Rev Simon Cash at Dewsbury Minster shares a prayer for peace in Ukraine

Her husband has stayed behind and she has left behind family and friends also.

When asked how she was feeling, she said that she could not answer that particular question without first asking where are her husband, family and friends.

This lady and her daughter have found relative peace in Germany, but for so many more the prospect of peace in the Ukraine could not be further from the truth.

The threat from Russian tanks, aircraft and troops must be so terrifying.

Russia says that it is not targeting civilians but from what I have seen on news reports this does not appear to be the case.

Even from within Russia there appears to be a strong anti-war feeling, but Vladimir Putin and his bullies do not appear to be listening and seem intent on taking the country of Ukraine by force.

The rest of the world has also spoken out in condemnation of Putin’s actions, including many of us in this country.

But we feel so far away, so what can we do?

As Christians and people of other faiths, we can pray.

We can pray, along with the Ukrainian people, that the forces of evil being perpetrated by the Russian elite will not prevail against those who seek peace.

As a Christian I am reminded of Jesus’ words in his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Our hope must be that those who seek to live in peace will indeed be blessed.

If you are like me, you are perhaps feeling pretty helpless about how we can help the Ukrainian people, yet I know there will be opportunities to make contributions to help the people displaced from the Ukraine practically speaking.

Short of that then our prayers are important.

And if you are wondering what to pray, then you can always take inspiration from the Psalms in the Bible.

Many of the Psalms are addressed to God in times of persecution, hardship and uncertainty. You might like to try Psalms 31, 35, 40, 42, 43 and 44 as a starting point.

The bottom line is that there is no place in our world for war and violence.

Let us therefore pray that God will protect the people of the Ukraine whose only longing at the moment is to live in peace.