We have been appalled and saddened by the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine and by the news reports we’ve seen of the awful events unfolding there, but, of course, anything we feel is but a pale reflection of what those in that country are actually experiencing at this time, as the fighting intensifies, the list of casualties grows longer and the future looks ever more bleak. This prayer tries to empathise a little more deeply with the Ukrainian people as we commit them and their cause once more into God’s hands.
A prayer for the people of Ukraine as the invasion and fighting continues
Lord God,
if our hearts ache with the people of Ukraine at this time of brutal attack,
how much more do theirs!
Reach out to help them.
If our hearts ache at pictures of explosions in densely populated cities,
how much more do theirs!
Reach out to hold them.
If our hearts ache at footage of refugees fleeing in their thousands,
how much more do theirs!
Reach out to house them.
If our hearts ache at images of critically ill children denied essential medical treatment,
how much more do theirs!
Reach out to heal them.
If our hearts ache at the numbers of those injured and maimed,
how much more do theirs!
Reach out to strengthen them.
If our hearts ache at reports of the rising death toll,
how much more do theirs!
Reach out to protect them.
If our hearts ache at the sight of the bereaved, the fearful, the desperate,
how much more do theirs!
Reach out to comfort them.
If our hearts ache at news of atrocities, war crimes, mindless slaughter,
how much more do theirs!
Reach out to empower them.
If our hearts ache at intelligence of ever greater firepower amassed against them,
how much more do theirs!
Reach out to strengthen them.
If our hearts ache at the prospect of years of oppression,
how much more do theirs.
Reach out to deliver them.
Lord God,
if our hearts ache with the people of Ukraine at this time of war,
give us also hearts to respond,
with concern,
with compassion,
and with love.
Amen.