Prayer for Ordination is a sacred moment of consecration, marking the divine calling and commissioning of individuals into religious ministry. These prayers seek God’s blessing, guidance, and empowerment for those entering into formal church leadership roles, while acknowledging the profound responsibility and humility required for pastoral service.
Such prayers reflect both the gravity of ministerial calling and the dependence on divine grace for effective spiritual leadership. They serve as a bridge between the candidate’s preparation and their future ministry, asking for God’s enabling presence in their service.
Liturgical Context
Occasion: Ordination Service
Participants: Clergy, Congregation, and Ordinand
Usage: During the Laying on of Hands
Prayer For Ordination
Father,
As a good Shepherd, go before them,
lead them in a plain path to do Your will
and to do it courageously.
Keep them from sin and, in their success,
prevent them from believing their own press reports
and humble them under the mighty hand of God.
Multiply their giftedness to extend and enrich the body of Christ.
Reproduce in each individual the body of Christ,
the heart of Christ, and the life of Christ.
Based on Acts 20:32:
“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace,
which can build you up and give you an inheritance
among all those who are sanctified.”
And we ask it expectantly and believingly
in the wonderful name of our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Scripture Foundation
Theological Significance
The Prayer for Ordination carries deep theological meaning in several areas:
- Divine calling and appointment to spiritual leadership
- The tension between human inadequacy and divine empowerment
- The sacred responsibility of shepherding God’s people
This prayer acknowledges both the weight of ministerial calling and the sufficiency of God’s grace to equip those He calls. It emphasizes humility, dependence on divine guidance, and the transformative power of God’s word in the life of ministry.
