Mary Bass Gray of Fayetteville, North Carolina, did what many mothers of deployed soldiers do as her two sons made numerous trips to the Middle East. She prayed continuously. She also turned to Psalm 91, often known as the soldier’s Psalm, and prayed its inspiring verses for her sons.
“One of my sons did night missions. As I read the scripture ‘you shall not be afraid of the terror by night or the arrows that flies by day’ (Psalm 91:5), I pray courage for my son as well,” Gray explained.
When Gray found a website selling camouflage bandanas imprinted with Psalm 91 in November 2006, she knew immediately what she had to do. She decided to find a way to get a bandana into the hands of every soldier at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As a result, Operation Bandanas for Fort Bragg was born.
Mary began collecting donations to buy the Psalm 91 bandanas, which cost three dollars each. Volunteers from her church began getting together to fold the bandanas and stuff them into plastic zip-lock bags along with printed notes. Cases of the folded bandanas were shipped to Fort Bragg soldiers. The effort grew beyond Fort Bragg as other churches and communities learned about the bandanas. Today, the bandanas are going to military personnel in a variety of places.
Verse 3 in Psalm 91 stood out to Mary, “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare.”
“I think of our troops being under the attack of the enemy over there who is the fowler and the traps that are laid for them through these IEDs and roadside bombs. And I pray for each and every one of them that God will deliver them from the snare of the fowler. So it’s a beautiful Psalm that anyone can read but a soldier specifically will get encouragement from it,” Mary explained.
Bandanas serve a practical purpose. Soldiers use them for a variety of purposes, a face shield from sand storms, a sweat band, and even a tourniquet. Mary noted that God’s Word is an offensive weapon not a defensive weapon, in God’s armor.
“So I believe that as our soldiers suit up for battle, we should also be able to give them a piece of the armor of God to give them protection, deliverance, courage, encouragement, and comfort,” Mary said.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 ignited the war on terror. The coincidence of the numerical reference of Psalm 91:1 makes this passage of Scripture an even more comforting source of strength to military personnel and their families.
Almighty God, I pray your protection over our military members, that you will keep them from the fowler’s snare and that they may abide under your shadow.
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1)