Unanswered Prayers in Ukraine

As we in Ukraine endure our fourth winter of full-scale war, our prayers seem to vanish into the void. Each massive shelling prompts fresh appeals, and each casualty report sparks new pleas, yet missiles continue falling, and the death toll mounts.

We’re doing the same thing as the ancient psalmists – questioning God’s silence and wrestling with the hard questions. What do you do with your faith when prayers for a just peace seem to go nowhere? How do you make sense of God’s ways when you’ve been crying out for protection for four years and it feels like he’s not listening? How do you take those unanswered prayers and let them build your faith instead of destroying it?

Photograph by Mykhailo Palinchak / Alamy Stock.

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream” (Matt. 1:20).

The Christmas story reveals a pattern of seemingly rejected prayers, perhaps hiding deeper divine purposes. Joseph, a righteous man, must have prayed for what any devout Jewish man would desire: a normal family life, an orderly marriage, and children born without scandal. Instead, divine disruption shattered every expectation – his fiancée’s unexpected pregnancy, his wedding plans dissolving into confusion, his dreams of quiet family life transformed into a midnight flight from a genocidal king.

He may have prayed for a normal life, but God stayed silent. Yet, somehow, that silence was holding the whole story of salvation.

Mary’s experience mirrors this pattern with its own profound meaning. As a young woman anticipating her first child, she must have yearned for conventional motherhood – community support, family celebration, peaceful preparation for birth in familiar surroundings. Instead, divine purposes led her through social suspicion, dangerous late-pregnancy travel, and delivery in a stranger’s stable. Her prayers for normalcy seemed ignored, yet that very abnormality brought God into human flesh.

The shepherds’ unanswered prayers carry similar depth, as they almost certainly joined Israel’s pleas for deliverance from Roman occupation, for better lives beyond poverty, and for the promised Messiah’s powerful appearance. They received instead a sign of ultimate vulnerability – a baby in a feeding trough. Their prayers for political and military liberation met silence, yet that silence revealed God’s solidarity with the oppressed in ways no triumphant messiah could demonstrate.

Even the journey of the magi, Eastern scholars, reflects this pattern. They likely prayed for a straightforward direction to the newborn king following divine guidance. Instead, they navigated political intrigue, received a warning dream, and had to return home by a secret route. Their prayers for clarity seemed denied, yet that complexity protected the Christ Child from Herod’s rage.

Today, this pattern echoes painfully in Ukraine’s reality. Parents pray while missiles target schools, defenders seek victory as battles grind into stalemate, families await reunion while occupation extends, chaplains plead for peace amid escalating war, and volunteers request resources as needs multiply. The wounded seek healing while trauma deepens, the bereaved cry for comfort as losses mount. And I could continue this list of our unanswered prayers.

Yet the Christmas story suggests these unanswered prayers might serve purposes we cannot yet see; Joseph’s disruption became salvation’s channel, Mary’s scandal carried redemption, the shepherds’ continued oppression witnessed divine solidarity, the magi’s complicated journey protected Providence’s plan. Perhaps when peace seems denied, resilience grows? Perhaps when protection appears withheld, the community of hope is strengthened? Perhaps when healing is delayed, deeper wounds can be treated? Maybe, but I am not sure – I want to believe. Jesus, help my unbelief. 

Perhaps unanswered prayers aren’t divine rejection but sacred invitations  – calling us beyond simple prosperity into deeper partnership with God’s mysterious purposes? Jesus, how do we discover that your silence often cradles your most profound responses in the long nights of our souls and seemingly unheard prayers for peace?

Prince of Peace, your silence often shapes us more than your answers, grant us faith to trust your wisdom in our unanswered prayers. When peace seems distant and protection so elusive, help us recognize your hidden work. Transform our questioning into questing, our disappointment into deeper trust. Give us Joseph’s faithful persistence, Mary’s courageous acceptance, the shepherds’ hopeful watching, and the magi’s determined seeking. We pray in the precious name of Jesus Christ, Lord of silence and unanswered prayers. Amen