A Prayer for the Church (and the ordination of servants)

Dear God,


We pray that you bless our gathering. We know that we can’t just keep on doing our own thing and hoping that you’ll approve. Give us the heart and mind to seek you and your will for our lives and our communities that we might follow the path of blessing that you’ve set before us. May our gathering be blessed because we’re on this kingdom path.

We give you thanks for bringing us here today, for all the simple things that we take for granted. From the air, food, and water that keeps our bodies alive to your Holy Spirit, scripture, and Christian community that keeps our souls alive. We thank you today for your church and our small part of it. We thank you for the blessing of friendship, guidance, and support provided by this family. We also thank you for the opportunities offered through this body to spread your blessing to the world. We ask that you continue to fill our cups and fill our cups and fill our cups so that we can spill out all over the world because your love will not be contained.

We give you thanks also for the Christian men and women of your church who bear the blessing of call. For those who hear and respond to your call of service we give you thanks.

Please keep us honest and true God. We may think we speak the truth with our lips, but we come today with lips proclaiming love for you. May we not make ourselves liars by ignoring the plight of the poor. Help us to stay true to you by serving others and worrying less about whether we’re getting our fair share. Because we love you God, may we not forget the prisoners and assume that handcuffs and manacles are always the just reward and Christian answer for errant behavior. God we pray that we learn to take a break from trying to get ahead so that we can push others toward your kingdom.

As we deal with each other God may we lift in all that we do. I pray that we never serve as an obstacle or stumbling block toward each other. Give us the words to encourage, the actions to support, and the courage to hold accountable in ways that would bring glory and honor to you.

Today we set apart a few of our own. Through your call, they take on the role of servant. They choose not to set themselves above, but to dedicate themselves to you in service to your church. We know that you can do great things through people, and we pray that you would do great things through these people that we lift up to you today.

You are our creator and provider, and we owe all we are to you. May we all be your people in word and deed.  Please hear our prayers to you.

Amen.