MEMORIES will still be fresh of the General Election earlier in the summer.

I like elections, in fact I am passionate about elections. I spent a lot of time, many years in fact, studying government and elections. I became an election nerd.

On election night, I had computers going, phones and newspapers spread all around the TV, talking to friends and the odd political analyst.

As always, I was looking for swings and rogue results and seeing where the trends take us. For others, this will be as dull as dishwater, but each to their own.

We know the result now and we are still waiting to see what all the election fallout means.

But what are we to make of the new set of politicians who make up the Parliament in Westminster? There are a lot of them, in North Ayrshire and across the country.

I met recently with fellow clergy online for Morning Prayer. We do this once a week and it is great to share what is going on and to pray for each other.

One of the Bible readings we had was from 1 Timothy Chapter 1. Not a bit of the Bible that everyone would be familiar with, I would say. But in it, we are told that ‘supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high position, so that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and dignity'.

That’s quite an ask in an age of abundant cynicism. But why not?

When we pray we are putting the needs and concerns of others before God. Don’t politicians need that as much as anybody?

Another aspect of prayer is that it looks beyond the here and now. Politicians look at short term solutions for long term problems because we as voters are impatient and can be pretty uncharitable.

Prayer looks to eternity and God’s kingdom. How different would it be if we began to look at the world in that way?