Someone said for each minute you spend behind the pulpit, spend one hour in preparation. One of the top responsibilities of a Pastor is to faithfully preach the whole counsel of God’s word, carefully explaining the meaning of the text and applying it to the lives of those under his care. As Pastors, we should treat the task of preaching as a sacred responsibility and give our best to prepare and preach a sermon. God expects us to be faithful stewards of His precious Word. How can we claim to be faithful stewards if we don’t even allocate time to prepare. In the past 24 years of ministry, I have met Pastors who walk into the pulpit without preparation and then preach rubbish. Given below are three benefits of prior preparation in preaching ministry.

1. Compliments Intellectual Preparation

A passionate Preacher will always seek to bring out the flavor in God’s word. He does this by researching his text using reference materials such as Commentaries, Dictionaries, etc. He has to find strong illustrations to support his point. Maybe throw in a few media clips to get the message through. A good sermon also takes hours of studying God’s word in order to draw life applications from it. All these take hours of preparation.

2. Compliments Spiritual Preparation

Someone said, “Without man, God will not, and without God man cannot.” As much as intellectual preparation is important we cannot deliver a good sermon unless we are spiritually prepared.

There are many things such as the felt need of the congregation which only the Spirit of God can reveal to us. Such preparation usually involves being on our knees. It brings discernment and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  This also takes time because we cannot rush the work of the Holy Spirit.

3. Preparation Helps to avoid Surprises

I have seen unprepared Pastors make careless statements from the pulpit only to regret them later. There are many things that could go wrong when preaching a sermon. A wrong scripture reference, and an irrelevant illustration to name a few. Such mistakes can distract, dilute the message, or even makes the congregation cold and unresponsive. We cannot rule out mistakes completely. But prior preparation can minimize the risk.

Closing Remarks

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” We can tell the same about preaching. How far will you go to prepare your sermon? What is the highest price you will not hesitate to pay for preparing an effective sermon? Remember, preaching God’s Word is the most sacred responsibility God has trusted us with. He demands that we remain faithful to that responsibility. Preaching God’s Word is a privilege we have. God demands that we don’t take that privilege for granted. The message you preach might be the difference between life and death or heaven and hell for somebody. I sincerely hope and pray this series will inspire you to do better next time.

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