“A simple but effective strategy for getting the church outside its building and engaging with the community in a creative and effective way.

Picking-up Prayer (PuP) has got to be one of the easiest ways to mobilise Christians in strategic, creative and dynamic prayer that takes them onto the streets with opportunities for God-encounters with the public. PuP is praying through the streets of your village while picking up litter. That’s it. Simple. This method of praying gets Christians out of their churches and homes and onto the very streets they want to see transformed. The aim is to bring blessing onto the streets, both physically and spiritually.

You may be a house church, a village church or a home group. The minimum you need is one person (preferably two) and a street, road or lane. If you don’t have a problem with litter, you could tidy up grass verges, sweep pavements, cut the grass… but speak to the Council first to make sure this is OK. You could ask someone to walk the dog with you and take different routes each time, take up photography or jogging. Get creative about how you get out to pray. If you need to use a tractor or a boat, then so be it! It’s easy to see how this could become a regular, even daily, strategy for prayer. Share your stories when you gather – there’s nothing more encouraging than testimonies.