War in Ukraine
Image from Factmonster
Almighty God we pray for the situation in Ukraine.
We pray for those who live in fear, that you may grant them peace.
We pray that the voices for discernment and peaceful solutions may prosper.
Lord, we ask that you raise up peacemakers on all sides.
Give diplomats wisdom, understanding and build trust.
We ask for the church in the nations involved, may they be salt and light in a dark situation.
Lord we lift this dangerous situation to you.
We ask your protection for Ukrainian citizens and your comfort for all who mourn.
May your kingdom come.
Amen.
Prayer based on a prayer for peace from the Evangelical Alliance.
***
Loving God, in our love of neighbour we bring to you our concerns, compassion and fears for the people of Ukraine.
We cry with those who mourn the loss of their families and friends, and with those separated from family not knowing if those they love are still alive or dead.
We pray for your comfort and care for those uprooted from their homes and lives, and we thank you for people across the world who are providing safety and sanctuary.
We cry for people cowering in basements and shelters, be their constant companion.
We place into your care all who are afraid, grant them your peace.
May people with power over life and death remember that you direct us to turn our swords into ploughshares and live in peace.
We ask that you will grant wisdom to international leaders to protect refugees and to work for an end to hostilities.
We thank you for medical teams and all bringing humanitarian aid and support into places of conflict, at risk to themselves for the sake of others.
We ask your support and protection for ordinary Russian voices expressing their disapproval of military action.
May the Holy Spirit guide us to seek peace and to use our time, energy and resources to give life rather than to take life.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen
Image by Artem Podrez from Pexels
Psalm 31:21-24 (NIV)
Praise be to the Lord,
for he showed me
the wonders of his love
when I was in a city under siege.
In my alarm I said,
‘I am cut off from your sight!’
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.
Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
The Lord preserves those
who are true to him,
but the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.
***
Lord God, who calls us to love our neighbour and pray for those who seek to do us harm, we pray for the people of Ukraine.
We pray that Ukraine and Russia, and Russian and the West can life peaceably as neighbours.
Forgive that human beings use violence and death, and the threat of violence and death, to achieve their desires. Help us to be sacrificial in our love for one another, giving up self for the sake of others.
Guide the leaders of both nations, and the leaders of NATO. to bring about a settlement. May troops go back to their families. May there be no weeping among wives and children, only singing and rejoicing. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Almighty and gracious God we continue to lay before you the needs of the people of Ukraine. We are alarmed and appalled at the reports we are receiving of people's suffering. We ask your forgiveness for our inhumanity towards one another. We ask your comfort, care and restoration of those who are suffering and traumatised.
We thank you, loving God, that you are with these people and that you bring them relief through the warm hearts of those who offer bottles of water, means of evacuation to places of safety, and through the work of medical teams, restoration of sight and mending of broken limbs. We pray that you will mend broken hearts grieving the loss of loved ones and the destruction of the places people knew, places they were born, places of good memories.
Help us always to remember the plight of the people of Ukraine when we seek to go to war; stop our brutality and violence.
God of love and life, we ask for peace for the people of Ukraine. Amen.
***
Almighty and eternal God, who is the source of love, we thank you for those who at risk to their own safety are working tirelessly to help Ukrainians evacuate.
We thank you that so many countries have been swift to respond and open their borders.
We thank you for the love and compassion that people have shown to those they have never met and do not know.
We ask your comforting presence for those who are unable to leave Ukraine, and particularly for the frail, elderly, people in hospital, or with dementia or other mental illness, unborn children, and all who have responsibilities to care for these people. Bless them and protect them.
We thank you for the support that has been shown for the people of Ukraine throughout the world.
In the dark days of war, death and destruction we thank you for the light of your love, which can never be put out.
We pray in the name of the light of the world, Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.
***
God of love and life, we place before you the needs of all who cry in Ukraine today. Wrap in your loving care all who need to stand strong to defend their nation and its peoples, all who fear becoming widows or orphans, all who fear for their way of life and their homes.
We thank you that Christ has shown us that peace, love and compassion is stronger than violence, even stronger than death. Be with the children and young people in Ukraine and Russia that they will seek to build a future where swords are turned into ploughshares and spears in to pruning hooks, and that they will use their energy and resources not to kill, main, and destroy, but to feed the hungry, heal the sick and shelter the homeless.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.