Greetings siblings
As the weekend approaches, many of us are preparing to worship the Triune God. In our preparations, have we prayed for the sermon and the one who delivers it? Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
Colossians 4:3-4 NIV
[3] And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
[4] Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
Anointed Proclamation
Yesterday, we focused on praying for pastors, both for the preached word and for their personal lives. At this juncture, I invite us to zero in a bit more on proclamation.
It is not uncommon these days to hear people complain about the sermon and declare that church is boring. It is highly possible that they’ve faced some services where even the pastor sends fatigued by the preaching. The contrary may also hold. Some services are on fire for the Lord, and folks can’t get enough. That is cause for celebration. Of course, we recognize that both gatherings require prayers, as liturgy and preaching always require God’s coverage, without exception.
Further, we acknowledge that with the surge in prophetic ministries and prosperity Gospel events, there is the concommitant expectation that worship is a production staged for audiences. Unfortunately, that may be more common than we think. In seminary, we were discouraged from using “reheated” sermons (i.e., preaching someone else’s sermon). Paul’s call, therefore, for prayers that we preachers preach with clarity is also applicable for our time.
Self-Check
What do we seek when we go to worship? Relationship with God; a prophetic word for our lives; to get the latest gossip; promises of prosperity; or something else?
Application
What God desires us to find in both individual and corporate worship is a more profound spiritual experience. This is especially important when hopelessness seems to have become normative. Proclamation, that is the preached word, then needs to be prophetic, comforting, and challenging. Wouldn’t it be great to have all that in each sermon?
We pray for prophetic preaching that reads the signs of the times, offering wisdom on navigating it. It may also be eschatological, inviting us to read Bible prophecy about the ‘end times’ in light of what is unfolding around us now. I might add a side note that most prophecies in the Bible refer to the Messiah, or God’s plans for a nation. They were not detailed predictions of one person’s future. Perhaps we ought to pray also for clarity regarding the nature of prophetic preaching.
Isaiah 40, which incidentally is a prophetic word, begins with the directive to comfort God’s people. It seems logical, therefore, that preaching ought also to comfort those in despair. As we seek to discern the times and seasons in our sermons, pray that we recognize the need for empathy toward the hurting, broken, lonely, lost, and despairing.
We may recall that the snapshots of Jesus’ ministry weren’t all about ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’. Rather, we see Jesus challenging powers, destroying strongholds, and whipping recalcitrant priests abusing people in the temple. That Y’shua challenged authorities and the comfortable, indicates that sermons can also challenge complacency and injustice.
We must offer another way to live. Christ’s way.
Praying for pastors and spiritual leaders is also about praying for our courage to divide the Word rightly with God’s truth … even when it is costly. For Paul, it cost him his freedom. For some of Y’shua’s Apostles, it cost their lives. Pray for boldness, pray for courage, and pray for positive support that does not seek to curry favour with authorities. Pray for fresh anointing on how we live and what we say.
Siblings, we live in a time when the preached word needs to be clearly shared and heard. For, Romans 10:14-15A tells us:
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? [15] And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?”
We must pray for those who preach that the preached Word is impactful wherever it is read or heard. Pray for our boldness and our witness, as Romans 10:15 further states, “… How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” The one who shares the Word of God with others is the one who brings us Good News. We pray also for their physical well-being.
Point to Ponder
What is the quality of the sermons we are exposed to these days? Now we realize the urgency, let’s pray for those who preach, that we preach in obedience to God, and with clarity.
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May all we seek be found in Christ
