Wells

On Sunday 2nd October Roger and I decided to make the most of a sunny afternoon with a short visit to Wells, Somerset. Just 10 miles drive from our caravan site.

The Smallest City

By virtue of its Cathedral, Wells is a city. It describes itself as the smallest UK city. We were blessed with a parking spot right next to the Cathedral. And with nothing to pay! Now that delights me. So it was with a sense of freedom that we set off to tour the streets.

Fresh perspectives

We first came to Wells in 2013 after a week at New Wine at Shepton Mallet. We were very impacted by the sense of history and heritage that this city represents. We had decided then to prayer walk its ancient streets and I remember speaking out Psalm 24…. declaring that the Lord of glory would come in, as ancient doors and gates were flung open at His arrival.

We made a short video in 2013 called “A Heritage Preserved?” We had just acquired an iPhone and we filmed it on that.

Our fresh perspectives some 9 years later involved a sense of familiarity but also a new expectation. The warm sunshine helped to make us feel quite joyful. Especially as both of us were shaking off the remnants of the Covid virus.

Walking the streets in 2022

As we walked we observed that it was quiet. Not too many tourists. We felt quite peaceful…the views were lovely. We ambled around enjoying the unhurried air of it all. The walk round the Bishop’s Palace was particularly spiritually inspiring.

When finally we made it back to the car, I mentioned that it might be good to have a look at Vicars’ Close again, as I remembered that ancient street from our visit in 2013. Roger was not as keen, but somehow we were both stirred up by hearing a brass player practising his instrument by an open window in Wells Cathedral School. So we walked on. It was close by.

Vicars’ Close

As we entered the ancient street known as Vicars’ Close, I was stirred again by its sense of history. It is a quite amazing sight. It is apparently the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in Europe, dating back to the 14th century. If you want to know more, here’s the Wikipedia link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicars%27_Close,_Wells

Praying in His Spirit

We walked up the street to the far end where we could turn and look down its length towards the Cathedral. Roger took this wonderful photo.

We stood with our backs against an ancient wall and door – warmed by the late afternoon sun – and looked down the street. We had such a sense of wanting our national spiritual heritage to be redeemed. We inwardly mourned the loss of true Christianity. We were groaning with the sadness of what has happened to the children in our current culture. So, we asked the Lord how He wanted us to pray? We closed our eyes and began to listen and pray in the Spirit, repeating the Name “Jesus” over and over again.

An unexpected encounter

We heard people passing by – probably wondering what we were quietly saying – but we kept our eyes closed. After quite a while of praying like this, someone drew near and we opened our eyes to see a young man holding a young boy’s hand.

We smiled at each other and he asked if we knew how old the street was? We told him that we did know and he in turn told us that he had only recently come to live in Wells with his young family.

Emboldened, I said that we were praying for our nation in this ancient spot. To which he replied that he had come as a “minister” to Wells – a Pentecostal minister in the Elim church called Connect Centre.

Our spirits leapt to meet each other in His Spirit! We shared our desire to see spiritual transformation in the nation, particularly for the sake of the children. He told us that he had been taking his small son for a walk, but had not planned to come up Vicars Close…he just seemed to be led to walk this way!

Renewed expectation

The encounter ended with Jason (for that was his name) offering to pray for us and for our “ministry” (representing a much older generation) and for us praying for him and for an outpouring of God’s Spirit on the church.

What a God moment! Especially as Roger had also been reflecting before our prayer time that our Wells video from 2013 had never really been seen by many people….and here was an opportunity to share it with a minister in a Pentecostal church in Wells. What an answer to prayer!

The Word that I had while praying for Jason was

Not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord God Almighty…

Zechariah 4:6