“O God, who art the teacher and giver of all wisdom, be Thou present, by Thy Spirit, with us as we engage, yea, that we may engage together in these [seminary] studies. Open Thou our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of Thy law. May Thy Holy Scriptures be our pure delight; may we neither be deceived in reading them, nor handle them deceitfully. Sanctify us through Thy truth; Thy word is truth. Preserve, defend, enlarge this seminary, consecrated to Thy glory. Let envy, strifes, divisions, heresies be forever at a distance. May orthodoxy prevail, may piety flourish, let mercy and truth meet together, let righteousness and peace kiss each other. Our beloved country, rescued by Thy wonder-working right hand from so many evils, do Thou preserve in safety and peace. . . .
And after our days in this life have been spent in prolonged felicity, do Thou at last transfer us, with all thine elect, to heaven itself. This is the sum of our prayers, this is the sum of our hope. Hear and accept us, O Triune Jehovah! Amen.”
And here is a prayer for seminaries by John Piper. He prays . . .
That the supreme, heartfelt and explicit goal of every faculty member might be to teach and live in such a way that his students come to admire the glory of God with white-hot intensity (1 Cor. 10:31; Matt. 5:16).
That, among the many ways this goal can be sought, the whole faculty will seek it by the means suggested in 1 Peter 4:11: Serve "in the strength which God supplies: in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ."
That the challenge of the ministry might be presented in such a way that the question rises authentically in student's hearts: "Who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Cor. 2:16).
That in every course the indispensable and precious enabling of the Holy Spirit will receive significant emphasis in comparison to other means of ministerial success.
That teachers will cultivate the pastoral attitude expressed in 1 Corinthians 15:10 and Romans 15:18: "I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me . . . .I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win obedience from the Gentiles."
That the poverty of spirit commended in Matthew 5:3 and the lowliness and meekness commended in Colossians 3:12 and Ephesians 4:2 and 1 Peter 5:5-6 will be manifested through the administration, faculty and student body.
That the faculty might impress upon students by precept and example the immense pastoral need to pray without ceasing and to despair of all success without persevering prayer in reliance on God's free mercy (Matt. 7:7-11; Eph. 6:18).
That the faculty will help the students feel what an unutterably precious thing it is to be treated mercifully by the holy God, even though we deserve to be punished in hell forever (Matt. 25:46; 18:23-35; Luke 7:42, 47).
That owing to [this] Seminary, hundreds of pastors 50 years from now will repeat the words of John Newton on their death beds: "Two things I remember: that I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior."
That the faculty will inspire students to unqualified and exultant joy in the venerable verities of Scripture.
That every teacher will develop a pedagogical style based on James Denney's maxim: "You cannot at the same time show that Christ is wonderful and that you are clever."
That in the treatment of Scripture there will be no truncated estimation of what is valuable for preaching and for life.
That students will develop a respect for and use of the awful warnings of Scripture as well ss its precious promises; and that the command to "pursue holiness" (Hab. 12:14) will not be blunted, but empowered, by the assurance of divine enablement.
That there might be a strong and evident conviction that the deep and constant study of Scripture is the best way to become wise dealing with people's problems.
That the faculty may not represent the contemporary mood in critical studies which sees "minimal unity, wide-ranging diversity" (J.D.G. Dunn) in the Bible; but that they will pursue the unified "whole counsel of God" and help students see the way it all fits together.
That explicit biblical insights will permeate all class sessions, even when issues are treated with language and paradigms borrowed from contemporary sciences.
That the faculty will mingle the "severe discipline" of textual analysis with an intense reverence for the truth and beauty of God's Word.
That fresh discoveries will be made in the study of Scripture and shared with the church through articles and books.
That faculty, dean and president will have wisdom from God to make appointments which promote the fulfillment of these petitions.
Have you prayed for the seminaries today?
