Ever wonder how preachers prepare their messages? The preaching brother (P.B., for short) whose letter was cited last week (see the two articles from August 21, 2016) commented on some additional topics. One of those involved a conversation with a Baptist preacher who lives in the same town. P.B. asked him how he studied in preparing to preach. Here is the answer he gave: “I read a text, pray about it, think about it, and take a little nap. God tells me what it means while I’m asleep. When I wake up, I know what to preach.”
How interesting! Who wouldn’t want to hear some of those sermons that God allegedly gave him? Now, surprisingly, there’s a little bit of sense in doing what he suggested; however, God is not providing messages. Most people call this the incubation period. Many preachers think ahead about what topic or what text they want to use on Sunday. They might have a thesis or some points in mind that need to be made. Most probably do some thinking, praying, and reading as they prepare their sermons, usually beginning in the early part of the week. While participating in other things, the mind is always at work—even while asleep. Usually, when it is time to sit down and write the message, clarity of thought has been achieved, and one begins to set forth his ideas in a logical fashion.
This is a natural process, however—not God dumping the entire message in someone’s laptop. And it does not always work. Sometimes, all that percolating results in nothing intelligible, and the well-rested preacher finds himself staring at a blank page and wondering, “Okay, what’s Plan B?” But even if he is ready to begin, it is frequently necessary to look things up along the way. We all have lexicons to find the definitions of certain Greek words; God does not give those out miraculously. Likewise, concordances prove helpful, as well as other resources, to explain various references that are being used. Those “relying on God” for material are only going to end up repeating what they have said before—which the listeners have probably already heard.
This Baptist preacher’s claim is reminiscent of what one Pentecostal preacher once said. Present were some of his members who were intermingled with a denominational preacher and a few of his “flock.” The conversation turned to the way each man prepared his weekly message. The denominational fellow described how many hours he spent each week in sermon preparation, whereupon the Pentecostal boasted, “The Holy Spirit gives my sermon every week. He gives it to me while I’m speaking. I never spend any time in sermon