Pray for our cyber defences to hold firm

While the world waits for the full impact of Donald Trump’s second presidency to take effect, another Donald, Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, has warned that the threat of war between Russia, the UK and the US is now both ‘serious and real.’ Although Russia’s ground forces are massively degraded and depleted for the moment, that nation, unlike western countries, is on a full war footing, and threats do remain at various level.

There can be no doubt at all that there is a battle going on in the heavenly places, and that the powers of darkness are seeking to goad and incite the major powers into all out open war for the third time in 110 years.

At the recent NATO Cyber Defence Conference, Pat McFadden, a senior British minister, warned clearly that Putin is quite prepared to launch cyberattacks against Britain.

No two ways about it, cyber war is already a daily reality. Technically, a cyberattack is as much an act of war as any other form of attack. Britain is equipped with certain means of retaliation, but do we have the resolve to deploy them?

It doesn’t take a great deal of reflection to recognise the havoc that would be caused in Britain if, for example, fuel depots such as those in Shetland and Milford Haven were compromised. ( You will remember how quickly the country was brought to its knees by striking petrol tanker drivers.) There are many other potential targets, and a great many Russian ‘hacktivists’, as well as specialized wings of the Russian military, intent on penetrating cyber defences. (As a centre of cyber research, Malvern could be one such potential target). Russian agents have already carried out a number of ‘practise runs,’ such as the hack against South Gloucestershire Council a few years ago, which took many long months to deal with. More recently, Salford, Bury, Portsmouth, Trafford and Tameside have all been hit and put out of action by shorter term cyberattacks. Do pray for our cities, councils and vital infrastructures.

Russian hackers have also captured millions of pieces of data from NHS patient records and put them on display.

As for Ukraine, everyone knows that Russia has been hitting its energy grid with missiles, but it has also been targeting it with multiple cyberattacks. As Pat McFadden informed the NATO conference, ‘Aided by allies, including the UK, Ukraine has had to defend itself from crippling Russian cyberattacks on its electricity grid, its airports, and other critical national infrastructure.’

Russia has targeted mobile networks, cutting off communication for millions at a time, and, on occasion, disabling the air raid warning system in Kyiv. It has also used cyber espionage on Ukraine’s networks, looking to hack valuable military information that will give them an advantage on the battlefield.

Even these are mere skirmishes in comparison to what could develop in this sphere. Putin is threatening to use his new hypersonic missiles against countries that have permitted the use of longer-range missiles against Russia, and aims to ‘turn out the lights in Britain.’ While we have some capacity to defend ourselves, our defences are not considered robust enough to resist all-out attacks on critical infrastructure and health services.

Developments in the cyber world, as in drone warfare, are developing at a truly astonishing pace in both Russian and Ukrainian labs. Truly, the war in Ukraine is the proving ground for weapons systems for all nations to learn from. May we act swiftly; there is no time to lose.

The situation is at least equally tense on the far side of the world, where ‘Volt Typhoon’ and the vast numbers of people involved in cyber espionage in China have recovered from a bruising setback and are once again seriously targeting critical infrastructure, government, and academic institutions in the States.

See too this security briefing.

America is, understandably, devoting far more attention to China than to Europe – but that leaves Europe very exposed. I often remember what incredible efforts had to be made to ‘entice’ America to enter the conflict in both the First and the Second World Wars. Excellent initiatives indeed, but they still would not have sufficed had it not been for the folly of Germany and Japan in attacking American interests.

If Joe Biden has been no great friend of Britain, because his heart is much more with nationalist Ireland, Trump for his part is no fan of Starmer, partly because of the latter’s strong and disparaging comments about the next president of the US – echoed by almost every member of his cabinet – but also because he has shown an interest in resetting relationships with the EU, which Trump (and his close ally Nigel Farage) have warned against.

This weekend, we have seen once again just how devastatingly quickly flood waters can engulf entire towns and villages. Why suppose the forces of evil to be any less creeping and deadly a threat? Britain has been complacent, and is increasingly vulnerable in its lack of preparedness for war of any kind, very much including the spiritual war. We have not made the Lord our rock and refuge, nor sought to honour Him with all our hearts. He is a God of relationship rather than transaction, but why should He extend protection to an ungrateful and dismissive nation?

