Prayer and Preaching

When I was a young preacher, I was blessed by being able to listen to some good preachers.  They encouraged and inspired me to be a good preacher, too.  To the degree that the word good is appropriate, I will leave for others to decide.  I just know I was always intent on moving in that direction.  One thing I have come to understand over the years is that good preaching requires praying.  No preacher can expect too much to come from the preaching being done if it is not immersed in prayer.  This does not negate the importance of study and preparation, but is simply to say that there must come a moment when the sermon is laid on the altar with prayers that the Holy Spirit will bless both the work of preparing as well as the work of preaching.     

Another thing which makes for good preaching is praying people in the pews.  One of the churches I served on the Stapleton Charge, my first appointment, was Zoar.  Mrs. Zeevie and Mrs. Estelle were members of that church.  I learned early on that they prayed for me.  They did not just call my name on Sunday, but were throughout the week asking for the blessings of God to fall upon their preacher.  When I think of praying churches, I see these two spirit filled women on the front row.   

And, finally, good preaching comes out of the awareness that the Holy Spirit Himself is interceding for the preaching and working to bring about good through the preaching.  Good preaching comes through the acknowledgement that it is a partnership held together through the praying that goes on through the church.  The Spirit knows what needs are sitting out in the pews far better than the preacher, or any lay person, and He is One who will bring the unleashed power of God into an intersection created by the human need.  When the Spirit blesses the preaching of the preacher, it is blessed indeed!