With the help of the School Chaplain, Stephen King, the boys of Robert's House gave a presentation to The School in Chapel this morning (16/01/2026).

Roberts House Chapel Service: What We Can Learn from Lord Roberts’ Prayer.

Good morning. Today, we’d like to share something connected to the person our House is named after — Field Marshal Lord Roberts — and a prayer he wrote over 120 years ago.

Lord Roberts was a senior army commander during the South African War at the turn of the 20th century. He wrote this prayer for young soldiers — many of them teenagers like us — who were facing fear, uncertainty, and enormous pressure. Some of them had travelled further from home than they ever had before and were being asked to grow up very quickly.

We are not soldiers. Thankfully, our everyday challenges tend to involve prep deadlines, exams, team selections, friendship issues, and remembering the right books for the right lesson. But when you look closely at this prayer, it is about how to live well when life is demanding. That makes it relevant to us all.

Before we say more, we’re going to hear the prayer in full. Let us pray:

Almighty Father, I have often sinned against Thee.

Oh, wash me in the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God.

Fill me with Thy Holy Spirit that I may lead a new life.

Spare me to see again those whom I love at home, or fit me for Thy presence in peace.

Strengthen us to quit ourselves like men in our right and just cause.

Keep us faithful unto death, calm in danger, patient in suffering, merciful as well as brave;

true to our King, our Country, and our Colours.

If it be Thy will, enable us to win Victory for England;

but, above all, grant us the better Victory over temptation and sin,

over life and death, that we may be more than conquerors,

through Him who loved us and laid down His life for us,

Jesus our Saviour, the Captain of the Army of God.

Amen.

Being honest about ourselves. The prayer begins with a very direct line: “I have often sinned against Thee.”

That takes honesty and humility. Lord Roberts doesn’t begin by listing achievements or successes. He begins by admitting failure. For someone who was highly respected and very successful, that’s striking.

For us, it’s a reminder that maturity starts with honesty — about our behaviour, our choices, and our mistakes. We all get things wrong. We lose our temper, make excuses, blame others, or say things we wish we could rewind five seconds later. Owning that — rather than pretending otherwise — is how people grow. Demonstrating that kind of integrity makes others respect you.

Choosing to grow. The prayer then asks that the soldiers be filled to “lead a new life.” This isn’t about suddenly becoming perfect. It’s about not being satisfied with staying the same. It’s about recognising that who we are now, doesn’t have to be who we are forever, and looking forward with optimism and determination to always keep improving.

School isn’t just about accumulating knowledge — though teachers would be relieved if we did some of that. It’s also about learning resilience, self-control, kindness, and perseverance. Every day gives us opportunities to make slightly better choices than yesterday, even if progress sometimes feels slow.

Staying calm under pressure. Lord Roberts prays that people would be “calm in danger, patient in suffering.”

Most of us won’t face physical danger, but pressure is very real in school life:

exams and assessments

expectations from others

friendship tensions

competition, comparison, and the feeling that everyone else is coping better than you

Learning to stay calm when things feel overwhelming and patient if things don’t go our way immediately are skills that will matter long after school. Panic rarely helps. Perseverance and perspective usually do.

Strength with kindness. The prayer asks God to strengthen us to “quit ourselves like men”, to be ‘sons of the brave’, but one of the most striking lines asks that people be “merciful as well as brave.”

Bravery is often admired. Mercy is often overlooked — but it might be harder. Mercy means choosing kindness when you could choose cruelty, forgiveness when you could hold a grudge, and understanding when you could judge.

In school life, that might look like:

including someone who feels left out

standing up for someone being treated unfairly

thinking before speaking

Being strong is often celebrated, but strength without kindness can hurt others, whereas strength with kindness builds trust and community.

Belonging and responsibility. The prayer also speaks about being true to what you represent. The prayer asks for help to stay “true to our King, our Country, and our Colours”.

For us, that’s a reminder that our actions don’t exist in isolation. We represent our Houses, our teams, our families, and our school. The way we behave — especially when no one is directly supervising — says something about who we are and what we value.

Towards the end, much like in our school hymn, Lord Roberts talks about the “better victory” — victory over temptation and wrongdoing.

That is arguably the most relevant part of the prayer. The hardest battles are usually internal:

choosing honesty over shortcuts

kindness over cruelty

integrity over popularity

Those choices may not always be noticed, but they shape the people we become.

Although this prayer was written in a very different time, its message still speaks clearly today. It challenges us to be honest about our mistakes, committed to growth, calm under pressure, brave but kind, and thoughtful about the impact of our actions. If we can take even some of those ideas into our daily lives, we help create a school community that is stronger, fairer, and more supportive for everyone. Lord Roberts prayed that his men would embody these values, and they are the same attributes which we strive for as Dukies today.

Thank you for listening.