‘Under a Wing and From a Prayer” by Juliet Mitchell: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

Welcome back to the 7 Ways to Pray blog series! I welcome Juliet Mitchell, who shares a beautiful picture of being safe and secure under God’s wings – whatever happens. Enjoy!

In 2019 my husband and I decided on a joint 50th birthday journey to New Zealand to visit my brother and cousins. My husband suggested that we take not only our daughter who has learning difficulties but my elderly father too, so that he could see his son. What a journey! We were kept safe despite a near car collision and a landslide that demolished the road we travelled on just an hour before we arrived.

The prayer practice I used then, and have since reading some of Amy’s book, is lectio divina. This is a 4-step practice of choosing a Bible passage to read, meditating on the passage or a word from the passage, praying asking the Holy Spirit to speak and lastly, listening to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say to us from God’s word. The passage I had dwelt on was from psalm 91:

‘He will cover you with His feathers, under His wings you will find refuge.’ Psalm 91:4

The Lord had shown me in a picture that even the tiniest feather from one of His mighty wings was enough to keep me safe. Enough to cover me, for His wings were huge, immense and powerful. To be in awe of! We were safe.

Fast-forward a year later to March 2020 and our lands and nations were facing a new threat as well as restriction on life. Nobody was able to make plans to travel to see distant family, certainly not with vulnerable and elderly family members. The Lord knew Coronavirus was coming, and I believe He had enabled our journey the year before. An opportunity to let each other know we loved one another. 

Our second trip, just recently taken, saw us fly to Spain to visit elderly and poorly family we’d not seen for nearly three years. Again, I was reminded of:

‘Under His wings you will find refuge.’ (Psalm 91:4)

We were kept safe. We flew home a day before the region we were staying in closed to UK travelers, due to the advancing nature of the Omicron variant of Coronavirus. An opportunity again to let those we love know just that. 

Perhaps I received this picture from this scripture for these two occasions as the Lord in His tender mercy kept safe our family. However, as I dwell again in prayer in this verse, I feel I should stay right beneath even the tiniest feather of His huge wings. Under a wing that more than covers me and those He has given me to love. 

Juliet Mitchell is a wife and parent-carer who enjoys writing poems and short stories, usually to entertain her daughter. You can find her on Facebook.

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