The Preacher and….Prayer

As promised, here is the second excerpt on this vital subject from the pen of Michael Fabarez and his superb ‘Preaching That Changes Lives’. Last week’s piece was about building up teams of people who would pray with you and for you through every stage of the preparation and preaching of the sermon. This week we look at his suggestions as to how we ourselves can best pray. This summary is in an appendix at the back of the book, but he fleshes the headlines out in chapter 6

Pray for the Crafting of the Sermon

1. Pray that the message you are preparing would be an evident part of your own life.

2. Pray for the protection of your sermon preparation time.

3. Pray that you will be given grace and illumination to rightly divide His Word.

4. Pray that the words you choose to frame your outline would be effective tools for the Holy Spirit to employ.

5. Pray that you would have insight into the needs of your audience as they relate to the sermon you are preparing.

Pray for the Delivery of the Sermon

1. Pray that people will attend the preaching event.

2. Pray that your audience will arrive in the right frame of mind.

3. Pray that God will guard against preaching distractions.

4. Pray for clarity in your vocabulary.

5. Pray that God will give your audience understanding.

6. Ask God for the most effective and fruitful sermon you have ever preached.

Pray for the Response to the Sermon

1. Pray that people will put the sermon into practice.

2. Pray that the sermon will not be compartmentalised.

3. Pray that the application of the sermon will be contagious.

4. Pray that the sermon itself will be repeatedly “delivered”. (You really need to read the book to understand what he’s getting at here!)