The war in Ukraine has taken an immense toll on the mental health of Ukrainians as well as on every aspect of its infrastructure, with well over 50% now said to be clinically suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

To help us identify with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are sharing a presentation here that aims to soak and immerse ourselves in these offerings on behalf of Ukraine, beginning with pieces which feature a close friend of Gerard le Feuvre, our dear cellist friend from Jersey.

After that comes a piece that will be entirely familiar to you: You are my hiding place – whenever I am afraid I will trust in You

The following is a beautiful song, praying for mercy on Ukraine that was recorded a few weeks ago. The description is translated as follows:

In this video you will hear the touching song “Prayer for Ukraine” performed by a choir and orchestra. This composition, played during worship in the Kyiv Christian Church, is a deep prayer for the peace and well-being of the country.

God, I pray for Ukraine,
God, I pray to you for people,
You forgive them, You save them
And show us Your mercy.
God, I know that You will be with us
In His temple under the heavens,
You gave joy and peace,
He gave his life for people,
He wrote us down in the Book of Life.

The words of the Ukrainian national anthem are a beautiful hymn.

We have released numerous prayers for Ukraine over the past three years. Some of these I am sharing here, in other cases, just the music, so that we can #write’ our own fresh prayers as we go along.

Here is Vlad again, this time playing with Gerard le Feuvre and the Kings Chamber Orchestra

Here is a starter prayer for the series.

More recently I shared this prayer ‘On both sides of the conflict’ inspired originally by the thought of what conscripts on both sides are going through – and with such limited lifespan.

It mentions the 6 (now only 5) newly arrived F16 fighter planes that have already been making such a difference in terms of intercepting Russian cruise missiles. How slow the West had been to provide defence against the unprovoked onslaught. It feels like it is a battle against time and the need for support as well as against the forces of Russia. Mercy, Lord.

Praying for Ukraine the bread basket of the world

A prayer for the deliverance of Ukraine from the Russian advance

This prayer is set to music by Modest Mussorgsky, who wrote much of his music in Crimea, as Russians have always loved to do and continue to this day to do despite the war. How surprised he would be to think that we were using his music today to represent the relentless plod of an oxcart as a metaphor for the Russian military war machine as it continues its relentless surge into territory not its own in Ukraine. Pray for those in the path of these endless attacks – and for the vast numbers of casualties on both sides, and all the family and localities affected by these First World War style and scale of losses.

The Song of the Wind

It is essential that the friends of Ukraine stand strong in their support in the face of many temptations to back away from doing so. Let’s use this piece of music that I wrote and called The Song of the Wind to pray for the Ruach breath of God to sweep through that devastated country – and to remember the response of others nations towards it.

What can we pray except Lord have mercy? Huw Humphrey wrote this stunningly beautiful Kyrie Eleison, which Linda Entwistle sings here for us,

And here is an exquisite Kyrie Eleison from fifteenth century Kyiv.

Kyrie Eleyson- Ukrainian Orthodox Chant of the XV Century by Kyiv Chamber Choir

It is no new thing for prayers to ascend on high from inside Ukraine. The country has a rich religious heritage, as well as a distressing history of being overrun.

Next, we have a remarkable song by Andy Flannagan and Sam Hargreaves covering themes that most songs do not address: ‘Your spirit groans for peace’.

Ever increasing Escalation

The war is so relentless.

When I told our sound engineer I wanted to record this piece he was incredulous. It was the only time in ten years of close working together that he disagreed with one of our choices. ‘Why on earth do you want to record that?’ he asked, finding it frankly discordant. I actually had no idea why I wanted it, I just sensed there were going to be appropriate times to use it.

And so there have been. We have used it in praying for the not-so-distant echoes of the civil war in Spain in Catalonia’s restless desire to separate from the rest of Spain, and now it feels a fitting piece to help us pray into the intensity of Putin’s war with Ukraine. Why, why, why would he want to pit himself against this land in ways so strikingly similar to the great pogroms and Holodomor that Stalin launched against that country back in the 1930s?

Insecure leaders need to exalt themselves and conquer; where they are not genuine grievances they invent or magnify them when thing are getting difficult at home, they rally popular support by turning against an external power.

As the music pours out may you sense a leading from the Lord in which direction to head in or prayer, concerning some situation that is escalating, or which has reached full blown crisis point.

And if you would like to pray with a music only version . . .

There are so many flashpoints of division. Until recently, for instance, most Ukrainians who lived in east of the country were pro-Russian. That has ceased not only as a result of the clampdown on anything Russian from Kyiv but as a result of Russian brutality. But when we recall that many Ukrainians are married to Russians, and have family over the border we can imagine the heartbreak and complications that all this brings.

Here is an ‘Outcry against savagery.’

This is a prayer for the spiritual imposition to be lifted from on and over Russia, which has for so long been cramping and concealing its true redemptive calling, and stifling and persecuting those who love and follow the Lord Jesus.

Prayers to set Russia free from the imposition on its soul that first Communism and now Putinism has brought:

Our prayer begins with the Lord looking with pleasure upon the land of the steppes and its villages and towns, and we with Him to seek the renewal of His purpose and calling for the region. Here are several links to help you pray. Do see where He leads you.

In the Village

Pray too for those who have turned away from the Lord, in Russia and Ukraine and anywhere else that He leads you to pray for. See how the Lord leads you to pray for Ukrainian villages in the light of this piece.

Lament for Reepicheep.

It’s really important to realise that God does grieve over situations, which is reflected in the fact that very many of the Psalms take the form of laments, but that does not mean that He despairs over situations, for that would be a contradiction of His eternal hope-filled nature. But He does grieve over them – and it is really important for us to do so to in order to find spiritual ways of identifying with His heart when he is grieving over situation. In my own way I have endeavoured to do that in this piece – Dolens – without making it too heavy which would be depressing because with the Lord there is always hope too.

Lament and Light
Godly grief can serve to draw us close to the heart of Jesus, who is both a Man of Sorrows as well as the One whose strengthens jus with His joy. Since it is always so good to end our prayers and petitions on a note of hope, may He use this piece to bring comfort and hope.

Doxology for Ukraine
Here is a piece that I think it is best to listen to as it is, with words and music combined:

This is a church in Kyiv worth supporting in prayer.

Although it was filmed two years ago, they are continuing their crucial spiritual and humanitarian ministry through all the turmoil and dangers of the war that is so close at hand, and which has affected so many.

Here is a cheerful Ukrainian folk song – reminiscent of more peaceful days. Can we play and pray it prophetically for hope?

Finally, here is the Ukrainian National Anthem – which itself is a heartfelt prayer.

The Ukraine Freedom Orchestra was only formed two weeks before they played this sensitive rendering of the deeply spiritual Ukrainian national anthem. I am told that there was a profound stillness in the congregation after they played it. It is beautiful.

And here is a translation of the prayer

Lord, oh the Great and Almighty,
Protect our beloved Ukraine,
Bless her with freedom and light
Of your holy rays.

With learning and knowledge enlighten
Us, your children small,
In love pure and everlasting
Let us, oh Lord, grow.

We pray, oh Lord Almighty,
Protect our beloved Ukraine,
Grant our people and country
All your kindness and grace.

Bless us with freedom, bless us with wisdom,
Guide into kind world,
Bless us, oh Lord, with good fortune
For ever and evermore