Some years ago, I wrote another post about questions I ask before preaching or teaching. Those questions still rattle in my head, but I also have been asking some of these questions lately as I evaluate my heart. Whatever your role is in your church, maybe these questions will help you get ready for the weekend, too:
- Have I covered everything in prayer? If my prayer has been only perfunctory (or even non-existent), my teaching will lack God’s power. We don’t need powerless preaching or teaching.
- Do I have others intentionally praying for me? I can tell you from experience that having a group of people who have my back in prayer changes the way I preach. Their intercession is seriously empowering.
- Have I given myself time to study the passage, or am I rushed? Sometimes ministry requires a “rush job,” but too often haste occurs because I haven’t budgeted my time well. Sometimes I need to repent for the way I studied before I do the preaching.
- Can I state in one simple, clear sentence the primary point of my teaching or preaching? If I can’t—or if it takes me several minutes and more than one sentence to do it—my preaching will probably be unclear and wandering.
- Am I intentionally stepping around any portion of the biblical text? We’ve probably all ben there—when the text is particularly difficult or controversial, and we’re tempted to skip part of it while hoping our listeners won’t recognize what we’re doing. I’ve been there enough that I need to ask this question.
- Have I planned my teaching to drive listeners to some specific, intentional steps of obedience? If I can’t name some clear steps my listeners can take after hearing the message, my application of the text will probably be weak. Cloudiness in application seldom leads to clarity in obedience.
- Have I filtered my life through the teaching before I teach it? Knowing the text is one thing, but living it out is another. If I’m not obeying what I’m planning to teach, I’ll likely teach it with timidity and haste.
- Might any of my planned illustrations miss a portion of my audience – or perhaps worse, might any unintentionally offend? Knowing my audience well should help me connect with them while also recognizing illustrations that some might mishear. Preaching’s hard enough without having to clean up our own messes.
- What’s my own greatest spiritual struggle at this moment? I ask this question because I know how internal things can eat at my heart even while I’m trying to be strong externally. I may not have realized it at the time, but I’m sure that some of my spiritual struggles have affected what I do in the pulpit.
- Have I given my family any reason this past week to not want to listen to me this weekend? They know me best. They’ve probably seen me at my worst. They’ll know if my life hasn’t matched my words.
Which of these questions do you need to ask and answer today?
Point 4 and 6 are very important and so much missed