Praying Preaching Passion Down
Praying Preaching Passion Down
We are in a series of posts about preaching with passion. You can check out the previous posts by going to this link. In this post I want to consider how to go about praying preaching passion down from heaven.
The Early Church Prayed for Passion in Preaching
I often turn to the book of Acts to regain hope at what can happen when God’s people get filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus, of course, promised that they would be filled with power. Acts 1:8 gives us this command of Jesus:
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The disciples respond by gathering to pray continually for this power. Then, we read in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples, that Peter preaches an empowered message. Thousands responded.
The Prayer for Passion
The story in Acts goes on to tell us that the Jewish leaders threatened the Apostles after attempting to stop their preaching. The disciples response inspires me, as recorded in Acts 4:
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
In the face of the threats, they prayed for boldness, and the Spirit came again. They were praying passion down from heaven.
Paul’s Prayer For Passion
The Apostle Paul was aware that boldness and passion weren’t natural gifts. They came from the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. So, he asked people to be about praying passion down from heaven. Read these 
requests for prayer from Paul:
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
We don’t know a great deal about Paul’s style. Did he write out his sermons and read them? Doubtful. Did he speak extemporaneously, with no notes? Did he use powerful gestures?
We just don’t know a great deal about how he went about the act of preaching, but we do know that he was very aware that he needed a sense of anointing if he was going to preach well, and he therefore asked others to join his prayers for boldness and passion.
Are you Praying Passion Down?
I’ve considered elsewhere in this blog the importance of prayer for the preacher (here’s a link to that series). Ask people to pray for passion and boldness for you. You can ask people to be part of the process of praying preaching passion down for your ministry. God wants you to experience passion in your preaching. He will respond.
For further reflection, here’s a post that describes 7 habits you can cultivate to become more passionate in your preaching.
