Perhaps some of you have experienced war, so you know how to pray during times of war, but for the rest of us, how should we pray in violent times?
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #171 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
“War is hell,” so said Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, and who would disagree with him? War damages, destroys, wounds, scars, maims, kills.
Awful though it is, war is a fact of life in a fallen world because it is rooted in the sinful, deceitful heart of man.
How then should we pray in times of war? Should we always pray for an immediate cessation of violence? Should we pray for peace when injustice remains? Can we pray for evil actors?
There is much in Scripture to guide us. We are commanded and expected to pray.
The book of James says, “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.” James 4:2
In the Lord’s prayer, we’re taught to acknowledge God’s will, saying “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matt. 6:10
Scripture recognizes that war and conflict and trials and tribulations will happen in this fallen world, so we are reminded, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” Prov. 21:31
Perhaps surprisingly, nowhere in Scripture are we told never to go to war or that all war is evil, unjust, or wrong. As I’ve mentioned before talking about weapons, while God says, “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13), nowhere does Scripture tell us not to own weapons, that weapons are ipso facto evil, or that we should not use them for self-defense.
So, war happens, and it may be that we find ourselves in war for just reasons. But whatever the motivation of the actors in war, how should we as Christian believers pray during such times?
Let’s consider the obvious first: Just War theory refers to noncombatants. So, we should pray for innocent children – physically and emotionally endangered, living in fear and panic, ill, suffering, hungry, unable to attend school, orphaned. Innocent children may be found on all sides of a conflict.
Think how difficult it must be for Christian parents in a war zone to explain to their young children what’s happening, and to explain this in a way that is truthful yet does not raise their fears and anxieties.
Other ways to pray for in innocents in war who suffer, including civilians, children, and especially hostages:
- Pray for protection: Ask God to protect civilians, children, the elderly, the infirm.
- Pray for an end to violence: Ask God to bring an end to the war.
- Pray for wisdom and grace: Ask God to give leaders the wisdom and grace to put the safety of noncombatants first.
- Pray for guidance: Ask God to guide efforts to bring relief to troubled regions.
- Pray for those who are displaced from their homes, what’s called internally displaced peoples, and pray for those who emigrate from their country and may become refuges.
- Pray for hostages will be unharmed and released.
Scripture enjoins caring Christian believers to weep with those who weep or experience lamentation, pain, or suffering. How can we do this?
- Pray for comfort and healing: Ask God to comfort and strengthen those affected by war, and to help them find healing and hope.
- Pray for those separated from loved ones: Ask God to watch over refugees and victims of war, including those separated from their loved ones.
- Pray for the bereaved. People experience loss in war, and grief becomes a daily companion.
My friend, John, reminds us we should take care to pray without “telling God what to do.” In other words, //medium.com/@andrewhayes/try-praying-without-saying-i-pray-that-a74ef49f17d3" style="color: #96607d; text-decoration: underline;">pray without saying, “I pray that” or “Lord, please do this or that.”
Jesus prayed for the Lord’s will, as in “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,’” Jn. 17:1
And King David, “But you, O God my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name's sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me! For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me.”Ps. 109:21–22
We should pray by asking, not by directing. This means, of course, that we must trust the Sovereign God for his will and the results, for those in war as well as for our loved ones near us.
Sometimes it is difficult to know how to pray for a given violent conflict. What if at least one side are evil aggressors who act based on greed, ethnic hatred, or desire for power? What if they will not respond to pleas for ceasefire or negotiation, and in fact, without unconditional surrender, declare they will fight and kill until the last among them live?
Evil, violent groups like this may only respond to military power and destruction, meaning that exercise of violence as legitimate coercive force, as noted in Romans 13, may be the only way to end violence. It is ironic, perhaps, but it is the fallen world again. It is the character of sin.
So, in this case perhaps we pray for the Lord’s intervention according to his will.
We pray that evil actors will be restrained and brought to submission to what is right and just. We pray not just for a cessation of violence, not just for peace, but for a peace that is just and therefore potentially lasting.
Scripture tells us to pray for the opposition, evil actors. God said, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” Matt. 5:44. We are commanded to pray for the Taliban, for Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. We are commanded to pray for any human being we consider enemies of moral right, good, and peace.
We may also pray specifically for Christians on all sides of a conflict or war. In the Holy Land, that is, Israel—yes, Israeli Christian believers or Messianic Jews, and in the West Bank, Gaza—yes, Palestinian Christian believers—there are Christians right now caught in the crossfires of this violence. In Lebanon, there are Christians fearing for their families as violence edges closer to where they live and must work.
- Pray for the safety of Christian believers.
- Pray for their encouragement.
- Pray God will be their refuge in suffering.
- Pray for their witness as unto the Lord and his Gospel, his peace.
I think it is particularly appropriate and important to pray for the next generation. Pray for those whose hearts are bent on hatred and violence, that the Sovereign God will pour out His Spirit upon them, such that they see the futility of generational, ethnic or religious hatred, that they will come to see each human being as precious in the sight of God, that they will “turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it,” Ps 34:14.
Finally, pray for the global Church, especially the Western Church, that our eyes will be open to what God would have us do, and that we will be renewed in wisdom, faith, and hope. Pray the Church will see helpless and harassed human beings in the midst of the smoke of violence, that we will care for the hurting of all nationalities, ethnicities, ideologies, and politics, that we would think God’s thoughts after him.
Pray “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God,” 2 Cor. 1:3-4.
Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world,” Jn. 16:33.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. Or check //www.youtube.com/@DrRexRogers" style="color: #96607d; text-decoration: underline;">my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers for more podcasts and video.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
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