For the first time, I am reading (at a slow pace too) Bryan Chapell’s outstanding book Christ Centered Preaching. In chapter 1, Word and Witness, he is discussing how expository preaching presents the work of the Spirit and highlights our need to be dependent on the Spirit of God. He continues:
Public ministry true to God’s purposes requires devoted private prayer. We should not expect our words to acquaint others with the power of the Spirit if we have not met with him. Faithful preachers plead for God to work as well as for their own accuracy, integrity, and skill in proclaiming his Word. Success in the pulpit ca be the force that leads a preacher from prayerful dependence on the Spirit. Congregational accolades for pulpit excellence may tempt one to put too much confidence in personal gifts, acquired skills, or a particular method of preaching. Succumbing to such a temptation is evidenced not so much by a change in belief as by a change in practice. Neglect of prayer signals serious deficiencies in a ministry even if other signs of success have not diminished. We must always remember that popular acclaim is not necessarily the same as spiritual effectiveness.
Cited in Chapell, Bryan. Christ Centered Preaching, Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005. p.33
Chapell’s words were sobering to me as I ponder my weak prayer life. I need to be devoted and reliant upon God as the gauge of my success rather than any feedback I receive from people.