Sermon Preparation

“One of the most powerful ways to pray for your pastor is to pray for his sermon preparation during the week. If we desire to have powerful sermons from a pastor, then we must cry out to God for the pastor as he prepares his sermons,” writes Kevin Meador in The Prayer Closet newsletter. I agree wholeheartedly.

First pray your pastor has his heart right with God so he can preach with authenticity. (1 John 1:9)

Ask the Lord to keep your pastor from interruptions during preparation time for his/her sermon. (Ephesians 6:12)

Intercede for your minister to preach both grace and truth and to correctly interpret the biblical text. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Ask the Holy Spirit to give your preacher the words and examples that will provide understanding and meet the needs of the flock. (2 Timothy 4:2)

Besides praying for the preparation of the preacher, we also need to ask God that those in the congregation will come prepared as well. Petition the Lord that members will attend services to hear the Word (not to put their time in, see friends and family, or a variety of other reasons). (Deuteronomy 12:28)

Pray those in the pews will apply the biblical precepts to their lives. (James 1:22)

Ask the Lord to thwart interruptions during the service. The enemy will use disruptive children, audio/visual problems, coughing, etc. to keep the audience from hearing biblical preaching. (1 Peter 5:8)

When both minister and member are prepared, the results will be powerful.