Christians pray as Britain heads to the polls

Christians are praying for the nation as hundreds of thousands forged their vote within the UK general elections today.

Hundreds gathered in London and Edinburgh on Wednesday evening for Christian Concern’s election prayer rallies a day before polling stations opened. 

The Church of England and other Churches have issued special prayers for the occasion. 

The Joint Public Issues Team, a partnership between the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church, has issued special prayers for the election and the times following:

Election Day Prayer

God of all power, on this election day be with us as we love, pray and vote. We pray for our country, for voters, for candidates and their teams, for election officials, and for a secure, free and fair process.

We pray that selections can be made with wisdom and actions can be guided by love. And as Jesus taught us, we pray that your kingdom will come and your can be done on earth as in heaven.

Amen

Post-Election Day Prayer

God of all nations,

We lift as much as you our newly elected leaders and government officials. Grant them wisdom, integrity, and a spirit of service as they undertake their duties. May they be guided by a commitment to the common good, justice, and the welfare of all residents.

May they govern with compassion, humility, and a deep sense of responsibility towards probably the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen

The general election takes place at a time of deep divisions over how the country needs to be run, from the economy and climate policy, to Brexit, gender identity, and assisted suicide. 

Polling by Christian charity CARE within the run-up to election day found that the majority UK voters (76%) see the moral character of candidates as a “major consider their suitability for political office”.

Ross Hendry, CEO of CARE, commented: “People rightly expect their politicians to model integrity, accountability, and moral decency. When politicians achieve this, this leads to raised outcomes, and aids societal flourishing

“The opposite can be true, and the assorted scandals of recent years have shown the dire consequences of politicians failing to live as much as the high standards expected of them.”

He added: “Christianity has shaped our society in profound ways over the centuries and provides the moral basis for our democratic lifestyle, justice system, and welfare state.

“We consider that upholding Christian values is vitally necessary if we’re to grasp a just and compassionate society in years to come back, and we can be making the case to MPs.”

Care Not Killing, a coalition against the legalisation of assisted suicide, has expressed concerns that Thursday’s results “could usher in devastating legal changes in Britain”.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has promised to support laws to legalise assisted suicide if he becomes Britain’s next Prime Minister. 

Care Not Killing said that legalisation of assisted suicide in England would “strengthen the hand” of MSPs supporting an analogous change in Scotland with Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminall Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill. 

“Proposals for medically assisted killing laws are also advancing in Jersey and the Isle of Man and either one could trigger a domino effect at Westminster,” it said. 

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) echoed these concerns because it urged people to vote pro-life.

“As you already know, the specter of abortion being decriminalised was narrowly averted within the last Parliament but is nearly certain to return in the brand new one,” said Alithea Williams, SPUC’s Public Policy Manager.

“We also expect an enormous push to legalise assisted suicide. It is due to this fact vital that pro-life people use their vote to elect pro-life MPs.”