Last year, when the Russians started hammering Ukraine with wave after wave of missiles, my wife and others began praying very specifically – Lord, make their technology fail, make the chips to malfunction, the payloads must fail to detonate, make them duds. I know many other people all over the world were praying in a similar fashion.

This April, my friend David Weeter and I were on our way to a Pastor's retreat outside of Kyiv, Ukraine. Our driver, one of the leaders in the local Church, pulled his car over to the side of the street and pointed to the middle of the road. You could still see damage and debris in the road, something like a large pot hole, with upturned asphalt. That's where the missile landed, he told us, right in front of his vehicle while he was driving down the road, at the middle of an intersection with busy traffic... and it failed to explode. It was a dud. No one was harmed.

Some skeptics will read this and try to reason it away. It's a coincidence, they will say. Well, I find it interesting that in my life, the more I pray, the more coincidences I experience!

I believe prayer changes things. A missile landed in front of a man driving down the road, and he's alive today. Prayer is important! Your praying is important! Have you ever considered that many people, and many events, may actually depend on your praying?

Even Winston Churchill prayed to God for help when he escaped from captivity as a prisoner of war. He cowered in a ditch for fear and prayed. What world events turned on the answer to his prayer, and his miraculous deliverance?

What a horrible thought – what fails to happen if we fail to pray?

Take the worries and cares of life and present them to the Father, and ask Him to intervene. We can watch the news as intercessors, like watchmen on the walls of bygone castles. These events, and crises, and suffering can become a point of prayer –- take them and "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," (Hebrews 4:16).

Remember Philippians 4:6,7: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Thank you for praying. Thank you for taking your place.