This magnificent house of the Lord was first dedicated 48 years ago by Thy noble servant President Spencer W. Kimball. It was then the 18th temple to be built in this dispensation. To preserve it for future generations, it has now been beautifully renovated and remodeled. We are grateful for all who participated in the arduous task of preserving and renewing this temple. Please bless them for their caring craftmanship and faith.
As we offer this prayer of rededication, we pray that the spirit of President Kimball’s historic dedicatory prayer may be included in this prayer.
On that sacred occasion, President Kimball gratefully recalled: “Thou didst cause this land to be … settled by people who founded a great nation with an inspired constitution guaranteeing freedom in which there could come the glorious restoration of the gospel and the Church of thy Beloved Son.”
Now, our Holy Father, we express thanks for that freedom and for this land. We express thanks also for sacred ordinances performed and covenants made in this temple since its dedication in 1974. Thy Spirit has blessed these hallowed halls for Thy purposes, which, as President Kimball prayed, have opened “the doors . . . for the multitudes who are waiting in the spirit world.”
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for Thy Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. His Atonement has enabled Thy great plan for the blessings of immortality and eternal life for Thy children.
We are thankful that Thou didst appear with Thy Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to the Prophet Joseph Smith to open the heavens and restore the fulness of Thy gospel for the blessing of Thy children. We express our deep gratitude for the restoration of priesthood keys and authority, additional scriptures, and all blessings now available to us.
Today, we are ever grateful for the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the inspired Constitution of the United States of America. We are grateful for that Constitution and for the leaders of this great nation, past, present, and future. Please bless them with a desire to do what is right.
We are mindful of the many ambassadors and diplomats who come to this great city from many nations of the world. We pray that Thou wilt bless them and all Thy children with a desire to seek Thee and keep Thy commandments. Please bless Thy children of the covenant to be beacons of spiritual light and righteousness to the entire world.
Our Father, we express gratitude for the many friends, members, and missionaries who have labored so diligently to establish the Church of Thy Beloved Son throughout the world.
We are grateful for faithful tithe payers who have consecrated their means to the building of Thy kingdom on the earth. Bless them and their posterity with a deep desire to stay on the covenant path that leads them and their families back to Thy holy presence.
We pray that all who enter these sacred precincts may have a deep desire to worship here. Please bless them with the spirit of Elijah, that they may continue to turn their hearts to their ancestors, that essential ordinances may be performed for them. Bless them also with revelation, with guidance for their families and personal lives, with a sense of peace, and with ever-increasing faith.
Now, Holy Father, in the name of Thy Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and with the authority of the holy Melchizedek Priesthood, we rededicate and consecrate unto Thee and Thy Son this, the Washington D.C. Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We ask Thee to accept this house as our offering to Thee and Thy Son as a place worthy of Thy holy habitation. And we ask Thee to bless all who enter herein to feel of Thy presence and to know of Thy love.
We rededicate the grounds upon which this temple stands. We rededicate its foundation, footings, and spires. We rededicate its altars and interior rooms, including the baptistry, endowment rooms, sealing rooms, assembly room, celestial room, and administrative areas and support systems. We rededicate the beautiful grounds, trees, shrubs, and all systems required to maintain the beauty of this sacred place.
Please thwart any unwelcome force that might harm this holy house. Please preserve it from any natural disaster or evil intent. Make it a refuge for all who enter its precincts. Please bless all who step onto these grounds, for whatever purpose, to feel Thy presence and to leave with a renewed sense of hope and an increased desire to draw close to Thee and Thy Son.
We ask Thee to bless the temple presidency, the matron, her assistants, and all who offer their consecrated service within this holy house. Bless all who serve in this temple that they may act with love and kindness. Bless all who enter here to gain a greater sense of the glorious future that awaits those who keep the commandments of God. May the sanctifying influence of Thy Holy Spirit be ever present in all sacred ordinances that will be performed herein.
Father in Heaven, on this day of rededication, we also rededicate our lives to Thee and Thy work as we serve Thee and our kin on both sides of the veil. May we be found worthy of the great blessings that Thou hast promised us, including those Thou hast already poured out upon Thy Church and upon Thy covenant children. We so offer this prayer of rededication and praise Thy holy name forever, in the sacred name of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, amen.