Are there times when your time of prayer is anything but fiery and bold? Perhaps might even seem that your prayers are not even reaching the God of heaven.

If you’re anything like me, for sure I want my prayers to count. To not be wasted. To matter for someone and something.

Guest Post

This week, Kingdom Advance is so honored to host a guest post from a dear friend, Gwen Craft.

Married to Robin Craft for 30 years, Gwen is a devoted wife and mother to Elaina and Addyson. Through ministry, mentorship, writing, and personal connections, she is passionate about leading others into a deeper authentic relationship with Jesus rooted in Truth, faith and devotion

The Hallow Way

In medieval times, hallow ways — often called holloways or sunken lanes — were sacred yet practical paths worn deep into the landscape by centuries of constant travel. Winding through forests, villages, and countryside, these narrow roads connected churches, monasteries, marketplaces, and towns, carrying pilgrims seeking God alongside merchants transporting goods, farmers moving livestock, and travelers journeying from place to place.

Over generations, repeated footsteps, wagon wheels, horses, and rainfall carved these routes lower into the earth, creating the distinctive sunken pathways still found across parts of England and medieval Europe. More than simple roads, hallow ways became symbols of devotion, perseverance, and daily pursuit — shaped both by the physical journeys of travelers and the spiritual longing of those seeking God along the way.

Jeremiah 29:13 is a powerful promise given to us by our covenant-keeping God: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

The meaning of the word “search” in this scripture carries a much deeper picture than a casual attempt to find something misplaced. According to Strong's Concordance, this use of the word includes ideas such as treading a place with the feet, frequenting, beating a path, or trampling with the feet. It paints the image of a pathway being formed through repeated and intentional movement in the same direction.

God is not simply inviting us to casually look for Him — He is calling us into a daily pursuit that creates a well-worn path leading into His presence.

This verse becomes an invitation from our Heavenly Father to view “searching for God” as a life of intentional daily actions that over time form a spiritual hallow way. In the beginning, that path may be overgrown with grass, roots, rocks, fallen branches, distractions, and the clutter of life.

Yet every prayer, every moment spent reading and studying His Word, every act of worship, and every decision to seek Him begins clearing the way. Scripture reminds us that “the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord,” and that “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Those promises assure us that the path God has chosen for each of us is purposeful and divinely ordered. As we continually walk it, we gain confidence that we truly will find Him along the way.

During medieval times, after decades and even centuries of travelers repeatedly trampling these paths, many holloways eventually became so deep that high walls of earth surrounded them, often covered by a canopy of trees overhead. Some paths sank five or six feet below the surrounding land and even became places of safety and hiding for travelers.

I have learned to thank Jesus for the path He has chosen for me, because it has become the place where I know I can always find Him. It has taken time to trample down the dead branches, roots, and stones along the way, but through daily pursuit it has become my hiding place.

I encourage you to hear the call of your Heavenly Father as He invites you to join Him on the path He will use to reveal Himself to you.

Worn Pathways from our Travels

Worn Pathways

What pathways are well-worn in your mind? In the Journey Through the Swamp, these pathways are referred to as soundtracks. The term soundtracks originated from author Jon Acuff from the same titled book.

Any pathway or soundtrack could be a positive or a negative one. A pathway is simply one that our mind goes to in stress or in any situation where our physical brains actually have pathways of neurons that make that trip along that neuron faster than we have the ability to think or talk.

If you listen to any thought long enough, it becomes part of your personal playlist. (Pg. 91 of Journey from the Swamp of Shame, Val Hughes)

Jon Acuff says that your brain builds on overthinking’s habit of negativity by doing three things:

Lying about your memories
Confusing fake trauma with real trauma
Believing what it already believes

This is toxic thinking and the negative beliefs you say to your self and about your world.

This week, why don’t we work to replace a few of these worn-out pathways with something new?

Grab an index card and write a scripture that really speaks to you. Everytime your mind races down that well-worn pathway, stop that thought and replace it with the scripture. This takes much diligence and time but I promise, the effort is so worth it!

Credit to @bhautik_patel3… neuron pathways

Dr. Caroline Leaf teaches that these pathways at times resemble trees. The image above demonstrates the movement of the pathway of the flow of information inside of our brains.

The question for this post is this:

What does your mind do in stress? In trouble? In a crisis?

Have you created a hallow way so deep that someone else could take cover in your deep place of prayer and the Word?

Would you be able to assist a weary traveler on their way?

TRUTH: We can only give what we have gathered—we cannot give what we don’t have.

Some Prayer Ideas

If your prayer time is a struggle, here are some ideas you could try this week.

Go outside and walk while you pray. This has been a total game-changer for me some days.
Get in your vehicle and take a prayer drive. Who said you have to be kneeling to pray?
Grab a notebook and write a list of people, places, and situations that you’re currently troubled about. Then, pray over that list for a few days.
Just sit in silence and meditate on everything that God has already done for you in your life.
Practice being grateful. Create a list of things that you are so thankful for in your life. Thank God for those!
Sit in silence. Expect God to speak. Bonus points for getting out in nature and sitting outside!
Just get outside and take a walk by yourself. Just allow your mind to roll around about God-moments
Listen to an audio bible. Listen to Genesis or Exodus. Hear the mighty acts of God and His Word.

A huge thanks to Gwen Craft for the guest post this week! Our prayer is that your prayer time will be enhanced and you’ll feel more productive during your prayer time. While our prayers are never wasted and last forever, we as human beings want to feel like we’re spending time where it matters.

Spending time in prayer really does matter.

Someone once said, if we’d pray as much as we tend to talk about prayer, we’d pray much more!

I think that’s true! Let’s start some hallow ways this week! Takes a long time to create one, but every day, you dig a bit deeper!

We’d love to hear your prayer story.

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