You Can Learn To Preach With Passion

You Can Learn To Preach with Passion

In the past couple of posts we looked at the reality that much preaching lacks passion.  The bottom line is this: you can learn to preach with passion in your ministry.  It is not something that only a few people are gifted to do.  There are several “secrets” to this, however, and that is what we will focus on in this and the upcoming posts.

Preaching With Passion is Spirit-Filled Preaching

The first thing to know about passionate preaching is that it is “inspiring”.  The word “inspired” literally means the spirit within.

I will be the first to say that there is much to learn from communication experts.  If you are a frequent reader of this blog you have noted many techniques that come from the larger world of communication.  However, that is not enough for passionate preaching.  You see, we preachers are not the leaders of a business, and we are not politicians.  Those people are more effective if they learn to speak with passion.  However, we are people who are dealing with the Word of God.  Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word is “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

In other words, when we deal with the Word, and when we prepare our sermons, we are touching the holy, empowered Word of God.  This kind of work demands spiritual power.

Learning to Preach With Passion Means

First of all, it means being in touch with and a channel for the Holy Spirit.  I like the way Alex Montoya put it: “Passion originates in the heart of God processed through the heart of man.  Our God is a consuming fire,

awesome in power.  When He speaks, the earth quakes.  If we would shake the hearts of men, we must be channels through which God can address the hearts of men.” (Preaching With Passion, p. 22).

So, how do you grow in your ability to tap into the spiritual power of God?  What follows are some of the things you can do to increase the spiritual power of your preaching.  Again, you can learn to preach with passion if you do these things:

Learning Confession

My wife was in a conversation with someone after a service that I led.  I had included a time for silent confession of sin.  The woman speaking with my wife said something like, “I can never come up with anything when we do that.  My wife’s response?  “That’s pride.”  This woman had not learned to allow the Spirit to search her heart and mind.  Learning to confess is powerful.

Years ago I taught a class on facets of prayer.  One of those facets is to engage in confession.  We talked about David’s statement in Psalm 139:

Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

We talked about praying that prayer and then listening to the voice of the Spirit.  One woman came back the next week and told about spending an extended time on her face before God as he revealed to her all the attitudes that were less than what He wanted for her.  And then the joy of God’s grace hit her more powerfully than ever before.

Learning Humility

When we are able to come before God with humility, knowing that we are sinners, we are able to come to our people with the amazing story of God’s grace, and the Spirit will give power.  Pride is a barrier to power.  So, how do you learn to experience humility before God and others?  Here are some steps creatively presented.  You can learn to preach with passion, but it begins with dealing with pride and experiencing humility.  More about this next time.