The Importance of Prayer to Preaching

If you are a preacher of God's Word, let this spur you on to pray more urgently as you prepare.  If you are listener of God's Word, let this encourage you to pray regularly for your pastor and other preachers as they prepare.

While it's true that there has been a significant resurgence of biblical preaching, I'm not sure this has been accompanied by a resurgence in praying - and especially not prayer about preaching.

Gradually, we seem to be losing sight of the fact that God uses weak and sinful people, and that he uses them only by grace. Yes, we may sow, plant, and water - but only God gives growth. That's true in your local church and mine. It's also true of every podcast and e-book and conference address under the sun. God doesn't use people because they are gifted. He uses people (even preachers) because he is gracious. Do we actually believe that? If we do believe it, then we will pray - we will pray before we speak, and we will pray for others before they speak. It's that simple.

--Gary Millar and Phil Campbell, Saving Eutychus: How to Preach God's Word and Keep People Awake