Pray for Ukraine!

“Pray for Ukraine!” Yes, of course, but how?  For peace—that by God’s sovereign hand, peace would break out and end this monstrous violence.  That Russian aggression would be stopped, that cooler heads would prevail, and that lives would be spared.

Another way to pray is that governments would see the wisdom of following God’s design.  I’m thinking especially of Romans 13: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.  Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good.  But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.  For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer” (vv 3-4).

Don’t miss the moral axis here:  the purpose of God-ordained governing authority is to affirm “good” conduct and to punish “wrong” action (and the state “bears the sword,” meaning it can be justified in exercising physical force).  It seems clear, then, that Putin’s war does not meet this standard:  he has terrorized peaceful neigh­bors, and he has led his own people to embrace this “wrong” as a means toward his own self-aggrandizing ends.

So, since Putin’s campaign is decidedly contrary to the biblical vision of proper government, pray that either his ways would be changed or his cause would falter and fail.  And pray that people the world over (including in Russia) would be fortified with moral clarity through the horrid negative example Putin is setting.

Also, don’t pray just for Ukraine.  Think of Afghan­istan, and other war-torn lands such as Yemen, Syria, Myanmar, and Nigeria.  The news media has a very short attention span—last year Afghan­istan was front-and-center, but now there’s hardly a word (even though the Taliban marches on).  Don’t let media coverage fool you—immense material and spiritual needs persist in many lands!  Pray for the advance of the Gospel in our broken world.