Peace on Earth – Praying for North & South KoreaCarla Harding - 26 Nov 2010

As I type this blog, a beautiful Christmas tree is filling the bay window of my living room.  Yes – it may be November but the Hardings have launched into the festive season with gusto.  This week we have celebrated our annual tradition of an early Christmas with friends.  Twinkly things decorate our home and the Christmas tunes are playing.  As I hum along to my favourite (O Holy Night) I ponder the words of the Angels in Luke 2…

“Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him”

Peace on earth… It’s a common prayer, hope or Hollywood dream around this time of year.  It seems to be in jarring contrast to the headlines in this week’s news reports.  As the world prepares for the beginning of advent, and the journey towards celebrating God made flesh, tension in rising between two old combatants.  

As many of you will probably have read North and South Korea have been in a tense stand off this week and may potentially be on the brink of war.  Four South Koreans lost their lives when an island was shelled on Tuesday, igniting many years of tension over the disputed western border between the two nations. As South Korea’s long planned war drills seem to be going ahead on Sunday the need for prayer seems evident…

How can we pray?

I have to confess when faced with such news I often feel ill equipped to pray more than ‘help!’.  With a burst of inspiration I turn to the words of Jesus and over the two nations I pray,

“Father, would your Kingdom come and would your will be done… What is your plan for these people?  How can your peace be achieved?” 

Then with gratitude I turn to people far smarter than me to lead me further in intercession.

The amazing team that put together Operation World, a prayer guide to every nation on earth, have made info and prayer points available online.  In situations like this, when I don’t have the book to hand, it’s helpful to be able to take a cyber stroll and inform my prayers.

Click on these links to see what Jason Mandryk and his team have to say about the nations of North Korea and South Korea and how we can flesh our prayers for their governments and their people.  If you feel stirred to pray with us for this situation then let's ask for wisdom for Kim Jong-il, the Supreme Leader of North Korea (it is suspected that he is currently in a leadership transition with his son Kim Jong-un) and President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea.  Let us pray that this recent burst of tension can have a peaceful resolution that avoids the loss of any more life.

Feel free to add your prayers in the comments below...