In a surprise announcement at the European missionary conference on Tuesday evening, evangelist Franklin Graham revealed that he had met with Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelenki earlier that day to pray for peace during the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war, urging his representatives to interject and join him for the end of the conflict.
Graham took the stage to share the news of the conference and led his representatives during prayer for the end of the war. The parliament, hosted by his Billy Graham’s Missionary Society, has gathered in Berlin this week to focus on the mission of the Declaration, bringing together 1,000 evangelical leaders from 56 countries.
“I thought I would say just one word about Europe,” Graham told the delegation. “We will see war again on this continent, and I had the opportunity to be President Putin in the past meetings (Russia).
“Now when I told him that, he listened very politely, but perhaps it was the first time he’d understood. He thought this was probably the craziest thing I’d heard. I don’t know.”
Graham revealed that BGEA had written about the war to both Zelensky and Putin, encouraging prayers for peace.
“Today I had the privilege of meeting President Zelensky,” Graham said. “And I prayed to him that God would give them wisdom and that God would give them the way to peace.”
The “complications” in Ukraine and Russia were deemed “very difficult” by Graham. Graham pointed out that “only God can solve this.” He then called on his representatives to pray loudly about the situation.
“I think the most important thing we can do for the next few minutes is praying for Ukraine, praying for the Russian leader, President Trump in my country (our) and praying, God praying for God to move forward.
“When God leads us, we pray loudly for our leaders with a heavy heart, given the war battles and the people killed, the wounded families lost their loved ones.”
Representatives of the Berlin Congress then spoke for a few minutes to end the war. Graham closed his announcement and prayer call in his own closing prayer.
“Father, we pray for President Putin tonight,” he prayed. “And Father, we pray that you will give him wisdom, that you will work in his heart, and that he will have peace.
“And Father, we pray for President Zelensky that you will work in his heart, and that your desire for peace will also lie within his heart.
“And Father, we pray that you will give them a way, a path that will allow them to move forward.
“Father, we believe you are the only one who can do this.
“We pray for President Trump, give him wisdom on what to do, what to say and how he can use his office to bring or help bring peace to this part of the world.
“So Father, this cannot happen without you. We must take your help. You lead and lead directly. You can open the door, you can close the door.
“So God, we thank you, and we praise you. So tonight, Father, we will glorify you. And we pray all this in the name of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
The announcement of the Graham Conference Zelensky follows a press conference yesterday (May 27) with the Christian Daily International Post asking evangelists if there is a message of encouragement for European evangelicals affected by the war in Ukraine, and ordering the continental fear and government to prepare food.
“Prayer is the most important thing we can do,” replied at the time Franklin Graham. “It’s praying that President Putin, President Zelensky and the leaders of both countries will work in their minds to find a solution to this war.
“Thousands of people have been killed. No one actually knows the numbers, but we know it’s scary. And it needs to be prayed for them, but we need to pray for President Trump, who is trying to help it and mediate it.
“And pray that God somehow touches these people’s hearts and brings them to the point of reconciliation. And at least where the murders stop, they can negotiate rather than try to blow up each other. That’s what I encourage the church.”
