RECENT days have seen outraged responses to US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s Christian invocations of divine purpose in order to, in his critics words ‘justify military might’, as he joined in prayer at the Pentagon for his troops about to be deployed to the Middle East.
It is hard to doubt the sincerity of his Christian belief that this is a war against evil. Nor to doubt that he wanted to call on God’s aid. He is hardly the first Western leader to have invoked the Almighty in a time of war. During the Second World War, Winston Churchill frequently invoked God, Divine Providence and Christian civilisation to bolster national morale, to justify the Allied cause and rally the British people against Nazi Germany. Margaret Thatcher also used religious framing, including references to God and moral righteousness while dispatching troops to the Falklands in 1982. Like Hegseth she viewed that conflict as a defence of freedom against tyranny quoting on one occasion from Ephesians 6, ‘Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil‘. She framed the Falklands War as a battle of good versus evil as well as a defence of democratic principles. Yet today Hegseth stands accused of the upending wartime norms by invoking Christianity or, as seen from another perspective, refusing to bow to modern secular orthodoxies.
In all this sound and fury, prayers for the troops themselves who make up the biggest deployment to Middle East since 2003 seem to have been forgotten.
Is anyone here praying for them I wondered – for their safety and success? Whatever anyone thinks of Hegseth and Trump – however necessary or advised they think this war is or isn’t – surely these troops deserve our prayers? It is they, not the armchair commentators, who risk their lives fighting an indisputably evil regime and many believ as i do, it is for us. Once more these ordinary men and women put their lives at risk out of the duty that being a member of the armed services necessarily involves. That includes the British soldiers, sailors and airmen.Regardless of Keir Starmer saying ‘This is not our war’ they have been deployed in defence of British interests. No one, surely, can wish failure on any of them?
So here are two prayers for all of them: the and first from the Book of Common Prayer and the second a specially composed and powerful prayer by Bishop Ceirion Dewar for this moment in time – adapted by him from liturgical references and assorted prayers.
In the Time of War and Tumults,from the Book of Common Prayer (1662)
O Almighty God, King of all kings, and Governor of all things, whose power no creature is able to resist, to whom it belongeth justly to punish sinners, and to be merciful to them that truly repent: Save and deliver us, we humbly beseech thee, from the hands of our enemies; abate their pride, asswage their malice, and confound their devices; that we, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore from all perils, to glorify thee, who art the only giver of all victory; through the merits of thy only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(The ‘us’ refers to the English but can reasonably extended to our allies.)
A Prayer for Those Deployed in the Iran Conflict
O MOST high and everlasting God,
Lord of Hosts, King of Kings, and Prince of Peace,
who rulest in the armies of heaven and among the nations of the earth,
and before whose throne the tumult of war is but a whisper and the pride of man but dust,
we bow before Thy divine majesty in this hour of trial and unrest.
For behold, O Lord, the nations are stirred,
the earth trembleth under the weight of uncertainty,
and the shadow of conflict hath fallen once more upon the sons and daughters of men.
In these days, when powers contend and the drums of war are heard in distant lands,
we remember before Thee those who have been called forth to stand in the breach,
to bear the burden of duty, and to walk into the valley where peace is fragile and danger is near.
Stretch forth, we beseech Thee, Thy mighty hand
over all troops now deployed in this present conflict.
Whether upon the seas, in the air, or upon the land,
whether in watchfulness or in the heat of engagement,
be Thou their shield and their exceeding great reward.
O Lord, who art a refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble,
compass them about with Thy protection.
Let Thy holy angels encamp round about them;
let no weapon formed against them prosper;
let the snare of the enemy be broken,
and their souls preserved in safety.
Grant unto them courage that is not born of fearlessness,
but of steadfast trust in Thy providence.
Give them discipline in the hour of confusion,
clarity in the midst of chaos,
and restraint where passion would otherwise rule.
O God of wisdom,
guide their leaders and commanders with a discerning spirit.
Let not rashness prevail, nor pride dictate the course of action,
but grant unto those entrusted with authority
the humility to seek justice,
the wisdom to pursue peace,
and the clarity to know the difference between necessity and excess.
In a conflict where the stakes are grave
and the consequences far-reaching,
we pray for a swift resolution, O Lord.
Shorten the days of strife;
stay the hand of destruction;
bring to nothing the counsels of violence.
Where hatred hath been sown, let reconciliation be planted.
Where vengeance burneth, let mercy arise.
And where the path of war seemeth inevitable,
make Thou a way for peace.
We remember also, O Lord,
those who remain behind,
whose vigil is not on the battlefield but in the quiet anguish of waiting.
The wives and husbands,
the children who look to the door,
the parents whose prayers ascend without ceasing,
the friends whose hearts are bound to those far away.
Comfort them with Thy presence.
Be their peace in the night watches,
their assurance in the silence,
and their strength when fear would take hold.
Let them know that though distance separates,
yet Thy Spirit binds together those who are held in Thy love.
Grant unto them patience, O Lord,
and preserve them from despair.
Let letters, words, and moments of contact be as balm to the soul,
and let hope be renewed with each passing day.
And we pray, O righteous Judge of all the earth,
that even in the midst of conflict,
Thy justice would not be forgotten.
Restrain the hand of cruelty;
protect the innocent;
and let those who bear arms remember that they are accountable unto Thee.
Keep far from them all needless violence and every act that would stain the conscience,
and grant that, when their duty is done,
they may return not only in body, but in spirit unbroken and whole.
O Christ, Thou Captain of our salvation,
who didst walk the path of suffering and didst overcome the world,
be near to every soldier in their loneliness,
in their fear, and in their weariness.
Speak peace to their hearts in the midst of unrest,
and remind them that no darkness can overcome Thy light.
Let Thy cross stand before them
as the sign not of conquest, but of sacrifice;
not of domination, but of redemption;
not of death, but of life everlasting.
And finally, O Lord,
bring us, as nations and as peoples,
to a better mind.
Teach us to beat our swords into ploughshares
and our spears into pruning hooks.
Turn the hearts of rulers and peoples alike
from the path of destruction to the way of peace.
For Thou hast not made us for war,
but for communion;
not for hatred, but for love;
not for the ruin of one another,
but for the building up of Thy Kingdom.
Hear us, O merciful Father,
for the sake of Thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ,
to whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost,
be all honour and glory, dominion and power,
world without end.
Amen.
