This article by Dr. Rosscup gave me much encouragement this morning as I meditated on the need for preachers to bathe in prayer and the ministry of the Word (cf. Acts 6:4).I have found that it's all too easy to grapple with the original languages, the theological intricacies, the historical ramifications, and the practical applications that I sometimes neglect the diligent and pervasive and (most!) important element of prayer and intercession. How could we expect to preach God's Word without engaging in fellowship with Him who has the power to drive our words home to the hearer's hearts!? Let us be reminded of the necessity of prayer in preparation, preaching, and persistent application by this marvelous statement. Quoting EM Bounds, Rossup writes:
"The young preacher has been taught to lay out all his strength on the form, taste, and beauty of his sermon as a mechanical and intellectual product. We have thereby cultivated a vicious taste among the people and raised the clamor for talent instead of grace, eloquence instead of piety, rhetoric instead of revelation, reputation and brilliancy instead of holiness" (34).
Source:
Rosscup, James E. "The Priority of Prayer in Preaching." The Master's Seminary Journal 2, no. 1 (Spring 1991): 21–44.
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