Anna Townsend admits that Pete Greig’s warning to Christians to ‘prepare for war’ left her feeling frightened. But as she reflects on what her husband is seeing through his work with NATO, she believes the Church should respond not with panic, but with prayer.
It’s not often I feel too scared to read an article, but when an email landed in my inbox from Premier with the headline that Pete Greig was calling people to ‘prepare for war’, I felt queasy. Maybe you feel the same reading this, and I am sorry if you haven’t seen it yet. I don’t want to be the harbinger of gloom, but in my opinion, it’s vital reading right now.
A few days after reading the article, and frankly trying to put it out of my mind, a friend asked if I had listened to the original recording, as she wanted to speak with me about it. Once again, I fearfully clicked a link to recordings from the recent Wildfires festival and listened to Pete Greig’s words. You can find them here,
Essentially, Pete Greig’s message is that Christians need to take the geopolitical situation seriously and ‘prepare for war’
Essentially, Pete Greig’s message is that Christians need to take the geopolitical situation seriously and ‘prepare for war’, whether that be spiritually, physically or mentally. He describes how he heard the message ‘prepare for war’ at a prayer meeting in March and how others quickly confirmed the prophecy, both through other words from God and from their real-life experiences working for the UK government. It’s a sobering message, and as an Army wife, it feels incredibly frightening. However, I also feel a sense of relief that the Church is beginning to acknowledge what I see my husband dealing with through his work at a NATO headquarters.
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We’re living in the UK right now, but we previously lived in Belgium at SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe – NATO’s military HQ). About 18 months ago, NATO was beginning to look shaky as the war in Ukraine waged on and President Trump seemed uninterested in the alliance. I organised two prayer walks around the NATO base and prepared some materials to inspire prayer. There was a good turnout. Now that I live next to another NATO headquarters, I hope to do something similar here in response to Pete Greig’s prophecy. I’d really appreciate your prayers for my husband and the soldiers he is responsible for, as well as the wider headquarters he is part of. There will no doubt be military spouses, parents, siblings and children in your local church who would also value your prayers at this time.
Amid all this worrying news and troubling warnings, I am reminded of words I authored almost a decade ago; I wrote a series of pieces about the Oxymoronic God. One entry is entitled Prince of Peace.
Amid all this worrying news and troubling warnings, I am reminded of words I authored almost a decade ago; I wrote a series of pieces about the Oxymoronic God. One entry is entitled Prince of Peace. This name is an oxymoron because, for most of history, princes have been warriors and fighters who lead others into battle. The title Prince has been synonymous with a military general, fighter or hero; it is not normally associated with peace, which is why it is so extraordinary that Jesus is described as the Prince of Peace.
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As I process the implications of Pete Greig’s (and others’) warning to prepare for war, it is comforting to remember that we follow the Prince of Peace. Jesus sees every evil act and doesn’t passively ignore them. He fights for justice, and we know that he has the ultimate victory.
In our messed-up world, peace can seem like a distant dream, but like Jesus, we too are not called to be passive. Now is the time to intercede, asking God to help us prepare for whatever comes next and for peace to come. We know nefarious powers seek to harm us, but our God is mightier. I wrote a previous book about the persecution of Christian women in Pakistan (previously reviewed in these pages [link]), which opened my eyes to the reality of evil. Yet I have also seen the miraculous changes intercession can bring when Christians call out to God and allow Him to use them.
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There is a reasonable chance this article has made you anxious, and I am sorry for that. I am sharing it very reluctantly, but it also feels necessary. Please let me know if I can help you both prepare for war and pray for peace. If you would like to receive the materials I plan to put together to help local prayer walkers pray for NATO, please get in touch with me. You could use them to pray for military bases and government offices in your area.
Finally, if you haven’t read Rees Howells Intercessor by Norman Grubb, you must; every page is an inspiration, and the book ends with details of how Rees Howells fasted and prayed for significant events in WW2, such as Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain. The book is also recommended several times in Pete Greig’s talk as an example of how to intercede for global events.
As Christians, we have a crucial role to play at this pivotal time; we are children of promise and hope. Let’s pray for our leaders, nations and alliances, that peace and justice would prevail, but if preparation is necessary, we would calmly rise to the challenge and help others to do so too.
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