Following is the text of the prayer offered by President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to rededicate the Columbus Ohio Temple on Sunday, June 4.
Our Heavenly Father, with deep love and reverence for Thee and Thy Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we Thy children join together to rededicate this beautiful Columbus Ohio Temple. We remember the dedicatory prayer pronounced by President Gordon B. Hinckley on Sept. 4, 1999. We ask that all the blessings previously pronounced by President Hinckley will continue upon the temple and the members.
We are assembled to rededicate this, Thy house. It has been 187 years since the first temple in this dispensation was dedicated in Kirtland, Ohio, by the Prophet Joseph Smith. We remember that the heavens were opened, and Thy Son visited and accepted that temple, and Moses, Elias and Elijah committed the keys of this dispensation to thy living Prophet.
Today we rededicate this temple at the direction of President Russell M. Nelson, who holds all the restored keys of the priesthood in our day. After extensive renovation and renewal, we will now rededicate the temple from the depth of its foundation to the height of its steeple. In the Prophet Joseph Smith’s Kirtland Temple dedicatory prayer, he prayed:
“That this house may be a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of glory and of God, even thy house; …
“And when thy people transgress, any of them, they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy house.
“And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;
“And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:16, 21–23).
And now, by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood and in the sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I rededicate this Columbus Ohio Temple to Thee, Heavenly Father, and to Thy Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless in every way, Father, this the Columbus Ohio Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We dedicate the beautiful baptistry; the ordinance areas and rooms; the magnificent celestial room; the sealing rooms with their sacred altars; the halls; the offices; the walls and the windows; the mechanical and electrical equipment; the surrounding grounds, including the parking areas; the grass and the shrubs; the trees and the flowers; and every other facility and feature of this, Thy Columbus Ohio Temple.
We ask Thee, Heavenly Father, for protection over Thy temple, that Thy sacred work for the living and for our ancestors may continue. May Thy children come here often to make sacred covenants and receive eternal ordinances. Please bless all the children, youth and young adults in this temple district to keep Thy commandments, preparing them for all Thy promised blessings to those who love Thee and seek to serve Thee.
Bless those who prepare for and administer the ordinances for Thy children who enter this temple. May they keep their covenants made in this beautiful temple and serve one another with love and with reverence for Thee and Thy Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray for those in this area who do not have the gospel of Jesus Christ, that they may revere and respect the temple and that all the community might be lifted and edified by its presence. May Thy influence emanate from these sacred temple grounds and bring added goodness and prosperity within the temple’s far-reaching shadow.
Heavenly Father, we know that many of Thy children in the world suffer greatly for one reason or another. Please give them comfort and peace, and bless all of us to do what we can to lift their burdens. Help us, Father, to share the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ with those we come in contact with in our daily lives.
Accept of our love. Please smile with favor upon us. Grant us that peace which passeth all understanding. Prosper us in our labors in righteousness. May our hearts be filled with love as we pray for one another. We rejoice today to once again have this, Thy holy house, the Columbus Ohio Temple, available for our blessing and the blessing of all Thy children who love Thee.
We acknowledge Thy hand in all things and pronounce this dedicatory blessing in the name of Thy Beloved Son, whose atoning sacrifice enables all the blessings of the temple to be efficacious in this world, as well as beyond the veil, into Thy holy presence.
In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
