5 Ways You Can Pray for Ukraine

Through partnership across Europe, Convoy of Hope has worked diligently in Ukraine since 2014, alleviating suffering in and around the nation.

Convoy’s International Disaster Services team is actively trying to make contact with partners in affected areas. Please keep Ukraine in your prayers and continue to stand with Ukrainians who are suffering.

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So many of us are heartbroken over the events happening in Ukraine. If you need direction on how you can pray more deeply for this conflict then you’ve come to the right place. On Sunday, my pastor gave five specific ways to pray and I wanted to share them, along with a few personal thoughts on each.

1) The protection of civilians and those caught in conflict.

One of the things that I love about the Bible is that it is a story framed around a nation, Israel. But at the heart, its larger teaching is about individuals. People matter to God and that is why this conflict should be important to Christians everywhere. Men, women, moms, dads, children, grandparents are all affected by this conflict.

Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT – So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

2) Protection for Ukrainians fleeing, especially women and children, to find safe refuge.

All through Scripture we see people being pushed out of their homes because of persecution. David was on the run for 12 years from Saul and his armies and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years to escape bondage before finding the promised land God gave them. Even Jesus and his parents had to flee from Bethlehem to find safety from King Herod. What we know from all these stories is that God brings protection to his people.

Matthew 2:13 NLT – After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.

3) Conviction for Russian leadership to seek peace & prioritize human lives.

Through these events, it has weighed heavy on my heart to pray for the salvation of the leaders in power, specifically Putin. We can’t know their spiritual state, but we can pray that their lives would be given over to the Lord and that they would be filled with God’s Spirit and holy conviction. If this seems impossible to you, then remember the story of Jonah…

Jonah 3:6 NLT – When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.

4) Resolve & Unity among other nations to support those caught in this conflict.

I recently saw a powerful video that believers in Ukraine shared. Let us consider the words of the song they are singing, “everyone needs compassion,” “let mercy fall on me,” “the kindness of a Savior, the Hope of nations.” I pray this message of hope in Christ compels other nations to show compassion and mercy in support of those being persecuted by this conflict.

Romans 15:9 NLT – He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote: “For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.

5) Mobilization of the Global Church to respond in intercession, generosity, & advocacy.

It would be easy to bury our heads in the sand and say, “Not my battle, not my issue.” But when the Church is being afflicted in one country, it becomes our issue, and it becomes our battle. Imagine if your family member was a resident of that country. Friends, this is the Church. Our family in Christ is needy for our intercession, generosity, and advocacy. If we can do nothing else, let us pray fervently for this conflict.

Acts 4:32 NLT – All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.