Prayers for Ukraine
We have gathered prayers, reflections and links to help you pray into the tragedy currently unfolding in Ukraine.
Scroll down the page to find material from Christian Aid and Churches Together, the Joint Public Issues Team, European Baptist Federation, BMS World Mission, the Baptist World Alliance, Christian Aid, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church
(Also see our Ukraine section for other updates.)
United in Prayer for Ukraine
Christian Aid,
Churches Together in England and
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland invited Christians across the country to join together on Sunday 3 April in an act of witness to pray for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and for peace in our world.
As part of this invitation, the organisation shared the following prayer.
A Prayer for Ukraine:
God of all peoples and nations,
Who created all things alive and breathing,
United and whole,
Show us the way of peace that is your overwhelming presence.
We hold before you the peoples of Ukraine and Russia,
Every child and every adult.
We long for the time
When weapons of war are beaten into ploughshares
When nations no longer lift up sword against nation.
We cry out to you for peace;
Protect those who only desire and deserve to live in security and safety
Comfort those who fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones
Be with those who are bereaved.
Change the hearts of those set on violence and aggression
And fill leaders with the wisdom that leads to peace.
Kindle again in us a love of our neighbour,
And a passion for justice to prevail
and a renewed recognition that we all play a part in peace.
Creator of all hear our prayer
And bring us peace. Make us whole.
Amen.
A prayer for Ukraine
God of all,
with alarm and concern we bring before you
the war in Ukraine.
In a world you made for peace and flourishing,
we lament the use of armed force.
We mourn every casualty of this conflict,
every precious life extinguished by war.
We pray comfort for those who grieve
and those who are fearful.
Hear our longing that leaders and nations
will honour the worth of all people
by having the courage to resolve conflict through dialogue.
May all our human failings be transformed
by your wonderful grace and goodness.
We ask this in the name of Christ,
the author of peace and sustainer of Creation.
Amen.
Joint Public Issues Team
Today we pray for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. We lament the use of armed force, and mourn every casualty of conflict. God, comfort those who grieve and those who are fearful. Bring your peace we pray.
Joint Public Issues Team
The European Baptist Federation
The European Baptist Federation is inviting everyone to join for an international prayer gathering on Zoom, initially every Wednesday in March, and then monthly.
‘Together, we will pray for the situation in Ukraine. We believe that prayers are more powerful than anything else,’ it states.
EBF statement:
'We pray unceasingly for the people of Ukraine and cry out for God’s protection and justice for the vulnerable.
‘We affirm and encourage the work of Ukrainian Baptists in reaching out in the love of Christ to those most affected by the conflict. We call upon those in power to use their courage, wisdom, and resources to make peace and to stop war.
‘We as European Baptists stand with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters ready to assist in humanitarian outreach in regions affected by the conflict.
‘Even in moments dark as these, we hope in God’s promise to teach us His ways and walk in His paths, so that the people of the world,
Shall beat their swords
into ploughshares,
and their spears into
pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword
against nation,
neither shall they learn
war any more.
Isaiah 2:4’
BMS World Mission
BMS World Mission has been gathering prayer requests from partners on the ground in Ukraine and Poland. Here are the latest (4 March):
From Marek Glodek, President of the Baptist Union of Poland:
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Please pray for wisdom from above. Please pray for strength for those who open their houses, churches and centres
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Please pray for us Polish people that we would show our love for Ukrainians and that God would bless the nation of Ukraine
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Please pray for our centres, that they will be provided with items which are needed to take care of children, women and anyone who is in need
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Please pray for us as leaders of the Polish Baptist Union so we can have wisdom and a chance to get the right contacts and people who will help us and deal with us in this great ministry
From Alan Donaldson, EBF General Secretary following a visit to Poland:
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Please pray for those people who are arriving in Poland
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Please pray through the difficulties that are happening right now in Ukraine
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Please pray for all the Baptist work that is happening there to bring relief and aid to the folks in that nation
From Pastor Igor, Ukrainian Baptist
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Pray for those who cannot, or will not, leave Ukraine.
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Pray that they are not discouraged by those who do and do not feel that the international community has given up hope for the possibility of peace
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Pastor Igor requests that we pray for his fellow pastors to “keep believing that God will be glorified”
Reflection
How might Christians respond to the shocking events in Ukraine?
Thoughts from former BMS General Director David Kerrigan, author of Prince of Peace in a World of Wars
The Baptist World Alliance has prepared this page which shares prayer points, its history of solidarity in the form of statements and resolutions over the last decade, and its own response.
The resources include this prayer for peace from Russian women:
North Western Baptist Association
A prayer responding to the troubling events in Ukraine - offered for personal use or for online and physical services from the North Western Baptist Association
Christian Aid has prepared a number of resources, including this prayer.
United Reformed Church prayers for Ukraine.
Ukraine crisis: How Psalm 31 is bringing comfort
Psalm 31 has become ‘the key scripture for all Ukrainians’ according to Bible Society colleagues in Ukraine.
They sent this moving video of people across Ukraine reading it in bunkers and shelters.
The video can be downloaded here