I was going to write about the power of prayer and how God, Jehovah Jireh, is our ultimate provider. But as my heart is shattered by those being hurt as we speak in Ukraine, I will still hit on it, yet be a little more focused around how our response should be in times like these.

Elohim Shomri is one of the Hebrew names given to God. It means “my protector”. Over the course of reading this book called “The Circle Maker”, which is about the true power of prayer, I have come to the conclusion that prayer and praise should become our instinct as we live in a world as broken as ours.

I am sure by now you have heard about the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. And in case you have not been caught up, Ukraine is currently being attacked with missiles and such. Thousands are stuck in traffic as they attempt to flee while others remain barricaded in their homes.

How crushing. But a sympathetic heart is not the farthest Christians can go. When we have problems that we know are out of our reach, we turn to God. This course of action should not remain within the margins of just our lives or the ones around us. When you choose to follow a God who is known as love, peace, life, goodness, hope, healing, etc. wouldn’t you want Him to flood this world with all He is?

The people of Ukraine need peace and healing.The people of Russia need peace and a softened heart. May I remind you, our God is exactly those things. So if you would, take a few minutes of your day and pray for both Ukraine and Russia. If I can teach you anything with these blogs, I pray it is to seek a heart that reflects that of God’s. The world want’s us to choose sides. To determine who is bad and who is good. To decide who gets our prayers and who doesn’t. This mentality could not be more wrong. The judge of justice belongs to no one but God.

This world and everyone/thing in it, needs Jesus. Just in different ways.

I want to tell you about a story where a hurting and lost people group put on nothing but the armor of God to win over a land much bigger, stronger, and wealthier than themselves. This is the story of a man named Joshua, a people known as the Jews, and a city called Jericho.

After spending what seemed like forever in the wilderness, the Jewish people were finally coming close to their promised land by God. There was only one catch. The land of Canaan, which Jericho was a part of, was mighty and huge, and the Jews had a lot of people, but were no where near as strong as the Canaanites. The leader of the Jews, after Moses, was a man named Joshua. When they came to the edge of the Promise Land, Joshua was visited by an Angel. He asked who’s side the Angel was on, expecting Him to say that of the Jews, but the Angel responded, “No. I am the Commander of the Lord’s army”.

Before continuing on, I would just like to point out the fact that God sent an Angel in which perfectly portrayed His heart. The Lord stands for Justice, not a certain people group over another.

Moving on, Joshua was with the Jews, wondering how exactly they were supposed to take over Canaan. Then suddenly, God told Him, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city.” – for the sake of time, I am going to summarize the rest. God told Joshua to lead all of the Jews around the city walls for 7 days. They were to march silently, with only the trumpets blowing, once a day for 6 days and then 7 times on the 7th day, shouting only after the last lap. And so they did. Waking up each day, their voices silent but their hearts roaring with hope and faith as they made one lap…then two, then three…then on the last day, the remaining 7 laps. And as Joshua raised His voice for the people to shout, the terribly huge walls of Jericho came crumbling down.

God heard His people’s cries in anguish and saw the justice needing to be served against the Canaanites. He delivered them out of slavery from Egypt and has shown them the land in which He promised Abraham that his descendants would one day inhabit.

What a beautiful story of obedience, hope, and our promise-keeping God. These people trusted that God knew what He was doing and had all authority to maintain His word. With hearts full of hope, and although it does not mention prayer, I have to agree with the author of “The Circle Maker” that they were most likely in desperate conversations with the Lord during each lap, pleading their time in the wilderness would come to an end.

As we look back at this story of the “battle” of Jericho, we see that when we let God take the judge seat at the court of justice and the commander position in our fights, there is no reason to doubt that His presence will be seen. This is not to say we will always see a literal victory over our enemy, like Ukraine is trying to stand against Russia. It simply means that the hope we have is everlasting. That one day, either now or when Jesus comes back, we will witness the peace of God trample every ounce of evil.

We live in a world that is so terribly marred by sin. There will be wars won by people who seem to be monsters, there will be lives of the innocent lost, and there will be destruction of cities and countries. But what I am trying to clearly get across is that our hope should not be diminished by any of these things. Why? Because at the end of the day, every smile, laugh, relationship filled with love, and healed wound is evidence of the grace and mercy of God. The fact that we get a chance to be redeemed is grace far greater than we could ever deserve. And honestly, I believe that praying and praising is the only way in which we can direct our vision to be sensitive to God’s moving hand in the world.

In the story about Joshua, before the walls even began shaking, he said to the Jews, ” Shout, for the Lord has GIVEN you the city.” Did you catch that? Joshua said God already claimed victory for the Jews before the people even took the deep breath to prepare their shout. Chills. Literal chills. This is the heart full of praise that we should be seeking to reflect.

So now we come to modern day. The day I felt the weight to talk about this was yesterday, as I was eating a “cup of dirt” (chocolate pudding with Oreo crumbles and gummy worms) from my cafeteria and came across a post on Instagram. It was a picture of a man covered in dirt and rubble as He was trying to flee from the building he just got hit with an airstrike in. I looked at the picture, then I looked at my silly little dessert and I thought, “here I am, eating a funny little ‘cup of dirt’, while this man across the world is covered in dirt, trying to run for his life after doing nothing wrong.” It crushed me. How blessed are we to live in the United States? How blessed am I to know a God that fills me with peace, comfort, and hope in times of fear?

With that, I could not just pass over the post. Which brings me here. I believe prayer is powerful. And I believe when 2 or more Children of God come together to pray about something, miracles happen. So I am asking that you join me as I cry out to Elohim Shomri, God my protector, to show His presence in the land of Ukraine and in the heart of Russia. To bring peace and safety to those fleeing for their lives as well as a compassionate heart for those sending missiles into an innocent land.

If you would, leave your prayers for Ukraine and Russia in the comments on here or my Instagram. Let the world see how followers of Christ fight our battles and how our God brings justice to conflicting lands.