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A.W. Tozer's Ordination Prayer
August 30, 2006
Oh that all young ministers, especially Assembly of God ministers, would start their ministries with a heart like that of Aiden Wilson Tozer, whose prayer at ordination was as follows (and that our leadership and senior pastors would rededicate themselves with this prayer):

Lord Jesus, I come to Thee for spiritual preparation. Lay Thy hand upon me. Anoint me with the oil of the New Testament prophet. Forbid that I should become a religious scribe and thus lose my prophetic calling. Save me from the curse that lies dark across the face of the modern clergy, the curse of compromise, of imitation, of professionalism. Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity or the amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet, not a promoter, not a religious manager—but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds. Heal my soul from bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with the principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

This quote was taken from the biographical sketch of A.W. Tozer at the front of the book compiled by Harry Verploegh and published by Christian Publications entitled “The Quotable Tozer I.” This prayer was prayed 86 years ago! And yet it sounds so Assemblies-of-God-mega-church current events. And if you don’t feel you are called to be prophet like Brother Tozer, then just substitute the word “pastor” every time you see prophet and the prayer will work for you as well. I would recommend the above book as mandatory reading for all A/G pastors. After using the above prayer as a prayer of dedication, every pastor ought read the entire book starting with the excerpt which begins on the bottom of page XVI:

While Tozer might have given more attention to the failure of evangelicals to minister to the lower classes, the marginal peoples of American society, he saw plainly that in their desire to make their gospel respectable and appealing to the rich and powerful, they were creating a Christianity of the bourgeoisie: The well-to-do, the upper middle classes, the politically prominent, the celebrities are accepting our religion by the thousands and parking their expensive cars outside our church doors, to the uncontrollable glee of our religious leaders, who seem completely blind to the fact that the vast majority of these new patrons of the Lord of glory have not altered their moral habits in the slightest or given any evidence of true conversion that would have been accepted by the saintly fathers who built the churches.

This passage was written at the latest over 40 years ago! And now we have churches made all of glass (which I’m sure have great appeal to the poor who may not own a glass [in which to pour some cold water]), pastors who write best-selling, ear tickling books that make them millionaires, and other pastors who can boast, and do, of having congregations that number in the tens of thousands which gives them the license to invite heathens to speak in their pulpits. God help us! We not only seal our own damnation but are taking our easily mislead sheep to Hell with us! And for this last offense we can expect the severest judgment!

Dearest shepherds, read this book and compare it to God’s Holy Word. It rings true! God forgive us for we have sinned, and forgive our father’s house for we have sinned. Come and heal our denomination, heal our fellow evangelical denominations for we have become prosperous and forgotten you just as the Children of Israel did. Do not cast us aside oh God and choose another. Instead, may we turn our hearts back to You and repent of our pride, our worldly ways, our thirst for power and acceptance by the world and our sins of unbelief and fear. Let it be so.

In the Name of Jesus Christ Our Savior and Lord,

Brother Mike

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