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The Preacher and His Prayer Life: The Power of Prayer
By Drew von Neida
“God has not called you to preach, until He has first called you to prayer.”
This is not a clever slogan—it is a sobering truth. In a day when the power of prayer in ministry is often neglected and preaching can be platformed before it is proven, and pulpits filled before prayer closets are entered, we must remember that the man who would speak for God must first learn to speak with God.
The Power of Prayer: Preaching Without It Is Presumption
To preach without prayer is to presume upon the very God whose Word you claim to proclaim. It is to treat sacred things as common, to prepare sermons the way the world prepares speeches—through wit, structure, and self-confidence rather than brokenness, dependence, and divine power.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “What is the chief end of preaching? To give men a sense of God and His presence.” But how can a man give what he does not possess? How can you lead souls into the presence of God if you do not dwell there yourself?
The Prayer Closet Is the Forge of the Preacher
You may have homiletical precision and theological acumen. You may quote the Puritans and parse Greek verbs. But if you are not a man of prayer, your ministry will be a shadow—eloquent but empty, sound but fruitless.
Prayer is not a supplement to the preacher’s ministry—it is the soul of it. The prayer closet is where sermons are born in tears, forged in reverence, and bathed in holy fear. That sacred silence before God is where pride is pierced, motives are refined, and power is granted.
The preacher is not the power; he is the vessel. The power is in the God who answers prayer.
Christ, the Pattern for the Preacher
Christ was a man of prayer. Before He taught the crowds, He withdrew to lonely places to commune with His Father. Before He chose the twelve, He spent the night in prayer. In Gethsemane, He prayed with blood and agony before He bore the weight of our sin.
If the sinless Son of God leaned upon prayer, how dare any preacher imagine he can do without it?
Prayer Fuels Preaching That Pierces
The preacher who prays little should expect little. Bold preaching without prayer becomes bravado. Compassion without prayer becomes sentimentality. Conviction without prayer becomes cruelty.
But the man who prays will find his preaching clothed with unction. His words may be plain, but they will carry the weight of another world. His heart may tremble, but it will burn with truth. His aim will not be to impress, but to awaken the dead and strengthen the saints.
Brothers, Let Us Return to the Secret Place
You want to preach? Then first, pray.
Pray until your soul is bent before the majesty of God. Pray until your heart breaks for your people. Pray until the Word grips you before you ever grip a pulpit. Do not preach one word until you have wept before the throne of grace. Let your ministry be born, not on a stage, but on your knees.
God has not called you to preach, until He has first called you to prayer.
Let that be the line etched in your conscience, and may your sermons be the echo of your secret communion with God.
Reflection Questions
- Does your private prayer life match the seriousness of your public ministry?
- Are your sermons born in dependence on God or in self-reliance?
- How will you cultivate the secret place before you step into the pulpit?
Explore more in this series: The Discipline and Power of Prayer
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