Prayer and Exhortation for Ordination

This weekend my friend and colleague Dale Zarlenga was ordained as a teaching elder in the Missouri Presbytery of the PCA. The service was beautiful, which is a testimony to Dale's gifts. He's been called to Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church as an Assistant Pastor, Pastor of Worship and Music.

During the service I was reminded of my own ordination this past March. What a special, joyful, and sobering time! During my ordination service my dear friend and fellow elder Tim Adcock offered this prayer and exhortation on my behalf:

And now Lord we turn our hearts towards heaven, the place of our true citizenship because you have placed in us a desire for the One who gives in abundance those things that we need most: Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ who appeared in the body, was vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world and taken up in glory. We call upon you now as a congregation, on behalf of Millard J. Bennett on this your day of establishment. May your Spirit fal upon us now . . .

Lord, we know with all sureness, because of your Word, that this day of uncommon dispensation has been stored up in the treasure of your divine decree since the beginning of time. The Lord is sovereign and we rejoice because in the counsel of three there are no uncertainties. So here your servant stands, having followed the desire you placed upon his heart to serve God, beginning on this day of ordination.

And yet Lord on the road of absolute sovereignty we encounter the intersection of man's responsibility. And so it is we pray earnestly this evening: Brother guard carefully the doctrines you have been trusted with and do not neglect the gifts you have been given which were given to you by prophecy as this council of elders lays hands upon you. Guard against the temptations that are sure to come. Take not for granted the high privilege of teaching God's word. Set an example in speech and in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. And may your ministry be marked by the pursuit of deep and abiding relationships so that when you speak the truth of God, you will do so in love.

Although he has been chosen by God and honored by a high and holy calling, let him never forget that he is but a man of dust and ashes, a man with all the natural faults and passions that plague the race of men. Protect him Lord, save him from himself and from all self injuries while trying to be a blessing to others. Fill him with the Holy Spirit that he would move through his ministry by your power and your strength.

And lastly Father for the Bennett family; dear wife Andrea, Jonathan Cole and Joanna Faith we pray that the bride of Christ would love them with a deep affection for all of the days in ministry. Strengthen them and protect them, sustain and bless them as they have also been called by your divine will for such a time as this. And we pray that God would grant them time as a family for all necessary prayer and fellowship so they run with perseverance the race marked out for them.

And now Father pour out your servant Millard J. Bennett using every breath for the sake of your Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. Quicken him unto service until you come back or call him home when he will be numbered among the saints in glory everlasting.

We will give you all the praise in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.