March 30th, 2022

In Times of Crisis, Our Greatest Call Is to Pray

Current State of the Ukraine Crisis

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the situation has been dire.

According to ACAPS, over 4 million Ukrainian people have fled the country, and over 12 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance as of March 2022.1

acaps.org/country/ukraine/crisis/conflict

Most of the refugees fleeing Ukraine are elderly, women, and children — yet some of these vulnerable populations are unable to leave. Russian aggression has limited access to transportation, communication, electricity, and water in many areas.2 Some Ukrainian civilians are hiding in basements and struggling to find basic necessities.

Most experts believe it is unlikely that the Ukraine-Russia War will end soon.3 My friends, you and I know, serious times call for a serious commitment to prayer!

We, the Church, are to be on bended knee praying for the Ukraine crisis regularly and fervently.

Why Do We Pray?

Prayer is of MOST importance! As we worship God and pray according to His will from the Word of God,supernaturally through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the things that seem impossible God makes possible. God has given His Bride, the Church, “the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19). God is eager to hear and respond to each one of our prayers. Hallelujah!!!

“Prayer is the master strategy that God gives for the defeat and rout of Satan.” – Wesley L. Duewel

Make sure to follow Pray the Word on social media, to be a part of our a daily prayer series. Our series content and throughout our times of prayer, we will be pulling directly from our resource called months by buying the Prayers for the Faithful book. This recourse is a year long devotional that allows you to pray for your friends and family who are serving abroad in these times. Below you will find four ways to pray for the Ukraine Crisis, adapted from my book Prayers for the Faithful.

Each category follows the acronym: P R A Y.

P — Praise and Thanksgiving
R — Repentance and Confession
A — Asking
Y — Yielding

These component of prayer and intercession have helped hundreds of intercessors Pray God’s Word — God’s most powerful tool to pray and encounter His presence. For more on these categories, download the free bookmark at the bottom of the page. Consider the praying through each of these categories once a week or picking one component each day to focus on. Keep a prayer notebook or journal handy to write in. However you choose to pray, be encouraged — your prayers are powerful.

Pray for People Groups

Conflict, like the Ukraine crisis. reaches far beyond national borders. Neighboring countries such as Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and Slovakia are taking in refugees.1 There is much suffering at large. If crops can’t be produced and exported such as — corn, wheat, sunflower seeds, and barley — food shortages could affect people globally.4

Pray that God will bring unity among people groups. Pray that all eyes would be open to TRUTH. Pray that the Holy Spirit would encounter people who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

Worship Him today — the “I AM.”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:14 (NASB)

REPENTANCE

Search your heart as you meditate on this Scripture.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Philippians 2:3 (NIV)

ASKING

Rewrite this Scripture, personalizing it for the people groups of the world, seeking the Lord in prayer on their behalf.

I am sending you to them “to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.”
Acts 26:17-18 (NLT)

YIELDING

Rewrite Acts 26:17-18 again, personalizing it and praying it for yourself. Respond to what God is saying to you in this Scripture.

1 https://www.acaps.org/country/ukraine/crisis/conflict

2 https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-flash-appeal-march-may-2022-enukru

3 https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/03/how-long-will-ukraine-russia-war-last/627036/

4 https://www.cfr.org/blog/five-questions-russias-war-ukraine

Pray Today: People Groups in the Ukraine Crisis