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Sometimes My Preaching Stinks: I Don’t Have God’s Message November 12, 2007 By Travis K Miller
Last week, the challenges of two particular facets of preparation and presentation for speaking, preaching, and teaching Scripture were discussed. Four scenarios were outlined. This week is an investigation into what happens when we don’t feel we have God’s message to different perceptions, while next week we discuss what happens when we feel we have God’s message, yet that is not always the congregation’s perception.
1. Sometimes I don’t feel like I have God’s message and the audience doesn’t think I do either.
First, if you don’t know it yet, you better accept it now—there will be times when you are simply not sure that what you are about to say is what God would have you say. This is an uncomfortable place to be. Let’s never be satisfied with this position. We can recognize it and acknowledge it, but we shouldn’t be happy with it.
So what should we do?
We can accept the inherent power in all of God’s Word. Even though we don’t know that we have “heard from God,” we can know that we have studied and prepared something from God’s Word. While we don’t have the confirmation in our spirit that we would like, we can be sure that what we are presenting is the Word of God. And because of that we can rest in the fact that the Word of God never returns void. If we are sharing the Word of God, we can be sure that it is profitable.
Also, any time that we come to the people unsure in our spirit, we must take time afterwards for introspection. We need to take a good, prayerful look at ourselves. In order to do this honestly, we must be truthful with ourselves about our own spiritual weaknesses.
There are some personalities that lend themselves to certain spiritual disciplines. Some people’s personalities make it easier for them to pray than for others. Other’s personalities make it easier for them to study. Neither of these personalities is excused from any one spiritual discipline; however, we can help ourselves if we are aware of our strengths and weaknesses. Thus, when I do not feel that I have heard from God, I need to be aware of my own weakness and then ask the Lord if I fell short in that area. If I find it easiest to pray, did I not study enough? If I find it easy to study, did I not pray enough? We need to be open with God, and let him speak to us about our needs for personal growth.
Finally, even if we don’t feel like we have a Word from the Lord, we shouldn’t tell the audience! Beware of statements such as: “I’m not sure that this is the message that I should share tonight, but I’m going to give it a try anyway” or “I prayed and fasted all week, but I really don’t have anything specific for you from the Word today.” Making these kinds of statements is like letting the hot air out of a balloon—there’s no way it’s going to take off now. We mustn’t steal people’s faith.
On the other hand, we mustn’t lie to them either. When we don’t feel it, we can’t take the microphone and start spewing revival rhetoric as if we are full of faith. That’s disingenuous, and most people will be able to tell that we are full of wind. We may fool a few, but, if we make a practice of this, people will mark us as a dog that’s all bark and no bite. In this situation, it’s best to keep our lack of confidence to ourselves because this next scenario might be about to take place.
2. Sometimes I don’t feel like I have God’s message, but the listeners react wholeheartedly anyway.
Oh yes, this can happen. And it does. Even when the speaker does not have any particular feeling of anointing or the leading of the Spirit, the audience may still respond as if he does. How can this be?
Teachers, speakers, and preachers must always remember that God can do things without telling us. Even when I don’t feel drenched with anointing, God can still do His work. He can speak to people without me even knowing about it. For the speaker, this serves as a reality check. It can and should serve to remind us that God is in control and that He is sovereign. He’s God. He can do as He pleases. And on some occasions, He might choose not to tell us what He’s up to.
Furthermore, just because I haven’t touched God like I wanted to doesn’t mean that the class or congregation hasn’t touched Him. Good people were still in the prayer room before service. They were still asking God to minister. They still prepared their hearts to hear the Word of God. So while I am worried that I don’t have what I should, there are fine people who are sincerely listening for a Word from God, and, because of their desire, they are fed. Even though I don’t think that I’ve brought any food.
It’s also a good thing for speakers to remember that human feelings can deceive us. Just because I don’t feel like I have God’s inspiration doesn’t necessarily make that true. Feelings can be affected by natural things in addition to spiritual things. Being sick or tired can affect my feelings. Even distressed relationships with family, friends, or saints can affect my feelings. All of these natural factors can negatively affect my feelings for the service.
For instance, I recall struggling with my feelings when I first began preaching a series of services in a revival. There were times prior to a Sunday evening, after I had already preached three or four services that my spirit was tired of being there and I just wanted to go home. The revival was scheduled to end on Sunday night, but the evangelist was finished Sunday morning! I felt like I was facing a problem.
Finally, I got the nerve to talk to a mentor about what I was feeling on some Sunday evenings. When I told him, he just chuckled and said, “Oh, yeah.” I was so surprised. This was a man who had evangelized successfully for many years. It was eye-opening to discover that I was not the only one dealing with this challenge.
So how should we react when this happens? We can understand that, just because the speaker is finished, doesn’t mean that God is finished. And even if we are unable to get our spirit charged, we can study hard and go in there and give it our best effort. Then place it in the hands of God. It’s His church. It’s His class. It’s His people. And as mentioned before, He can and will do as He sees fit.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2007, Travis K. Miller
---------- Travis K. Miller has been a husband for 21 years, a father for 19 years, and a cyclist for 7 years. On occasion, he speaks to audiences here and there.
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