In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Rom. 8:26-27)

At this time when American and European diplomats have been working with Ukraine to try to find a solution to a war that Putin characterises as a ‘holy mission’, and his soldiers “warriors who are acting as if at the Lord’s behest,” as he put it in his Christmas message this year, here are some powerful musical offerings to help us pray. Before turning to them, however, it is good to ponder afresh various visions that Hudson Taylor for Russia that can inspire us to pray with fresh hope into situations that on the face of it appear sadly lacking in it.

Hudson Taylor’s Visions
In 1865, while walking on Brighton beach, Hudson Taylor had a profound experience where he felt a strong calling to send missionaries to China. This led to his prayer for 24 missionaries, two for each of the then-existing 12 provinces of China, which then became the catalyst for the China Inland Mission (CIM). The CIM would eventually send over 800 missionaries to China and establish thousands of mission stations

On another occasion again when Hudson Taylor was preaching in Shanghai, he stopped in mid-sentence as the Lord gave him a remarkable prophecy, which included reference to two world wars and Russia eventually being free, with large contingents of believers coming from Russia to bless the West.

‘Brethren, I have a conviction, which I believe to be from the Lord, that in the next ten years there will occur one of the bloodiest wars in the world’s history. In this war Russia will be the leader on the one side. [The Crimea War] The sentiments of the Christian nations will generally be against Russia. Contemporaneous with this conflict there shall burst out in Western Europe a revival such as was never known in the Christian Church, and which shall spread throughout the world, turning many to righteousness.’

(Try typing the words ‘great revival 1858’into your browser. and up will pop an AI generated report of the amazing revivals that swept through Europe and America in that year!)

‘I have seen a vision. I saw in this vision a great war that will encompass the whole world. I saw this war recess and then start again, actually being two wars. After this, I saw much unrest and revolts that will affect many nations. I saw in some places spiritual awakenings. In Russia I saw there will come a general, all-encompassing, national, spiritual awakening, so great that there could never be another like it. From Russia I saw the awakening spread to many European countries, and then I saw an all-out awakening followed by the coming of Christ.’

Tim Finch prayed some years ago:
‘Lord, You know how this conflict with Ukraine will end. I believe You will eventually rescue Russia and the Russian people from men with grossly inflated egos, who have become the homes of the enemy of God. I believe (and pray) that what we are seeing now are the signs of this, and we pray and for the outworking of Your God’s true plans for the Russian people and the Church in that land – Orthodox, Catholic, Pentecostal and Independent alike’.

Yes, Lord, may a true spiritual awakening come to Russia and encompass Europe just as the great pioneer missionary Hudson Taylor saw. Even as the vision was accurate concerning the two world wars, may the vision be true concerning the following great awakening. https://godencounters.com/prophetic-visions-given-pioneers-faith/

A micro glimpse of Russians on fire for Jesus

I have shared before how I was privileged to have had a microscopic glimpse of what this might look like when travelling up country in Norway back in 2005 at a time when I was sharing about Fire from the North at the national prayer conference. An evangelist with a ministry to Russia drove me a long way north for a day out, and we stopped off in the middle of a forest at a logging station, where forty Russian loggers were hard at work.

Astonishingly, 38 of them had come to know the Lord Jesus in a beautiful way in the last two years and been filled with the Holy Spirit. They absolutely shone with the love of the Lord!

Even though I don’t speak a word of Russian, and they didn’t speak a word of English, and neither of us were fluent in Norwegian, we were totally one in spirit! We passed a Norwegian Bible between ourselves and understood each other perfectly! It felt as though God was answering the prayers so many have been praying for so long for Russians to come to know Christ – and my goodness it was so pure and powerful as well as beautiful.

So as both Russia and Ukraine contioue to experience such appalling loss of life, property and materielle, let’s soak ourselves afresh in the Lord’s presence and worship and pray afresh for God  to move in power.

1) Slava Bogu: (Praise to God in the highest) – a Russian folk carol that the 19th century Russian composer Rimsky Korsakov called a Christmas hymn.

2) What will it take by way of national humbling and faithful witness to bring about a widespread move of the Spirit in Russia? Only the Lord knows, but we must continue to groan in prayer for the Spirit of the Lord to bring about His fullest purposes for Russia, and for the time when it will be free, and when many will pour forth from that country not to conquer but to bear true witness to Christ.From now on the offerings are really prayers and groans in the Spirit for the Lord’s mercy. Here first is an exquisite Kyrie Eleison by Huw Humphries.

3) ‘Your Spirit groans for peace’. Here are words you do not usually find; it represents a rare but precious genre of music and lyrics that extends a very long way beyond the happy clappy, and the “me-centred.”

4) Here is another powerful Kyrie: this time from the Ukrainian Orthodox tradition, that we can pray along to for both Russia and Ukraine, and all the surrounding nations too.

5) Finally, here is an impassioned plea to Come and see with the Lord’s own eyes.The Lord really does hear our prayers – even for such massive topics – and they are very precious to Him.

(See also the blog page that accompanies it.)

6) Do consider revisiting our e-magazine. Even though we wrote it shortly after the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine much of it remains highly relevant.

Photo by Ankhesenamun on Unsplash