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There are two extreme tendencies in the ministry of a preacher. One is to withdraw from contact with people. The monk and the hermit are examples of this. They isolated themselves from people in order to have more fellowship with God. They were, of course, mistaken in this. Our fellowship with God is only beneficial if we share its precious blessings with others.
The other tendency is to make the ministry as popular as possible. The preacher is then no longer a man of God, but a man of interesting matters, a man of the people. He doesn't pray because his ministry is for the benefit of the people. If he can mobilize people, awaken an interest in them, an interest in the work of the church, then he is satisfied. His personal relationship with God plays no role in his work. Prayer has little place in his plans.
Without much prayer, it is impossible for the preacher to remain in harmony with the divine nature of his high calling.
The priority of prayer
Spurgeon says: “Of course, the preacher is distinguished above all as a man of prayer. He prays like an ordinary Christian, otherwise he would be a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians, otherwise he would be unfit for the office he has assumed. If you as preachers are not people of prayer, you are to be pitied. If you become lukewarm in your devotion, not only are you to be pitied, but also your people, and the day will come when you will stand ashamed and dismayed. All our libraries and offices are insignificant compared to our prayer rooms. Our fasting and prayer times in the sanctuary are indeed great days. Never is the gate of heaven wider open; never are our hearts closer to glory than then.”
Prayer, which is a service, is not merely a little prayer added like spices to give something a pleasant flavor; rather, this prayer must live within a person, shaping their very being. Prayer is not a secondary duty, not a piecemeal activity performed occasionally, snatched away from work and other life obligations.
Rather, it means that our best time and energy must be given to the Lord. It does not mean that prayer in the study should be pushed aside by the obligations of office. It means that prayer must come first , followed by the study and official duties. In this way, prayer enlivens and makes study and work effective. The prayer that is to influence ministry must be the guiding principle in life.
The type of prayer
Prayer, which gives color and direction to character, is not a pleasant, fleeting pastime. It must penetrate the heart and life like Christ's "loud cries and tears." It must stir a great longing in the soul, as it did in Paul. It must be an inner fire and power like James's "effective and fervent prayer."
Prayer is not a trivial habit instilled in us while we were still clinging to our mothers' apron strings, nor is it the fifteen-minute grace before an hour-long luncheon. Prayer is a most serious undertaking of our most important years. It demands more time and appetite than our longest meals and grandest feasts. Much time must be devoted to prayer, which greatly enriches our preaching. The way we pray will determine the way we preach. Prayer gives preaching power, anointing, and lasting effect. In every ministry that has accomplished good, prayer has always been essential.
The preacher must above all be a man of prayer. His heart must be trained in the school of prayer. Only there can the heart learn to preach. No amount of learning can replace prayer. No diligence, no study, no gifts will compensate for the lack of persistent prayer.
Speaking to people about God is a great thing, but speaking to God about people is even greater. Those who haven't learned to speak to God about people will never be able to speak to people about God well and successfully. Not only that: words without prayer are deadly words.
The effect of prayer
Prayer must be a clear, all-pervading force and an essential component in the preacher's life, as well as in his study and from the pulpit. It must not play a subordinate role. To practice self-denying prayer, the preacher should look to his Master, who rose before daybreak and prayed in a solitary place. The preacher's study should be a prayer chamber, a Bethel, an altar, and a ladder upon which every thought can ascend heavenward before reaching the people. Then every part of the sermon is filled with heavenly air and profound in its effect because God had encountered the preacher in his study.
Prayer is not a secondary duty. It is our best time and energy, which we dedicate to the Lord.
A locomotive never moves until the fire is lit. Likewise, preaching, with all its mechanics, perfection, and polish, is dead in terms of its spiritual impact unless prayer has lit the fire and created the steam. The structure, subtlety, and power of preaching are like barren stone without the mighty impulse of prayer. The preacher must draw God closer to people through prayer before he can draw people closer to God through his words. The preacher must have had access to God before he can have access to people.
The urgency of prayer
It is necessary to reiterate that prayer as a mere habit, as a routine or professional activity, is something dead and lazy. Such prayer has nothing to do with the prayer we are calling for here. We emphasize true prayer, which includes and ignites every spiritual element in the preacher's being—prayer born from living union with Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit, springing from overflowing sources of tender compassion and tireless concern for humanity's eternal welfare, a thorough understanding of the preacher's difficult task and the urgent need for God's help. Prayer founded on this earnest and profound conviction is the only true prayer. Preaching characterized by such prayer is the only preaching that sows the seeds of eternal life in people's hearts and equips them for heaven.
There may well be preaching that is popular, inspiring, or imbued with much intellectual and spiritual power, which appears good even though little or no prayer underlies it. But preaching that achieves God's purposes must be born of prayer, from the text to the delivery, and must remain alive like a seed in the hearts of the listeners through the preacher's prayers.
We may excuse the spiritual poverty of our preaching in many ways, but the true secret lies in the lack of earnest prayer for God's presence in the power of the Holy Spirit. There are countless preachers who can preach masterfully, but the effects are only temporary. They do not effectively penetrate the realms of the Spirit where the terrifying battle between heaven and hell is waged because they have not been made powerful and victorious through prayer.
The preachers who achieve great results for God are those who, in their supplication, have overcome God before they dared to overcome men. The preachers who are most powerful in their private prayer rooms before God are also most powerful in the pulpit before the people.
The meaning of prayer
Preachers are human and are exposed to, and often caught in, the strong currents of human desires. Prayer is spiritual work, and human nature does not love strenuous spiritual work. Human nature wants to sail to heaven on calm seas with a favorable wind. Prayer is humbling work. It humbles the mind and pride, crucifies boasting, and signs off on our spiritual bankruptcy. All this is hard for flesh and blood to bear. Thus we come to one of the most egregious evils of our time, perhaps of all time: little or no prayer. Of these two evils, perhaps little prayer is worse than no prayer at all. Little prayer is, in a sense, hypocrisy, a release of conscience, a charade, and a self-deception.
How little we value prayer becomes clear from how little time we allocate to it. The time the average preacher devotes to prayer hardly registers in their daily schedule. It's not uncommon to see a preacher praying in his pajamas by his bed, and soon after, he's in bed. Perhaps he might hastily say a few words in the morning before getting dressed. How weak and fruitless such prayer is compared to the time and energy that holy men in the Bible devoted to prayer! How poor and insignificant our insignificant prayer is compared to the practices of true men of God throughout history! To those who make prayer their primary focus and dedicate time to it, God entrusts the keys to His kingdom. Such prayer is the sign and seal of the great leaders in God's kingdom and the pledge of the overcoming powers with which God crowns their work.
The preacher is commissioned to both preach and pray. His mission is incomplete if he does not do both.
The preacher may speak with all the eloquence of men and angels; but if he cannot pray with a faith that calls all of heaven to his aid, his preaching concerning the everlasting praise of God and the salvation of immortal souls will be like "a resounding gong" and "a clanging cymbal."
EM Bounds (1835 – 1913)
From "Strength Through Prayer" with kind permission of IHREMEDIA