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Five Prayers for Every Preacher

In the midst of the countdown to Sunday, I'm learning to bathe my sermons with these five specific prayers.

Preaching, week in and week out, can be a grind. I remember hearing Bill Hybels refer to it this way, "You can only hit the same nail for so long before it gets old." I was younger when I heard his comment, and remember thinking "I can't imagine a day when I won't be absolutely energized by getting up to preach on a Sunday morning." Now I know better. Don't get me wrong. It's a worthy endeavor and I feel undeniably called to it. But when you speak almost every week, sometimes multiple messages, it can start to wear you down. And when it does my default is to focus more on content (What do I want to say?) than on my own spiritual engagement (Who do I want to be?).

So in the midst of the countdown to Sunday, I'm learning to bathe my sermons with these five specific prayers. I wish I could tell you I pray these prayers diligently every week that I speak; I don't. But when I do, I'm better prepared to wrestle down what I think God may be prompting ...