If there’s one need as urgent in the world today as it’s ever been it must surely be for peace. No sooner does one conflict cease, it seems, than another starts, division appearing endemic to humankind. We can despair sometimes of things ever changing, just as the author of today’s prayer would have done had he known that three years after his death would see the start of the so-called Great War (1914–18). Why does God allow war and hatred to continue? There are no easy answers to that, but one thing is for certain: without his transforming touch there’s no hope of lasting harmony between nations. Join then now with the one-time Bishop of Oxford, Francis Paget (1851–1911), in expressing a heartfelt longing for peace.
Almighty God,
from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed:
kindle, we pray you, in the hearts of all people
the true love of peace;
and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom
those who take counsel for the nations of the earth;
that in tranquillity your kingdom may go forward,
till the earth be filled with the knowledge of your love,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(taken from my book A Calendar of Classic Prayer)