Nicknamed the “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Spurgeon is frequently recognized as one of the greatest preachers in history. When asked about the secret to his successful ministry, Spurgeon responded that his people prayed for him. Spurgeon went so far as to call the prayer gathering of the Metropolitan Tabernacle the “power plant” or “boiler room” of his church. There was no doubting the connection between prayer and successful ministry in the mind of Charles Spurgeon.
One of the great needs of the modern church is men and women who fervently pray for the faithfulness of the church. The church’s faithfulness is most often seen in the content of the preaching that flows from its pulpit. Therefore, church members should spend time praying over the preaching of the Word. In the letter to the Colossian church, Paul instructs the believers there to be in prayer for him and those working alongside him as they preach the Word.
Colossians 4:2-4 (ESV) says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison – that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” These instructions on praying for preaching inform the way we pray for those preaching the Gospel today in a few specific ways:
1. We Pray for Open Doors for the Word
Paul tells the Colossian church to pray for the Lord to open a door for the Word. Naturally, this means we should pray for opportunities for the Gospel to be proclaimed. Furthermore, we should pray that the Lord would open hearts, minds, and ears to hear and understand the Gospel as it is preached. Just as God must open the door to preach, He must open the heart to hear the preaching.
Over the last year, the Lord has reminded me never to take a preaching opportunity for granted. Each door the Lord opens is part of God’s providential plan to carry the Gospel to the nations and redeem His people. Thus, we pray for preaching opportunities for faithful preachers not to build the preacher’s fame and platform or to stroke his sinful ego but that the kingdom of God may be built up through the clear preaching of the Gospel and the fruits of conversion. We pray this prayer not only for our own preacher at our local church but also for those preaching the Gospel on the mission field. We pray that God would give faithful Gospel witnesses the opportunity to speak and proclaim the Word of God into the lives of those around them.
2. We Pray for the Gospel to be Preached.
This seems like an elementary thing that should go without saying. And yet, it must be said. An unfortunate element of our sin nature is that there is no shortage of temptations for preachers to preach ineffective things such as self, opinion, works, prosperity, pragmatism, pleasure, or politics. Rather, we must pray for our preacher to stand firmly on the side of biblical faithfulness by God’s grace and proclaim the mystery of Christ, which is the Gospel.
We must pray that our preacher be a Gospel preacher determined to know nothing except Christ and Him crucified. (1 Cor. 2:2) We pray that our pastors have the courage to preach the Gospel even when it may cost them prison and death as it did Paul. We pray that our pastor dares to preach the Gospel even when it is unpopular. We need the pure preaching of the Gospel, that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. Rather than preaching the poverty of man’s wisdom or preaching for self-glorification, pray that the preacher will preach the riches of Christ and for the glory of God.
3. We Pray that the Gospel is Clear
Paul concludes his exhortation to prayer by asking the Colossians to pray that he would make the Gospel clear as he ought to speak. We should pray that every sermon is clear. In Nehemiah 8:8, we read, “They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.” This should be the goal of the faithful expositor: to give the sense of the Scriptures in a clear way so that the hearers understand the meaning of the text. The aim is not to impress academics, entertain audiences, or insult the ignorant. The aim is to clearly communicate the plain meaning of the text. Therefore, we should pray that the preacher would have clarity of mind and speech by God’s grace so that they may communicate clearly.
Naturally, there are innumerable things we should be praying over regarding our pastors. However, when it comes to their preaching, we must pray that the Lord opens the doors, the preaching is Gospel saturated, and the preaching is clear.
Colt Hudson 