The older minister was coaching the younger minister on the ways of ministry. And he said, “Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the task God has for us.” (2 Timothy 3:17 ).
I believe Paul was teaching young Timothy about the importance of making God’s Word a personal lifestyle.
But here’s the problem- as a busy young pastor there were times when I would allow my sermon preparation time to suffice for my personal intimacy time with the Lord. While it was good that I was in the Word, I was looking for a message for my congregation rather than allowing God to speak to me about my own affairs. Thus it was possible for me to present a great sermon on Sunday morning, even with great results, yet go home feeling personally empty!
The secret to great sermon preparation is obviously spending personal time with the Lord and listening to His word!
One day when God was addressing the problem of false prophets with Jeremiah, he asked Jeremiah this question: “Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence to hear what He is really saying?” (Jeremiah 23:18 NLT). The question kind of hits to the heart of the matter, doesn’t it? The secret to great sermon preparation is obviously spending personal time with the Lord and listening to His word!
That’s not all. God tells Jeremiah, “…let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my very word. There is a difference between straw and grain! Does not my word burn like fire?…Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:28,29 NLT)
The Word of God, like grain, has all the spiritual nutrients a person needs… The Word is so powerful, it burns in a heart like fire… The Word is like a mighty hammer that can smash the hardness of a “rocky heart. No wonder the Psalmist talks so much about meditating on God’s Word constantly and consistently!
Healthy pastors glean daily from God’s word so that they don’t just have a message for the church on Sunday morning, but that message has personally been experienced and put to the test.
Here’s a question… How would my preaching be different if I were to change my personal approach to the Word of God?
The lead pastor of a mega church once said, “I can’t get by on less than four hours a day in prayer!” That was intimidating to me, to say the least, and it still is!
Unfortunately, the scoreboard on pastors and personal prayer is not at times very impressive. A recent study discovered that only 47% are somewhat satisfied with their prayer life. Another study found that in a particular ministerial group the average pastor spent about five minutes in prayer, not per day, but per week! And, in my own experience, when I ask pastors and their spouses if they pray with and for each other, many of them can’t remember when that last happened.
And the pastor who couldn’t get by on less than four hours a day in prayer? At the time of this writing, that pastor is serving time in prison having been accused of embezzling millions of dollars from his congregation. Did it happen because prayer didn’t work? Of course not! I believe that man was just one of many pastors who fell into the temptation to use the spiritual disciplines to fulfill the needs of his natural disciplines. He got his spiritual disciplines mixed up with performance.
Discipline is not just a Christian virtue alone. Many of the extreme athletes of today are certainly disciplined in their sport but are not necessarily believers. Many musicians practice six or more hours a day and become great performers, but are not necessarily Christian performers.
Os Guinness in his book The Call says, “A life lived listening to the decisive call of God is a life lived before one audience that trumps all others- the Audience of One.”
Author Jerry Bridges advises, “I strongly urge overly busy pastors to cut down other ministry activities by an hour every day; then spend that first hour with God during which the pastor forgets sermons and people and prays, ‘Lord, here I am. What do You have to say to me today?’”
Effective ministry to people grows out of intimate experiences with God. Consequently, relationship with God energizes and informs all phases of ministry. A healthy pastor has a healthy prayer life!
Question: If my spiritual health and ministry to others depends on a more intimate relationship with Christ, how would I change the practice of prayer in my own life?
Great resources on prayer:
The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson Power Through Prayer by E.M. Bounds The Hour That Changes the World by Dick Eastman