I grew up in the 1980s, when the Cold War between the USA and Russia was still in full swing. Missiles were pointed at major cities, rhetoric was exchanged and scare stories were spread. As a result popular culture regularly played with the idea of a Third World War and a resulting nuclear apocalypse; films like WarGames, The Day After and When the Wind Blows appeared often, reinforcing the idea that at any moment, it might all end in an exchange of ICBMs.

It was an alarming context for one's formative years, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who used to fear looking out on the horizon at night to see the mushroom cloud that signalled the end of everything I knew and loved.

In the '90s and after (Terminator 2 notwithstanding), things calmed down a bit. The idea that WW3 might legitimately only be a few days away passed out of our collective subconscious. We began to trust 'peacetime' again. And while the world has seen plenty of conflicts since, the idea that the people in control of nations were both armed with the relevant weapons, and mad enough to actually use them, has seen fears of impending nuclear war almost entirely subside.

Until now. The situation in North Korea – committed to developing a nuclear 'deterrent' and with an unstable leader – has suddenly shifted us back into an era of global threat. The key problems: that he remains committed to publicly demonstrating his progress in the arms race, and that he's now faced with an American president who appears to be almost as unstable as he is. The way that these two men have traded rhetoric over the past two weeks is not only deeply concerning – and phenomenally immature – but it risks turning further nations against one another. North Korea is allied to China, which in turn is allied to Russia. When calm and diplomacy were needed, the unthinkable perfect storm needed to actually legitimise nuclear conflict is starting to take shape.

There's no value in saying 'I told you so', but this situation is exactly what many of us outside the US feared might happen when Donald Trump began to gain momentum in his US presidential bid. In March last year, in an article on this site entitled 'Dear America: The joke's no longer funny. We think you might actually elect Donald Trump. And we're terrified', I suggested:

'The US relationship with superpowers Russia and China could become destabilised and quickly tumble into crisis. There will almost certainly be more wars. And do you really want to put the nuclear button into Donald Trump's hands? Because if he decides he needs to find the ultimate way to "get tough" then that only ends one way.'

At the time I was derided by American readers for ludicrous extrapolation. Shockingly, it's taken barely half a year of a Trump presidency for that horrible prediction to begin to look accurate. And while we're rightly occupied by many concerning issues around the globe – and in the US – right now, I fear there is no more important place for the world's focus than the brewing conflict between the US and North Korea. There is now a possible version of events which actually ends with the unthinkable becoming real. We cannot just stand passively by.

When Jesus' disciples asked him about the end of this present world, he told them (and us): 'You will hear of wars and rumours of wars... (Matthew 24:6a).' I'd argue that we're very much in a 'rumours of wars' moment; the daily fear that Trump might actually launch a pre-emptive and world-destabilising strike is dominating thought and commentary. Yet what Jesus says next is tough to process: '...but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen but the end is still to come' (verse 6b). Jesus is clear that the end of the world is not in human hands, but in the hands of the father – the only person in the universe who knows the final day and hour of earth 1.0 is the Father himself (even Jesus doesn't know it, according to verse 36). His most difficult command though, is not to be alarmed; not to fear even when the daily news might understandably provoke such a reaction.

Yet our job as Christians is not simply to stand by passively and watch to see if this is going to be a war or merely a rumour. It is extraordinary to me that we have not already seen a huge movement of prayer about the brewing situation, but that is surely what we need. If a single nuclear missile is fired – even if it is only one – not only will millions die, but the planet will be severely wounded as a result. If two detonate, we'll see environmental impact beyond our imagination. And if the unthinkable chain reaction begins, we'll reduce humanity to rubble and darkness – but if my reading of Jesus' words are correct – we still won't see his return; he'll come in the father's timing, not ours. The twisted idea that a nuclear war might hasten Christ's return is unbiblical and mad.

We should all be on our knees about this situation. There should be national days of prayer; a global day of prayer. This should be at the top of every church's prayer list; brought before our God who can and does intervene, by every single one of us. Perhaps we've been worn down by the relentlessness of the global news cycle, but this is not just another news story. If we're fearful, we should pray. If we love the world as we know it, we should pray. If we care about innocent people, we must pray. Throughout Scripture, God listens to the cry of his people and answers – this is surely another moment where his people must cry out.

There's something else though – and forgive me if you've heard this one before. The way that Donald Trump has used Twitter – a crass social media platform – to attack another nation and raise the temperature of a bubbling conflict is the greatest proof yet that he is not fit for office, and does not earn the right to be supported by followers of the Prince of Peace. This isn't about right or left, Republican or Democrat - this man cannot serve as President of the United States; he is simply too unstable, too immature, and utterly ill-equipped for his role. Those Christians who have 'held their noses' thus far must finally now admit their mistake. His very continuance in the role is placing us all at the gravest risk, and we cannot allow him to add mass-murderer to his ever-expanding list of flaws. If you enjoy the life you live, it's time to begin vocally denouncing the President's actions, and to pray that another leader – an actual statesman or woman with greatness in their bones – will emerge to take this man's place.

There was a joke doing the rounds on social media in the middle of last year that whoever was elected President from the final few candidates would be a 'first', except one. Hilary Clinton would have been the first woman President, Ted Cruz would have been the first Canadian to take the office; Marco Rubio the first Hispanic POTUS; Bernie Sanders the first Jewish president. The punchline was that if Donald Trump was elected, he'd be the last president of the United States. As I might have suggested before, the joke's no longer funny. It's time for Christians in the US to wake up; it's time for Christians all around the world to pray like we've never prayed before.

Martin Saunders is a Contributing Editor for Christian Today and the Deputy CEO of Youthscape. Follow him on Twitter @martinsaunders.