Robert Murray McCheyne, a great Scots pastor of the 19th century, once said that a man is what he is on his knees before God and nothing more. I think that that is true, but how true it is for the pastor?
In preparation[of a sermon], it is critically important that we pray about what we are bringing to our people.I teach a course on Hebrew exegesis. I give what I call the “Ten Commandments of Preaching”. The first commandment is prayer – praying over the text, praying over the sermon that you are writing. In preparation, it is critically important that we pray about what we are bringing to our people.
Prayer is important in the delivery of the sermon. Charles Spurgeon, when he would walk up to the pulpit, each step he would say to himself, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Then the next step, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Then he would get up there and preach with unction and with power. That is where it comes from. It comes from above. In the delivery of a sermon, I think it is important that we are praying about that.
One morning John Flavell, a Puritan pastor, was to preach in the morning. The whole congregation was gathered and ready to go, and he did not show up. He was not there for five minutes. He was not there for ten minutes. He was not there for 15 minutes. One of the elders went back to Flavell’s study. He heard Flavell talking to someone. He listened closely at the door. Flavell was saying, “I’m not going out there without you. I’m not going out there without you.” The elder did not know what to do. Finally, he opened the door, looked in, and there was Flavell on his knees saying, “I’m not going out there without you.” Indeed, we should not go out there without him.
A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.Even after the sermon is over, prayer is so important that we should be praying that God would be impressing that message upon the hearts of the people. We need to be asking, “What do we want the people to be joyful about when they leave the service that morning?” We want to pray that God impresses the truths of the message of the gospel upon their hearts.
A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God. Our power comes from above. We need to be praying about our sermons. We need to be praying about how we make them and how we deliver them and the impression that they make upon our people. It comes from God.
