It’s Friday. For most of us who preach, we’re two days away from proclaiming the Word of God. If you’re a preacher, I assume you’re looking forward to expositing the Scriptures for your congregation. For this post, though, I want us to look backward – to consider the ways we’ve spoken during the last week.
Here are some backward-looking questions to ask yourself as you look forward to preaching:
- Have I spoken to God regularly and honestly throughout this past week? If we haven’t talked much to God, we’re not ready to talk much to His people, either.
- Have I spoken kindly and lovingly to my spouse and my children throughout this past week? Those who know us best have a right to hear us preach without negative thoughts about our words in general.
- Have my words been truthful throughout the week? It’s tough to preach truth when we haven’t spoken truth the rest of the week.
- Have I said anything off-color this past week? Words dishonoring to God at any point during the week only hinder us in our preaching.
- Have I spoken the biblical text aloud in my preparation for preaching? Generally, it’s not best if the worship service is the first time we’ve read the text aloud.
- Have I tried to impress anyone with my words this past week? Ego during the week can easily become ego in the pulpit, too.
- Have I spoken poorly of anyone this past week? Critical, arrogant words reveal a heart problem we should not want to carry to the preaching event.
- Have I had any gospel conversations with non-believers this past week? Preachers burdened about reaching people during the week are more likely to show that burden in the pulpit, too.
- Do I need to ask forgiveness from anyone before I preach? Something just happens in our preaching when broken relationships are moving toward healing.
- Do I need to confess any sins today in preparation for preaching? Unforsaken, unconfessed sin blocks our prayer channel and weakens our proclamation.
- Have I asked others to pray for my preaching this weekend? Many of us assume our church members are praying for us as we preach, but few of us intentionally seek this kind of prayer support. That’s a serious omission.
- Have I already thanked God for the privilege of preaching His Word this weekend? None of us is worthy of the task; it’s God gift and calling to us.
What questions would you add?
