Page 115 - Homiletics I Student Textbook

7. Bath your preaching event with prayer

Prayer is one of the most important things a preacher can do. It is a time you are
communicating with God and it should be taken very seriously. While there is deep
theological meaning in prayer, it doesn’t have to be complicated and difficult. It’s
something anyone can do anywhere at any time.

I have been teaching the Bible for over 50 years. I have taught literally hundreds of lessons.
Some of them, I taught. Some of them the Holy Spirit taught and used me as a teaching
instrument. The lessons that changed hearts were the latter. I have discovered that if I spend time with
God in prayer, the Holy Spirit moves through the lessons into the hearts of the students. Otherwise, my
lessons fall on deaf ears.

Satan does not want your congregation to “hear” God’s Word. They might respond in obedience. So,
Satan will do what he can to distract your class to prevent them from hearing. Sometimes we forget just
how powerful prayer is. We aren’t fighting against something imaginary. Our prayers are fighting against
spiritual battles that linger in dark places.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.

The power of prayer is so great it has the power to defeat the devil and his power over us. He wants to
destroy us, but God wants to bring us closer to Him. Prayer is our tool to win that battle. Prayer gives us
the strength and the faith to finish the race victorious.

If you really want to become a great preacher, the path is on your knees.

8. Always look for ways to improve your preaching skills.

After the sermon is over, some people will come up and thank you for the sermon.
They may even tell you they learned something. Others just leave without saying
anything. So how do you know how you did? How do you know that the sermon was
effective? How can you find out from the people what they did not like or what was
boring? Without this information, you will never be able to improve your preaching
skills.

You might want to give your congregation a short quiz the next week about last week’s sermon. Ask
them the main idea of the lesson. Ask them if they altered their lifestyle based on what was taught. Ask
them what they liked and did not like about the sermon. With this information, you may see areas
where you need to make some changes.

114