Send essentially nice surprise and pray (7)
I believe the answer is:
entreat
'pray' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'send essentially nice surprise' is the wordplay.
'essentially' indicates the central letters.
'nice surprise' becomes 'treat' (I've seen this before).
The middle of 'send' is 'en'.
'en'+'treat'='ENTREAT'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for entreat that I've seen before include "petition" , "Beg earnestly, appeal" , "Sue" , "Will's pass" , "Beseech, implore" .)