Ruach Breath of Life Ruach Breath of Life

Dobru noc - A prayer for each Ukrainian child forcibly deported to Russia

As I listened this morning to this exquisite Czecho-Slovak folksong, I had a strong image of a mother, (along with another member of a Ukrainian family) singing an idyllic lullaby to their child in the warmth and security of their home.

Half way through, a great rupture happens, symbolising the Russian invasion – and the child, along with nearly twenty thousand others, is separated from their family and deported to Russia.

There in the pit of loss and despair, the child hears in his or her spirit the song of their mother reaching across the vast distance that now separates her from all she has known and loved – and from somewhere a voice comes, bidding the child not to give in to despair but to trust and hope: reassuring them that the Lord knows all about their plight, and promising that He has all eternity in which to make it up to them.

May the Lord use this much loved lullaby to stir our spirits to pray for those separated from homes and families - and for His Spirit to minister to those thus forcibly kept apart.

Dobru noc, ma mila, dobru noc;
Necht' ti je sam Pan Buh na pomoc.
Dobru noc, dobre spi; Necht' se ti snivaju sladke sny.
Dobru noc, dobre spi; Necht' se ti snivaju sladke sny.
Dobru noc, ma mila dobru noc. Necht' ti je sam Pan Buh na pomoc.
Dobru noc, dobre spi; Necht' se ti snivaju o mne sny.
Dobru noc, dobre spi; Necht' se ti snivaju o mne sny, o mne sny.

Sleep, dear one, sleep, fair one, all this night;
God hold you, God keep you, in His might.
Now, good night, joy to thee. May slumber bring visions fair to see.
Now, good night, joy to thee,
May slumber bring visions fair to see.
Sleep, dear one, sleep, fair one, all this night.
God hold you, God keep you, in His might.
Now, good night, joy to thee.
May slumber bring visions all of me.
Now good night, peace to thee.
May slumber bring visions all of Me, all of Me.

This brief interlude of prayer and worship in the Spirit was recorded at the start of our 1998 conference in Malvern, ‘Symphony of Worship.’ May the Lord use it again now to still and prepare our hearts to soak in His presence afresh.

In the fourth chapter of Job, we see that a man of God who was going through hard times, hearing a whisper from a spirit telling him that he could not possibly hope to be right with God.

How sickly subtle are the silent whispers that drip from the Accuser’s tongue.
Staunch and strong must be our defence to lift the shield of faith and let the Word of life resound.

As we cry out to the LORD in our trouble,
and experience Your hand delivering us from our distress,
Still the storm to a whisper;
and hush the waves of the sea
and let all grow calm again,
as You guide us to the longed-for haven. (Ps 107:28-30)

O Lord, we long for You.
Be our strength every morning, our salvation in times of pressure and distress. (Isaiah 33:2)
Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for You;
Your name and Your renown are the desire of our hearts;
our souls yearn for You during the long night hours;
in the morning our spirit longs for You.

All that we have accomplished is the result of what You have done for us, Lord,
and Your name alone do we honour.
You have gained glory for Yourself by extending Your mercy to us, for when our hearts finally awake to our true distress and we recognise how far it is all being well with our soul, and that all our strenuous efforts to impress and succeed have been no more than giving birth to wind.

Give us the courage not to turn away or to drown our sorrows in some other way, but to whisper a prayer to the One who is ever ready to intervene and save.
For this fresh touch we pray, o great restoring God.

You whose dew is like the dew of the morning and whose Spirit gives the sure and certain promise that You will raise from the dead all who look to You.

Will You not keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in You, the One true and living God?

Will You not dwell with those whose hearts are humble and contrite, and who mourn over their sins,

And now, what else have we to do but to seek Your face, O Lord who seeks to save the lost? (Luke 19:10)

And now, what else should we fill our hearts with in eager anticipation for Your coming but with instant prayer for those whose hearts are not yet prepared to come face to face with You, or to be ready for the great and glorious days that lie beyond?

As storms of all kinds rage across the world, and we pray for the Lord to bring His deliverance near to many in great need of it, let's take deeply to heart these words. They are primarily taken from the prophet Isaiah and the Revelation that brings the New Testament to its climax.

We exalt and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done such wondrous things, things planned long, which humble our pride but serve to make ready a people prepared for You.

Therefore strong peoples will honour You;
and cities of ruthless nations will revere You,
for You have been a refuge for the poor, and a refuge for the needy;

You will be a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.
The breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall,
but You still silence the uproar of the nations
and the war chants of the ruthless.

We grieve for the many who will not turn to You, or receive Your gracious offer, foolishly preferring the broad and easy way, despite it leading only to destruction through the gates of hell. For straight is the gate that leads to life, and hard and difficult the narrow way You summon us to walk along.

