Welcome to The On Preaching Podcast, the podcast dedicated to helping you to preach faithfully, clearly, and better.
My first preaching professor, James Borror, challenged his students to be like roots, not pipes. Water passes through pipes without any positive effect on the pipe. In fact, the pipe rusts over time. But as water passes through the roots, the roots get stronger.
Preachers should be like roots, not pipes. One way to keep your roots deep and strong is to have a daily quiet time with God. In this episode, H.B. gives practical advice for the preacher’s devotional life.
Separate your personal devotions from your sermon preparation. Your sermon preparation should be devotional, not just exegetical. However, there should be a firewall between your personal devotions and sermon preparation. Your time with God should be nonutilitarian – just you and him.
Schedule a time for your devotions and stick to it. As in most things, what doesn’t get scheduled does not get done. Schedule a daily time, preferably in the morning, for prayer and Bible intake. Then, once you schedule that time, stick to the plan. Don’t let other things bump God from your schedule.
Have a plan. Don’t start your devotional time by trying to figure out what you will read and pray about that day. Establish a prayer list and Bible reading plan. It will also be helpful to have some God-centered devotional material to read, including a hymnal. Also, make time to journal and memorize scripture.
Expect Resistance. View your devotional time as spiritual warfare. The flesh, the world, and the devil will do all they can to stop you from having a healthy and growing devotional time with the Lord. Be prepared to face resistance and stand your ground to protect your fellowship and communion with God.
Be careful about how you speak publicly about your private devotions. Those whom you preach to can benefit from what you are learning during your devotional time. But be careful about how you speak about your devotional time in public, taking heed of the Lord’s warnings in Matthew 6:1-19.
Make yourself accountable to someone. If you find it difficult to maintain a meaningful quiet time, ask a friend to hold you accountable. Two are better than one (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). Open up to someone that you trust, who will pray with you and encourage you in your daily devotional time.
Don’t give up on your devotional time. It will not always be easy. Sometimes you will like it, other times you won’t. There will be seasons when you feel as dry as dust. Keep pressing on. Always pray and do not lose heart (Luke 18:1). Do not grow weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9). Do’t give up!
What do you do to maintain and sustain your devotional life?
HBC2 RESOURCES:
- On Preaching by H.B. Charles Jr.
- On Pastoring by H.B. Charles Jr.
- On Worship by H.B. Charles Jr.
- It Happens After Prayer by H.B. Charles Jr.
- The Difference Jesus Makes by H.B. Charles Jr.
- Treasures of Truth by H.B. Charles Jr.
