Preaching with a Passion!

Friday morning, October 12, 2007
Because of the nature of this week, I have spent very little time listening, watching, and waiting in preparation for Sunday’s message; in other words, I have been distracted from my normal routine. Thankfully, I have learned that distractions are sometimes blessings, rather than a curses, and I think this is the case in my being so “distracted” this week. Now that I can take the time to reflect, it is clear to me that the events of this week did a much better job at keeping me focused upon Him, than following my normal routine could have ever done. Of course, the question I am presently raising is this: how is God using the events of this week to influence my understanding and my preaching of the text for Sunday’s message?
You will probably have to be a “preacher with a passion for preaching” to understand this but I will offer it: a true preacher preaches out of the overflow of his/her heart not out of the abundance of someone else’s heart. In other words, until the text become a part of the preacher’s life, the preacher ought not to preach from it. Unless the message comes from the overflow of the well-spring of life within the preacher (living waters), it comes from stagnant waters, waters that bring death, not life. As you might imagine, this mindset motivates the preacher to listen, watch, and wait, even in the midst of the most powerful of distractions; however, doing so requires that the distractions be seen as blessings, rather than curses, and that is no easy task!
Thankfully, He has His own way of “turning water into wine” and I am really thankful that I know that bit of truth; otherwise, I would be one frustrated preacher—especially in the present moment and with the present text! For the life of me, I cannot understand how the text for Sunday is related to the events of this week, at least in the moment; however, I am expecting Him to begin to show me, and by Sunday to pour from the abundance of my heart, His message for His people. I will now listen, watch, and wait!
Just for the record, here are the first two verses of Sunday’s text: “Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world. By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God—has God for its source” (1 John 4:1-2’; Amplified Bible). Yes, I could probably “preach” from these verses but mere preaching is not the goal; the goal is to preach from the overflow of my heart, and that means this: if He doesn’t come through with the message, we might as well sit and be quiet, until He does.
As you can see, your prayers will be greatly appreciated, especially in light of the fact that the effectual, fervent prayers of the righteous produce incredible fruit! Please remember that prayer is not about our efforts to talk God into doing what we want Him to do, but about our being motivated to desire His will over our own.
Enjoy Him today!