Prayer for the Day

by Revd Canon David White

6th July 2025 - 3rd Sunday after Trinity

O God, the King of righteousness,
lead us, we pray, in the ways of justice and of peace.
Inspire us to break down all oppression and wrong,
to gain for everyone their due reward,
and from everyone, their due service;
that each may live for all,
and all may care for each,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This is a prayer of William Temple (1881 – 1944). He was a philosopher, theologian, social activist and Archbishop of York and then Canterbury. His writing and his ideas were and still are influential in both church and society today. He had immense gifts, not least the ability to overcome barriers of class, Christian denomination and political allegiance. Arguably, his most famous publication was ‘Christianity and Social Order’ (1942) with its call for the provision of universal access to healthcare, education, decent housing and proper working conditions, which influenced William Beverage in the development of his ideas for a welfare state. William Temple’s vision of society in post-war Britain reflected the innate dignity of each person created in the image of God.

This prayer broadly reflects William Temple’s thinking and the vision he had. in it, God is invited to help us establish a society that is fair and just for all and it is as applicable, relevant and prescient for us in our time as it was in the 1940s.