Lord, here we are, endeavouring to stand in the gap for this nation as Your intercessors. We plead the one and only thing we can appeal to: Your mercy and forgiveness and, wherever still possible, Your restraining hand. We know there will be fallout and suffering and we pray for all affected at whatever level. We pray too for inspired countermeasures and effective resilience in our security systems, as well as for our military.

We thank You again for the men and women who sat up all hours, engaged and wrestling with codes, thereby saving so many lives, and even shortening the war. Be with the present generation of code breaker and software encryptionists we pray.

We ask You to protect GCHQ and our other intelligence agencies from attack, whether cyber or missile, and to reveal Your love to those who work in these fields. Let breakthroughs come – and then let the findings and recommendations of these analysts be both believed and acted on in time.

Help the men and women who serve on this frontline to guard their hearts against pressure, resentment, discouragement, and any of the other many faceted attacks that come their way. Be with them as they negotiate the boundaries between work and home, and all the difficulties that come with the requirement to keep secret what they know. Minister to them, we pray. Amen.

Undersea dangers and naval defence cuts

For as long as I can remember, I have sensed that there is folly in not keeping our navy up to strength. I am certainly not alone in this – it’s a concern echoed by many, including our friends at the Cotswold retreat centre, The House of Bread, who have set up a ‘war room’ specifically to pray for the Royal Navy, along with British MPs.

As you will know, though, plans have now been announced to make significant cuts in spending by scrapping some of the nation’s older military vessels, including warships and helicopters.

There is even talk of mothballing our two brand new aircraft carriers!

To be incurring Russia’s extreme wrath by arming Ukraine whilst actively disarming ourselves feels extremely unwise when that nation has been diligently preparing its submarine services for cable cutting sabotage, and China is building a vast armada of cutting-edge ships. The Washington Post reveals a stark divide:

‘China’s shipbuilding workforce is estimated to be nearly five times that of the United States and supports more than 7,000 vessels. Fewer than 200 are serviced by American shipyards — which fulfilled fewer than five orders in 2023, while their Chinese counterparts handled more than 1,700.’

The location of these cables – which carry the greater part of digital communication, not to mention over ten trillion dollars’ worth of financial transactions every day – is in the public sphere. Yet they are unguarded for the most part: sitting ducks as targets for the serious saboteurs that both Russia and China have long been training.

I believe we should take the episode which saw internet cables cut in the Baltic very seriously indeed. (See this article about the Russian-captained Chinese ship that was almost certainly responsible for cutting the cables.) This is but a small and simple demonstration of the capabilities that China and Russia possess, and which pose such enormous danger in both western waters and those of the Far East. The implications for global security are very great – and they are only one expression of these multilayered threats.

Longstanding readers of the Mashal will be aware that we have often highlighted the importance of prayer concerning our internet cables – partly because the threat is very real, and partly because I fear there are not many who few have a heart to pray for such things. You may like to refresh your memory here and
here.

There is still some relevance in this article too, although it was written six years ago. See particularly the section beginning The bear is getting restless in its cave.

Ukraine

The prospect of a second Trump presidency is, as you might imagine, cause for celebration in Moscow. Russia has suffered tremendous loss of men and materials, and holding onto the ground they have occupied would be seen as a considerable victory. So it has certainly been deeply upsetting and offensive to hear Donald Trump Jr ceaselessly and mercilessly baiting Zelensky, and suggesting that the Ukrainian leader’s ‘allowance’ from America is about to run out.

Ukrainian forces in Kursk are under intense pressure from a determined force of 50,000 combined Russian and North Korean forces, intent on reclaiming it. Despite frequent headline-catching successful missions and missile strikes, the war is not going well for the heavily outnumbered Ukrainians, even though there are at least signs now but Russia is beginning to run out of its previously vast supply of tanks.

The latest round of intense bombing has led to very severe power outages, and with winter temperatures now plummeting and so many people having lost their homes, the outlook is bitter. There has been talk of lowering the age of conscription from 25 to 18, but the plan will meet with colossal opposition, not least because Ukraine simply doesn’t have enough weapons to provide any to new recruits.

Russia is experiencing losses on an industrial scale, reckoned at something like 1500 a day by British intelligence. Putin has been flattering Trump, suggesting that he is very intelligent and capable. But reading between the lines, we might wonder if the Russian leader is not actually desperate for a cessation of the warfare, but intends to cause as much damage as possible to Ukraine before Trump brings that about.

How lost and fearful the citizens of both Russia and Ukraine must be feeling.