The proud and self-sufficient, who refuse Your offer of an eternal inheritance, will have no place at Your banqueting table, nor any part in the final victory of Your Kingdom of Light. (Matt. 7:13-14; Col. 1:12)

For it will be on Your mountain LORD Almighty that You will prepare for all a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine, with the best of meats and the finest of wines; and on this mountain that You will sovereignly destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, and swallow up death forever. (1 Cor. 15:54)

You will walk round about us and wipe away the tears
from every person’s face; (Rev. 7:17; 21:4) and especially from those who have suffered most,
as You take away the shame and insults Your people have endured.

In that day we will say, “Surely this is our God;
we trusted in You, and You saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in You,
We will rejoice and be glad in Your salvation. (From Isaiah 25)

Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Rev. 20:6)

Restore broken hearts

How right Job was when he said that those at ease have contempt for misfortune. Lord, we acknowledge our lack of compassion before you for those in need.

And we pray to share more of Your heart, a Restorer of broken walls. You desire that our heart should be like well-watered gardens, springs whose waters never fail, but there is stuff that You need to do in our heart, Lord, to make it possible for us to share Yours.

We remember how a hand touched Daniel and raised him up, causing him to stand, catching and strengthening him and all that came from that. We remember how You stretched out your hand and touched Jeremiah's mouth. And how you laid your right hand on John at the start of the Revelation.
Jesus, friend of sinners and Re-mender of broken hearts, we pray today for those who are lonely and sinned, and who receive but little outside support and stimulus, and few if any visit. Jesus be the Visitor.

Visit those whose relationships have broken asunder and whose hearts are raw, and whose prospects are bleak. Release the grief in their hearts, the tension in their muscles, the blockages in their hearts and minds, and draw as many as will let You do so fully under the shadow of your wing.

Lay Your hand afresh on us now, Lord. Even as Jehoshaphat brought many people back to the Lord, we're asking you to restore those who've wandered from the truth, because it's Your word that restores the soul. And we pray that we may play our part by praying for You to restore those who are far from your presence.

Your goodness and compassion never falter nor fail, so come by whatever guise You choose to adopt and bring the reality of Your goodness close to lonely souls this day.

For these weary hearts, Lord, we pray, where the slightest thing requires a great effort. Draw people with cords of kindness.

Their hearts are clashing, Lord, and out of alignment. So be a Shelter from the wind, a Refuge from the storm, a Stream of Water in the desert, and the Shade of a great Rock in a thirsty land. Oh Lord, open the eyes of those who are blind. Open the ears of those who aren't used to listening to things that actually matter most for life and eternity.

Part the veils of deception. Put to flight the fears and the reluctance that hold You at bay, so that they can be all that You would have them be, and noble plans may be embraced and noble deeds be performed.

Restore the confused to their rightful minds and the wasteful to the fear of the Lord. Let them recall moments when Your Presence has passed close by, or those times when they caught the whisper of a voice from heaven speaking truth to their inmost being.

May they pay close attention to that light that shone in a dark place, so that in your great mercy they may embrace the new birth You are offering them, and receive the living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

May the morning star rise in their hearts, we pray.

Enlarge our hearts Lord

Arise, O God, on behalf of the afflicted. In the morning hear our voice as we call to you, as we lay our requests before you and wait expectantly.
By Your great love we come into Your House, bow down in reverence towards Your holy temple, and ask You to arise and administer this mighty life -changing power right into the heart of the situations that we bring You now.

By Your great mercy Lord, most of us have not woken up this day to face direct physical threats to our homes and families. You have done so much to bring us to the place we are now in and to make all this possible. We worship and adore You and thank you Lord that you have not left us to labour or to journey on our own but have bound us to each other in the bundle of the living to share the precious life that You have given us.

Enlarge our hearts now Lord, to more nearly resemble Yours so that we can pray in the power of Your Spirit. Balance the flow in our hearts of how we divide our time, between time spent worshiping You and about our own pursuits, so that we can bring the needs of those who are really hurting to You, and share your concern for them.

We lift to You those who have not enjoyed the benefit of a good night's sleep, who are unspeakably weary, hungry and thirsty, displaced from home and families and all that makes for happiness and sound minds.

We bring you the wounded, sick and shocked, who lack the basics of life and the fundamentals of life in Christ to sustain them. Deliver them from delusions and from putting other things before you.

We pray for those who feel at the very end of their tether, who are seriously overstretched, overworked and under-resourced. Lead them, Lord, in your righteousness. Spread your canopy of protection over them. Arise, Lord, deliver them. Release grace from day to day.