Three Things to Pray for Ukraine by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

What is going through your mind as you watch news reports about the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

I am feeling helpless and wish I could do more to assist the people. We’re too far away to take in refugees. I don’t personally know anyone there, and I’m not trained for the military.

However, we are all trained to war in prayer, so here are three things we can pray for Ukraine:

Pray that God will fight this battle for them. “Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

Today as I was reading the recap of the Israelites journey to the Promised Land, I realized that while God gave them the victories, they still had to fight and put the work in. Ukraine is holding its own. According to NPR, airstrikes have not gone as planned and the Russians are experiencing food and fuel shortages [1]

Pray for the truth about this war to come out. There are a lot of conspiracy theories running around that flip the scenario of who is “good” and who is “bad.” I am praying for God’s truth and clarity to emerge from this scenario.

Pray for the Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country. With over 50,000 Jews living in Ukraine, many of these refugees are Jewish and are heading to Israel. This is a fulfillment of prophecy. In Ezekiel 38:8 it says, “In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.” God’s ways are not our ways, and it is possible that He has used this war for good, to move His people back to the Land. We need to pray for open doors, provision and shelter for all refugees.

I have always said prayer should not be the last resort, it should be the first resort. Matthew 21:22 says, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

So in the end, we’re not helpless. We can battle for Ukraine as we have been given the right to appeal to our Almighty Defender through prayer.

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[1] https://www.npr.org/2022/03/02/1084033803/the-war-in-ukraine-hasnt-gone-well-for-russia-but-it-has-more-weapons-it-can-dep