Proclaimer Blog
The preacher’s new year’s resolutions #3
I will pray over my sermon
We are paid, as someone once put it, to preach and to pray. Read Acts 6 again, Mr Preacher. We are set aside for the ministry of the word and for prayer and it will not surprise you to know that these two are not unconnected. Some people separate out pastoral prayer from praying for preaching, but I find the easiest way to pray for my people is to pray the sermon for them in the week they are on my list. Moreover, my sermon needs to be bathed in prayer. You could take the advice of one experienced preacher and take your manuscript out for a walk, praying and reading as you go. From time to time I’ve physically laid out my sermon before God (Isaiah 37:14). You may think that’s a bit quirky and you may be right, but it focuses my mind on praying for the sermon in particular. Find your own way.
Resolved: I will pray over my sermon.