Preparing the Heart

A wise minister once told me that preparing the heart is more important than preparing the message. I must admit, I really didn't understand him at the time. I knew that he meant that a preacher must be "prayed up" and "studied up," but I don't think I fully comprehended what that meant. I think I am beginning to understand.

Let me see if I can explain what I think he meant. Think of a world class neurosurgeon getting ready to perform a delicate procedure on a patient's brain. He has many tools that he can use. The human head can be opened with a club as easily as with a saw, but the club would most likely do more harm than good. Likewise, a minister or believer who is unskilled and untrained in the word of God may be used by him to bring someone to repentance, but they might also drive some people away.

We are called to rightly handle the word, which at the most basic level means that we interpret it accurately. But, I think it means more than that. I believe it means that we are to handle in a manner that is consistent with its teachings. That means we are to read it, memorize it, meditate on it, speak it, hear it, trust it, and live it. We have not rightly divided the Word, if we are not practicing what it preaches.

Thus, ministers and believers must wrestles with the Word to fully grasp its meaning. Part of that is the preparation of the heart through humble submission to the Word. As we accept, by faith, that the Word is flawless and our only source of authority, we begin the process of training our heart to submit to God's Word. Through the Word, he speaks and we listen with the intent to obey. Thus, a message is never ready to be preached apart from a prepared heart. A minister may present a sermon that is factually accurate, doctrinally sound, and pleasing to hear, but all of that will miss the mark if the minister has not set the sights properly.

You might say, "That's well and good for ministers, but I just an average believer. I don't prepare or preach messages." While that may be true, in some since, it falls short of what God intends for you. As a believer, you are a minister. You may never preach a sermon, but that doesn't mean God doesn't want to use you to speak to others about him. God may want you to rebuke a loved one who is struggling in sin. If there is sin in your life that is unconfessed and unrepented of, you most likely will balk at the idea. Like Moses you'll make excuses as to why it should be you. But if you are waging war against sin in your life, you will be able to find the boldness to speak to them, not as their judge, but as their friend. The call to prepare the heart is a call to every believer, because you never know when God will send a divine appointment your way. You don't want to be caught unprepared.