Praying for Your Pastor’s Preaching
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul humbly wrote “…pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6)
Every weekend Pastors across the world open their mouths to preach sermons. It’s more than a little terrifying for us - and probably for those who listen as well. When Pastors preach sermons they do so knowing congregations will be equal parts shocked, comforted, edified, horrified, gladdened, angered, awakened, or given a brief nap depending on what happens when the jaws of those pastors move at their hinges and words pop out. That’s a dangerous occupation.
Rising from their hearts, shaped by their tongues, informed by their thoughts and fears, their temptations and hopes, and their longings and concerns, the words Pastors utter in sermons will be offering the ministry of life or death. The tongue is a small but mighty instrument, as James reminds us, igniting conflagrations. ‘Life and death’, Solomon observed, ‘is in the power of the tongue.’ No wonder Paul asked for prayer.
I need those whom I seek to serve to pray for me as I serve them and others. I’m even more aware than they are of how thin the sauce can be apart from the grace of the Spirit assisting my study and preparation. Yes, I seek to be what Paul called ‘a diligent workman, accurately handling the word’ – there’s no substitute for reading, study, reflection, research, wordsmithing, and careful consideration of application. And yet, even with all of that labor expertly done, there must be prayer on behalf of the workman. Preaching, after all, is a supernatural activity.
Listening Ears
Pastors also know that sometimes people listen like judges at a gymnastics competition, scoring on the beauty of the moves and whether or not we stick the landing. “Wow! That was a 10!” or “Too bad about the parallel bars today” is a not uncommon pathological response among those who prefer to have their ears tickled rather than their hearts transformed. You can see the sermon scoring in Corinth. Some there actually said about Paul, ‘Well he does write good letters but his preaching is pretty weak.” Oh to be as lousy at this craft as Paul!
There are others who, rather than listening for their own good, will sometimes listen and think of others who ‘really need to hear this!’, usually a spouse sitting next to them. For maximum benefit, sermons should be heard with attention to the Scriptures with elbows in the upright and locked position.
In both cases, people end up robbed of benefit through a certain hardness of heart. In his parable of the seed and soils, Jesus noted that when the seed of God’s word is sown on the hard ground of petrified hearts, “Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them” (Mark 4:15).
What Preaching Can Accomplish
What should preaching do? At its best preaching brings people into a transformational encounter with God through the power of the Holy Spirit. “Expository preaching”, John Stott said, “opens up the inspired text with such faithfulness and sensitivity that God’s voice is clearly heard and God’s people respond appropriately.” In that definition, there are convictions about Scripture (it must be opened and it is inspired), responsibilities of the pastor (faithfulness to the text and sensitivity to the people), and expectations of the work (God’s voice is heard and God’s people will respond).
We see all of this in Paul’s request for prayer to undergird his preaching ministry. He begs his friends for prayer. He asks for:
Utterance – the right words for the right moment; he has an open mouth but he needs the right words to fill it! Words must be clear to make an impact. The right word at the right time: apples of gold in settings of silver. Pray that Pastors, called to be masters of collections of wisdom, will drive the nails of truth straight and true.
Boldness – it is a great temptation to seek to please people with our words rather than please God. In seeking to be sensitive to where people are at, we may fall prey to man-pleasing, fearing we may offend rather than fearing more that we may offer only partial healing through inappropriate timidity.
Gospel-Centeredness – At the end of the day, whatever the subject of a sermon might be, the objective is always the same: preach Christ and him crucified; preach the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God that saves, the message of the cross penetrating the dark places of our unbelief and changing us forever.
So please pray for preaching pastors this Sunday. Pray Stott’s definition for them. Pray Paul’s requests: utterance (wise and appropriate language); boldness (fearless declaration and application); gospel-centeredness (that Christ and his mercy is made known). In all these things pray for Pastors to speak in the sight of God. Every faithful Pastor I know resonates with Paul’s burden and we crave prayer that we may “speak as we ought to speak”. We live with the weighty ‘ought’ of preaching – and we can’t wait for every Sunday to see what God will do with our weakness when it is touched by the power of heaven that arrives through the prayers of God’s people.
How thankful I am to be part of a praying congregation at Spanish River Church.