The Ministry of Prayer
The ordination vows in the LSB ordination rite are stated as questions. The first questions are related to doctrine. “Do you confess the Unaltered Augsburg Confession?” and so forth. The next part deals with practice. “Do you promise to perform the duties of your office in accordance with these Confessions?” and so forth. The ordinand’s vow or pledge is something along the lines of “Yes, I confess or promise, with the help of God.” The very last question is: “Will you be constant in prayer for those under your pastoral care?”
Prior to ordination, I gave this question the least amount of attention and the most to the questions of doctrine and then of faithful practice. Since ordination, however, this question has had my attention, sometimes accusing me and others encouraging. Never have I felt that faithfulness to this vow could be done by simply praying “God please bless all your people” or by leading and joining in the prayers at public worship. Always, I have thought this question comes terribly close to demanding that my parishioners, the prospects, neighborhood, and all others that I come into contact with as a pastor of the LCMS (or an editor of Gottesdienst, etc) be prayed for by name.
When I am not on vacation or travelling to a conference, I am quite disciplined in my prayers for the parishioners and synodical leaders. I have a list. It is divided by day of the week. Some, such as the bishop and synodical president, the other pastor at Redeemer, staff, and faculty, are prayed for, by name, daily. The rest are divided up so they are prayed for by name once a week. But if I am not in my study or something interrupts the Matins schedule, it is easily skipped. I have the list accessible on my phone, but can only remember using it a few times.
It is a bit hokey, but when I remember, which is maybe ⅓ of the time, I say a quick prayer for those who contact me by e-mail or phone. It is easier to remember when they are angry, but I try to do it when they are complimentary or happy as well, and I try to do it quietly but out loud.
In any case, I can’t imagine operating without a list, in hand. And if you aren’t doing that, I encourage you to try it and to remember the vow that you made, which was, “I will, the Lord helping me through the power and grace of His Holy Spirit.”