6. Visualise the people you are speaking to

As you prepare, think about the different types of people who may listen to your message. This would include unbelievers, new Christians, struggling Christians and mature Christians. It includes people young and old, men and women, single and married, employed and unemployed, rich and poor, as well as students and retirees.  Visualise them and their world … and how your message relates to them.

7. Be a vision-caster

In many ways, all teaching and communication has an element of vision casting to it. Seek to connect your message to what God is saying to our church at any given moment. Look for different ways to reinforce our vision and our values.

8. Always be preparing to speak

Have your spiritual RADAR on at all times. Listen and observe what God and people are up to. Capture those thoughts in some form of BUCKETS where you can recall them when needed. Gradually group similar thoughts and ideas together in CHUNKS. The best messages are those where we have taken time to MARINATE everything well in our heart and spirit, so that the message flows naturally from within. Good preparation increases confidence. [To read more on these concepts, click here]

9. Always speak for a response

Always preach for a response. Seek to motivate and inspire people to change and grow. As you prepare your message, clearly think through what you want people to do about what they’ve heard. What should they believe? What should they not believe? How should they think? How should they not think? How should they behave? How should they not behave? Seek to convince (or persuade) them to believe, think or do the right thing with the help of the Holy Spirit. Ensure that the content of your message is practical, informing people ‘how’ not just ‘what’.

Pray about a specific area of response you should call for. Believe that the Spirit will work with the Word as it is being preached. Think through the kind of response you are looking for (private, raised hand, standing up, coming forward, see someone afterward). Be clear with what the response is for and exactly what you are asking people to do. Have faith that people will respond and that life change will occur. Be confident, give people time to respond but don’t pressure people.

We must faithfully preach God's Word by motivating and enabling them to change. We are accountable to people, not for people. Each person is personally accountable for what they do about what they hear.

10. Bathe everything in prayer

Seek to be a prophetic speaker, in tune with God’s heart and mind in such a way that the message connects directly with what is occurring in a person’s life and world. Our goal is transformation not more information. 

There are few things more satisfying in life than knowing that you have influenced others in a positive way by helping them reach their potential in God. As we continually imrpove our craft, we can communicate to in such a way as to change lives.

P.S. Visit the "Preaching" category of this BLOG for similar articles.