Lord, don’t let Ukraine be thrown to the wolves. Safeguard and protect precious lives, and bring about a safe and lasting end to this war. Comfort, comfort Ukraine. Let destruction come to an end, and grant it peace and protection, and the ability to rebuild, we pray.

Prayer concerning alliances, including Korea

There have been alliances in the past for which Europe has cause to be deeply grateful, such as that with America during both World Wars. There are other alliances, however, like the growing unity between China and Russia in both an economic and military terms, which give rise to concern.

Father, be Lord of shifting friendships and alliances. Send imaginative spirits of amity and unity where and wherever You can. We pray too, though, that You would also send spirits of division to thwart and hinder the concoctions of the powers of darkness.

We pray that You will determine the respective roles of North and South Korea.

Israel

Doubtless emboldened by Trump’s victory, Israel is pushing ahead with plans to annexe the West Bank settlement during the course of 2025. Israeli settlers, largely unchecked by police or army, have been hassling and harrying Palestinians for months. The International Crime Court has issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, citing alleged war crimes in Gaza – and only fourteen nations have opposed the UN’s resolution demanding an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and other areas of Palestine.

Given his previous stance on the matter, it seems Trump is unlikely to oppose the annexation, a state of affairs which will please those who are unhappy with the idea of the two-state solution proposed by Rabin and Arafat.

For those who hold to ‘replacement theology’ – that is, that God’s concern is now with the Church, and that He has no specific purposes for modern day Israel above and beyond those that He has for any nation – the demarcation of Israel’s borders might be a purely humanitarian issue. For those who believe that the nation of Israel still has a place in His holy purposes, the issue is often far less clear cut.

What we can say, is that, boosted by the strength of Israel’s recently improved relationships with Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, it has less to fear than in days done by from these nations – not because they approve of the devastation being inflicted on Gaza and Lebanon, but because, deep down, they fear and mistrust Iran even more than they traditionally dislike Israel. Trump is likely to permit Israel considerable freedom to attack Iran.

Emboldened by Trump’s victory, Israel is pushing ahead with plans to annexe the West Bank settlement during the course of 2025. As you will be aware, Israeli settlers, largely unchecked by police or army, have been hassling and harrying Palestinians for months. Given his previous stance on the matter, it seems unlikely that Donald Trump will oppose such an annexation. The Middle East remains a melting pot, where so many are experiencing intense hardship and suffering.

Father, so many have suffered in this region. Be Lord of exactly how these things play out, we pray.

What would the Lord have you contribute through prayer to His purposes in the Middle East?

Climate change

Despite being hosted by a fossil fuel rich nation, the Cop 24 meeting did at least close with a $300 billion pledge. But with ‘once-in-a-thousand-years’ weather events happening increasingly frequently all around the world, no sum raised or proposed will ever prove enough – and it remains the case that the biggest polluters rarely face meaningful sanctions.

We have in the past, prayed for the bees and the vital work they do. Can I also suggest that we pray for our oceans by name? As well as initiatives to collect up the millions of tonnes of plastic and the impact of trillions of bits of micro-plastics, our seas have a vital role to play in absorbing carbon. Pray too concerning air quality, the state of our increasingly polluted rivers and shrinking forests,. . . .

Perhaps there is a specific natural element that speaks to you? Maybe you could make it the focus of your particular prayers for the climate?

Despite being hosted by a fossil-fuel-rich nation, the Cop 24 meeting did manage – just – to secure a $300 billion pledge for poor climate threatened nations, at this time when ‘once-in-a-thousand-years’ weather events are happening increasingly frequently and all around the world. No amount could ever be enough, of course, but praise God for the decison – may the funds be dispersed and applied wisely.

Perhaps the Lord would lay particular issues associated with this on your heart (the extent of plastic pollution in the oceans perhaps) or particular nations-at-risk (such as low-lying Pacific islands?)

Father, which of us have not had much cause to be grateful for the oil and gas You have allowed to develop all around the world? And yet we know this planet that we love, and which is so outstandingly beautiful, faces a huge reckoning. Bless all who are seeking to be responsible stewards of it. Forgive us for all the denials and obfuscations that we bring forward to justify our avarice. Inspire people with ways and steps that will make a difference even in the face of climate change. Safeguard and preserve people, their lands, animals and livelihoods we pray, for you are concerned for people everywhere. (Jonah 4:11)