a minister’s preaching and plea

i am desired to preach today….

It is a curious thing to preach. When called to this vocation, it’s like a burning in the bones, and you can’t imagine not preaching. And yet, because of the weightiness of the task—
you are speaking God’s words, and not your own;
you are caring for the inestimably valuable souls of people who need to hear God’s words, and not your own;
all while you are in desperate need of those words yourself, as a broken man—
because of that weightiness, it can be a sobering thing, week by week, to enter the sacred desk of the pulpit and preach.

Bruce Thielemann says it well:

“The pulpit calls [preachers] to it as the sea calls its sailors,
and, like the sea, it batters and bruises and does not rest…
To preach, to really preach, is to die naked a little at a time,
and to know each time you do it that you must do it again.
Only one certainty sustains the preacher:
That God never denies a man peace except to give him glory.”

The elders of Grace Church, where I have served now for just seven weeks, have been a remarkable support and encouragement to me in this calling of preaching that God has so wonderfully placed upon my life. They regularly provide words of encouragement and insight on the preaching, and on our people; they share enthusiasm for where God is leading us in the Word, and how he speaks through it; they express understanding regarding the weightiness of the calling.

One of the ways their support works itself out is they have encouraged regular times of taking a Sunday away from the preaching, while I attend to other pastoral duties, that I may remain strong physically and spiritually for the long haul in ministry here at Grace. I am so grateful for their wisdom and care, and it is such a model for how churches might care for their pastors, and preaching pastors in particular. May God increase their number!

Another critical way the elders support the preaching ministry is through prayer. I was thinking about this this morning as I sought to intentionally pray for the pastor that will be filling our pulpit at Grace this weekend, one of my fellow pastors in ministry here at Grace, Pastor Jim LaCroix. Jim is a remarkably Godly man, full of wisdom, gentleness, insight, wry humor, and the Holy Spirit. I can’t wait to sit under his preaching, and learn from him as he proclaims God’s Word to us in Romans 12.

As I prepared to go to my knees for him as he prepares to write his sermon today, my mind went to an old prayer from The Valley of Vision. It’s called “A Minister’s Preaching,” and I’ve declared it many Sunday mornings. It reflects this preacher’s heart and desires, for myself and for so many preachers I pray for each Sunday morning.

Could I ask you a favor? Would you please take a few moments to read through this prayer? The language is old school, so bear with it. And then turn the words into your own expression of prayer for the man who will be preaching God’s Word to you this coming Sunday in your church family. He needs your prayers, he is aware of his brokenness, he feels his inadequacies for the calling, he feels the weight of the sermon applying to so many different people at the same time, he’s doing his best to trust in the Holy Spirit to do the work, he experiences the attack and whispers and flaming darts of the evil one, and he loves you with all his heart and wants Jesus to be BIG in your eyes. He carries many other burdens in addition to the preaching, which threaten to distract his preparation and delivery. He’s probably a bit tired. He loves what he does, and couldn’t imagine any other thing with his life, but “to preach, to really preach, is to die naked a little at a time.”

So he needs your prayers.
And he’ll be so grateful if you would.

MY MASTER GOD,
I am desired to preach today,
but go weak and needy to my task;
Yet I long that people might be edified with divine truth,
that an honest testimony might be borne for thee;
Give me assistance in preaching and prayer,
with heart uplifted for grace and unction.
Present to my view things pertinent to my subject,
with fullness of matter and clarity of thought,
proper expressions, fluency, fervency,
a feeling sense of the things I preach,
and grace to apply them to people's consciences.
Keep me conscious all the while of my defects,
and let me not gloat in pride over my performance.
Help me to offer a testimony for thyself,
and to leave sinners inexcusable in neglecting thy mercy.
Give me freedom to open the sorrows of thy people,
and to set before them comforting considerations.
Attend with power the truth preached,
and awaken the attention of my slothful audience.
May thy people be refreshed, melted, convicted, comforted,
and help me use the strongest arguments
drawn from Christ's incarnation and sufferings,
that people might be made holy.

I myself need thy support, comfort, strength, holiness,
that I might be a pure channel of thy grace,
and be able to do something for thee;
Give me then refreshment among thy people,
and help me not to treat excellent matter in a defective way,
or bear a broken testimony to so worthy a redeemer,
or be harsh in treating of Christ's death, its design and end,
from lack of warmth and fervency.
And keep me in tune with thee as I do this work.