The Prayer of Every Church Planting Preacher

One of the reasons I’m drawn to the opportunity to plant a new church is the responsibility I feel to steward the preaching gift that God has assigned to me. Those who know me best and those from whom I have sought counsel about how to spend this season of my life have consistently said, “You need to be preaching.” And while I would concur that preaching is part of my gift set, I have often wondered, “If preaching is a gift, why does the preparation to preach feel like such hard work?” 

I am in the middle of about 10-15 hours of preparation for the sermon I will preach this Sunday. Why would I work so hard at preaching? Apart from the weightiness of the responsibility, there is a practical reason. Carey Nieuwhof has stated that the number one factor people consider when choosing a church is the quality of the preaching. He cites that 86% of people choose a church based on the quality of its preaching. That puts a fair bit of pressure on us preacher types! 

But, preaching alone will not open the ears of people who are deaf to the Word of God. For that, we need the power of prayer. Those of us who spend hours preparing to preach better saturate those hours in prayer, for there is no power in prayerless preaching. Only God can give ears to those who hear the preached Word. 

Charles Spurgeon was a pastor who knew the power of the preached Word. But he also knew the power of prayer. This week, I found one of his prayers recorded in his daily devotional book, Morning and Evening, which perfectly captures the heart of every church planting preacher like me. 

“O God, bless our efforts to evangelize our neighbors. Give us a greater interest in this work so that there would be plenty of men and women who would gladly teach the young. Im­press this need upon your people right now, Lord. Move men who have the gifts and ability to preach the gospel.

Many people live in places where there is no gospel preaching near them. Lord, make them preach themselves. Will you move some people with such power that they cannot keep quiet about the gospel? 

O Lord, stir up those who live in this vast city. Arouse us to the spiritual destitution of the masses. O God, help us by some means—any means, by every means!—to get at the ears of people for Christ’s sake so that we may reach their hearts. 

We do send up a very loud and impassioned cry to you on behalf of the millions that enter no place of Christian worship but violate its sanctity and despise its blessed message with their absence. Lord, wake up our city, we beg you! 

Send us another Jonah! Send us another John the Baptist! Oh, that the Christ himself would send multitudes of laborers into this ready harvest, because the harvest truly is plentiful, but there are few laborers. 

O God, save this city. Save this country. Save all countries! Let your kingdom come, and may every knee bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Our most earnest prayers go up to heaven to you now for great sinners, for men and women who are polluted and depraved by the filthiest of sins. With sovereign mercy, make a raid among them. Come and capture some of these sinners so that they may become great lovers of the one who will surely forgive them. Make them great champions for the cross. 

Above all, Holy Spirit, descend in more power. God, would you flood the land until there are streams of righteousness? Is there not a promise that you “will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground” [Isa. 44:3]? 

Lord, make your people pray. Stir up the church to greater prayerfulness. Now, as you have commanded, we pray for the people among whom we live. Let the people praise you, O God! Yes. Let the people praise you for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen and amen.”