It was a cold afternoon in the United Kingdom, and Lekan had been walking for almost forty minutes.
His hands were buried inside his jacket, his earphones were firmly in place, and his lips moved quietly as he walked.
To anyone passing by, he probably looked like one of those people determined to complete 10,000 steps before dinner.
But Lekan was not counting steps.
He was praying.
As he walked, he committed his plans to God, spoke into his future and prayed for clarity concerning the next phase of his life. The quiet streets had become his prayer room.
The whole thing was almost funny because Lekan was no stranger to trekking.
Back in Lagos, he had trekked under the hot sun with buses speeding past him like they had a personal meeting with destiny. Sometimes, there was no vehicle. Other times, transport fare was looking at his ₦150,000 salary like a hungry Nollywood uncle waiting to collect family property.
His mornings often began before 4:00 a.m. Missing that early window meant entering Lagos traffic where a short journey could suddenly develop season one, season two and a dramatic finale.
Arriving late also meant salary deductions.
At the time, those walks felt like punishment. They were part of the difficult life he was desperately trying to escape.
Lekan had prayed, applied and searched for every opportunity to leave Nigeria. After three rejected visa applications, he was already close to saying, “Maybe this japa thing is not my calling.”
Then, one day, while scrolling through YouTube, he came across a message by Apostle Joshua Selman:
“You cannot continue operating below your capacity and expect great opportunities to come to you. Build yourself. Learn, and keep learning.”
The message stayed with him.
He realised that prayer was not only about asking God to change his location. He also had to prepare himself for the opportunities he was praying for.
So, he took courses, improved his communication skills, updated his CV and became more intentional about his growth.
He also changed how he used his long walks.
Instead of trekking and complaining about Nigeria from beginning to end, he began turning those moments into prayer walks. He prayed, reflected, planned and declared God’s promises over his future.
The sun was still hot. The roads were still stressful. Lagos did not suddenly apologise.
But the walks were no longer meaningless.
It was during that season of prayer, learning and preparation that opportunities began to open. Eventually, Lekan secured a job in the United Kingdom.
The job came at the right time, although after rent, food and bills finished their monthly meeting, there was still little left to save or invest.
And so, Lekan kept walking.
In Nigeria, he walked under the sun because he had limited options.
In the United Kingdom, he walked through the cold because he had found purpose in it.
The activity was the same, but the meaning had changed.
That is one fascinating thing about walking with God: He may not remove every experience from your story. Sometimes, He simply changes the script.
The road that once felt like suffering can become a place of prayer.
God wastes no journey, no struggle and no season.
Even ordinary trekking can become a walk into purpose.
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