Current Events Monday: A Prayer for Ukraine
Considering the European crisis, today’s blog article will take the form of a prayer for the people of Ukraine. This prayer is based on The Model Prayer as taught by our Lord Jesus.
Our Father, we know that you are King of kings and Lord of lords. No human being can even begin to grasp your omnipotence and omnipresence. You created the heavens and the earth, and even though some human beings try to assert their dominance and become their own gods, we know that their efforts will fall far short and end in their destruction.
We therefore pray that your name would be hallowed, set apart from the names that we commonly hear in the news cycle. In this dire hour for our neighbors in Europe, we ask that you would do exceedingly and abundantly more than anyone can possibly ask or imagine in asserting your power and presence. When the fog of war lifts, may You be the only One to whom we can attribute the triumph of love and peace.
We also beseech you for your kingdom to come and will to be done on the earth as it is in heaven—a kingdom in which enemies beat their weapons of war into implements of service, where forgiven sinners gather around a banquet table to celebrate salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, where repentance is the norm and the Narrow Way is followed, and where pretense is extinguished. Open the eyes of those who are blinded by the Evil One. We consequently pray for Russia’s leaders to yield to the gospel and for world leaders to bow their knees to Christ at the behest of the Holy Spirit. We also ask that the people of Ukraine would be steeled in their resolute fight against the powers and principalities of this evil age.
And Lord Jesus, our daily bread is vital in this hour. Most notably, we are concerned for the orphans, widows, and homeless victims of the cruel Russian assault. Use our resources to shelter and extend hospitality to these individuals created in your image. May we open our doors wide to the foreigner and the stranger because you did the same for us on your cross. We pray that you would divinely and miraculously multiply even the slightest gifts which are given out of Spirit-indwelled hearts.
In this hour, Lord, we are reminded of our own missteps and miscalculations. We have fallen far short of your target when it comes to loving our neighbors as ourselves. While the pundits and talking heads assign blame, we ask for forgiveness from you and from one another. Our sins of both omission and commission are linked to this current crisis. Help us to forgive each other.
And when temptations arise in these hours for us to plot hateful acts of retribution, reassure us, Lord, that vengeance is to be left in your hands. Grant us wisdom that we may act courageously as citizens of the Kingdom of God, knowing that our battle is not with flesh and blood but with the satanic powers. Therefore, we pray for deliverance from the one who has come to steal, kill, and destroy.