Bible Art Layout: Inspired by Psalm 91

Hi friends!

I thought I'd jump onto the blog today to share a short video that I created for Instagram about my Psalms 91 inspired Bible Art Journaling page. I adore how it turned out!

It's been a challenging time for our family this fall. My mom's been in the hospital for approximately four weeks or so now (as of Oct 27) and the team of doctors and nurses still don't have all of the answers to a mystery issue that she has (which is keeping her in the hospital). Many specialists and folks have been consulted and many tests have been done. Still, we wait. She did just have parathyroid surgery a few days ago and we were grateful to hear this morning that she is feeling much better today (after not being able to keep down food since the surgery and having migraines for days). So I'm grateful for answered prayers!

Sometimes when things are hard and there is much to do, it can be hard to do art. But even if I'm struggling to create art, I will try. I believe some of our best art happens when we treat it like a discipline (and keep showing up to create, even when we don't like what we create). Usually what happens to me is that I'll create some art that I don't like... but after awhile, things will improve and I'll like what I'm creating again. Lol. After creating for awhile, I'll also start to feel like "me" again... even if it takes a few days to get to that point.

I really like using art as a pathway to peace and joy and as a way to do something with my hands as I pray to God. I treasure my relationship with him and have seen him work dramatically and undeniably in my life. So it's become natural for me to find ways to focus and pray or to focus and do art, even when my head isn't clear or my emotions are muddled.

So you might be wondering... why Psalm 91? It is a good passage that reminds me of who God is and what He wants to do for us (those who believe in Him and follow Him). It brings reassurance to me that no matter what happens, God is with us and is helping us.

This Psalm is a long one and I really wanted to journal multiple concepts onto my journal page. As a result, I choose some key words from this Psalm as well as some related concepts to create a sweet layout which gave me a template for how I wanted to pray about the situation for my Mom. Sometimes when your emotions get muddled it can be hard to pray or to think clearly - you know what I mean?

One way to pray with a focused prayer is to simply pray the Scriptures (where you read and pray a specific part of the Bible) over your issue. But here I wanted to have something that fit onto my journal page. So by creating this page, I created an adjustable "template" for how I wanted to pray. Have you tried this before?

Here's an example of how I can use this journal page to create a focused prayer for my situation (regarding my Mom and her current health issue):

Father God, we're trusting you to deliver and to protect my Mom. Be her covering. Deliver her and all of us from anxiety, worry and fruitless wondering. Bring your sweet peace and reassurance. Reassure Mom in particular - that you are right there with her. Help her to feel your presence. Bless her ability to stay calm and to feel your peace as she goes through the surgery and the hard parts of recovery. Help her to heal up quickly and well. Guard her health (keep her free from colds, covid, etc) and guard her emotions too (so that she can enjoy her visitors and calmly allow her body to heal). Protect her from undue stress and help her to know that she is LOVED by You and by her family. Thank you for the many things that you are doing behind the scenes that we don't see! And thank you for the many answered prayers, Amen.

What do you think? Have you tried to create a prayer template with a key word list before?

For those who love this page - it inspired Month 10's Project in our creative membership, Creative Adventures in Bible Art Journaling. :) Just click on the name to find out more information.

Wishing you all a wonderful day,

Heidi