have come to this place so many times to shop. and i, too, have dreamed of one day being able to eat at Per Se, to feel like i have "made it" in life.

but the most surprising part was when i walked into sephora. from the moment i stepped in, i felt like i had walked into a very heavy cloud. i felt so much oppression in this one store. as i walked through the crowded aisles of sephora, i felt so much darkness and so much heaviness. it was like i could feel all the self-hatred coming from women, all of the desperation to be beautiful, all of the insecurities they felt, all of the sadness of feeling de-valued for their lack of beauty. i felt satan's attacks on these women so strongly. the lies he whispered into each of these women's hearts were so loud to me. this sephora was such a HUGE spiritual battlefield. i prayed and prayed for these women to know they were beautiful and loved in God's eyes. that no amount of makeup could ever make them more beautiful to the One who's opinion matters most. but honestly, i felt like my prayers were being stamped out faster than i could say them.

as i finally walked out of sephora, my eyes were truly opened to how much we really need to pray for our cities. how many times have i gone to that very sephora to pick up some makeup supplies? and yet, i had never sensed any of this! maybe the enemy was pulling on all of the insecurities in my own head, and i had succumbed to the values of this world that i wasn't worth anything unless i was pretty and loved by some man. there were so many women in this store. if i prayed for each of them, i could've easily been in there for hours.

i hope that i will pray for nyc more. that i will see all the pain and hurt in God's children and love and pray for them. i hope that i will fight against the enemy. maybe if i pray long enough, he won't be able to squash one of them, and someone will feel the love and hope of Jesus.