O Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, our only mediator and redeemer, You have been exalted to the right hand of the Father. You send pastors and teachers of Your Word (Ephesians 4:11). Through their work, You gather the church among us to Yourself. I humbly beg You, true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, that You guide Your ministers in the way of truth and turn the hearts of their hearers to the true obedience of faith. There is no occupation of human life, no class of people, that is so subject to the hatred and plots of Satan as the ecclesiastical ministry of the Word. Therefore, protect the members of this ministry with the shield of grace and furnish them with patience so Satan cannot trap them.

Grant Your ministers the necessary knowledge and pious diligence in all activities so they first learn from You before presuming to teach others (James 3:1). Govern and enlighten their hearts by Your Spirit so they preach nothing other than Your Word. Grant that they shepherd the flock committed to them (1 Peter 5:2), a flock purchased and redeemed by Your precious blood (Acts 20:28). Make their motivation true and sincere love, not covetousness or ambition. May they shepherd the flock in thought, word, and deed. May they shepherd by the prayer of their soul, by the exhortation of the Word, and by example as they follow in the footsteps of the one to whom the care of the Lord’s flock was commended three times (John 21:15). Rouse Your ministers to keep watch over the souls entrusted to them because they will give account for them at the last judgment (Hebrews 13:17). Whatever they advise as they preach the Word, may they first be diligent in this matter in their own lives so they do not labor in vain to arouse others. Whatever good works Your ministers encourage in others, may they first be zealous in these works by the fervor of the Spirit. May they first proclaim by their works whatever actions they exhort by their words.

Send forth into Your harvest faithful workers so they may gather a great harvest of saints (Matthew 9:38). Open the hearts of the hearers so they may receive the seed of the Word with the holy obedience of faith (Acts 16:14). Grant to these hearers Your grace so they may guard the holy deposit of the Word with a pure heart. With patience, may they bring forth abundant fruit (Luke 8:15). May they hear attentively, may they hear carefully, may they hear fruitfully – otherwise the Word that is preached to them, because it has not been mixed with faith, will judge them on the last day (John 12:48). Show forth the express promise of Your grace: Your Word will not return to You void (Isaiah 55:11). Grant that the labor of the one who plants and the one who waters may be blessed (1 Corinthians 3:7). Grant Your protection so the infernal raven may not dig up the holy seed of Your Word from the field of people’s hearts, nor the thorn of worldly pleasures and riches constrain it, nor the hardness of stone prevent it from bearing fruit (Matthew 13:4ff.; Luke 8:12ff.). Water that seed with the heavenly dew of Your grace, poured out from above, so the most abundant harvest of good works may spring forth. Bind together the hearts of pastors and hearers in the closest bond of love so they contend together for one another in prayer and encourage one another through their care. Amen.

- Johann Gerhard, Meditations on Divine Mercy: A Classic Treasury of Devotional Prayers (translated by Matthew C. Harrison), St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, pp. 135-137.

As a perfect example, I was reading Pastor Weedon’s blog last night when I came across this wonderful prayer from Bo Giertz:

My dear heavenly Father, You know that I am hesitant and filled with fear when I stand before You. How do I dare? You know me completely. And I think about the endless abyss between Your holy being and my human pettiness. Everything I received from You has been soiled and damaged. I am ashamed to show it, and yet You let me come before You. Because of Jesus, I can come to You as Your child. Although You know everything about me and have seen every sin, You let me come – with everything I am ashamed of, everything that hurts, everything that doesn’t have to do with You. I now lay it all at Your feet and pray for Your mercy. You have stretched Your atonement over me like a shield of grace over my entire wretched life. Praise be to You for Your incomprehensible and inexhaustible mercifulness, in Jesus’ name. Amen. –Bishop Bo Giertz, *To Live with Christ* p. 340.