Preaching With Passion Comes Through Communion With God
Preaching With Passion Comes Through Communion
In the last post we considered that preaching with passion comes through an awareness of our own sin. In this post we’ll see that preaching with passion comes through communion with God and his people.
You Can Fake Passion
I know this well. There was a point in my life and career as a pastor and leader that I was wandering. I won’t go into all the details of that, but I did realize at the time that I had found a formula for preaching that was effective in reaching people. While I was struggling in my own relationship with God, I found it possible to keep the formula, which included some put-on passion, even though internally, the genuine passion was draining out of me. Here’s a truth for you to realize: preaching with passion comes through communion with God and with his people.
How Preaching With Passion Comes Through Communion
One of the things that I realized as I painfully realized what had happened in my life, I began to look at the causes. One of the people with whom I consulted was a counselor. Several other friends 
came alongside me during that time as well.
As I reviewed with these people what went into my personal failure, one of the things that jumped quickly to the forefront of my consideration was the fact that I had begun slipping in my practice of a daily time with God. I loved basketball, and had the opportunity to play 3 mornings a week with a group of guys who were as passionate as I was about the sport. We’d get up early, play from 7 am to 8 am, and then head home to shower and get to work. That time-frame began to cut into time usually reserved for sitting quietly with God, reading and reflecting.
The Passion Returns
The passion began to return when I began to refocus on my relationship with God. I remember the sense of honor I had when I got to preach again. The message assigned by a friend who invited me to preach in his church was about listening to God–a great topic. As I began to preach that evening, I remember the sense of excitement and wonder that came over me. I was passionate about preaching, certainly, but more about a God who communicates with us and invites us into relationship. Passion came through my communion with that God who forgave me, loved me, and restored me.
Developing Communion With God
Schedule Time
So how do you go about doing this?
- Schedule time with God. In the busyness of life, it is necessary to “Get God on your calendar”. Some have found it beneficial to actually put the date on the calendar the way they would every other business or personal engagement. I have found that if I don’t schedule time in with God as the first thing of my day, it often doesn’t happen. Others find lunch time or early evening. But find a time.
Practice the Presence
- The second part of communion with God is to expand it beyond just an event in the day. Rather, to bring this communion into your daily life. Here’s how Rick Warren put it in one of the posts to his congregation:”You will never develop a close relationship with God by just attending church once a week or even by just having a daily quiet time. Friendship with God is built by sharing all your life experiences with him. Of course it is important to establish the habit of a daily devotional time with God, but God wants more than an appointment in your schedule. He wants to be included in every activity, every conversation, every problem, and even every thought.
You can carry on a continuous, open-ended conversation with God throughout your day, talking with him about whatever you are doing or thinking at that moment. The habit of “praying without ceasing” from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 means conversing with God while shopping, driving, working, or performing any other everyday task.”
Admittedly, this takes practice. But you’ll find that it comes naturally the more you practice it. Preaching with passion comes through communion with God.
In the next post, we’ll consider further how to develop passion in your preaching. For now, here’s a reflection that might help you.
