Everyone agrees that we must pray for preachers, but what should we ask for? Some will instantly reply, ‘for unction’ but nowhere in Scripture are we told to do this. In the Old Testament unction (or anointing) with oil indicated that a man was set apart and equipped for God’s service, as prophet, priest or king. Christ, the Messiah, to whom all these lesser ‘anointed ones’ pointed, was anointed when He received the Holy Spirit at His baptism (Luke 4:16-21 cf. Is. 61:1). A similar one-off event is mentioned for believers, all believers not just preachers (2 Cor. 1:21) linked with the gift of the Spirit as ‘seal’ and ‘earnest’ in v22. This enables us to ‘stand firm in Christ’. The other reference is 1 John 2:20 and 27, where the apostle assures his readers that they ‘all’ have this anointing, so that they can know the truth and discern error. This is not a special gift of preaching, to be repeatedly prayed for, but a permanent gift for each believer, something (someone) which (whom) each believer has and keeps.

So far, so negative! What then, positively, should we pray for? We may helpfully divide this topic into two parts: praying for the preacher and praying for the hearers. Thus our title is praying for the preaching, not just for the preacher. The apostle Paul gives us directions in each case.

Praying for the preacher

In Colossians 4:3 he asks his readers to pray for ‘a door for our message’: opportunities for preaching. Failure to take opportunities is often due to fear, which leads to Paul’s second request. In Ephesians 6:19-20 he asks for boldness. This word is sometimes translated ‘liberty’ and treated as if it meant a special God-given eloquence. However, the context is opposition and persecution; going on preaching was dangerous and required boldness, granted by the Spirit, in answer to prayer (see also Acts 4:29-31). This the modern preacher also needs, if he is not to be intimidated. We may, however, have opportunity and boldness, but not clarity. Paul writes, ‘Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should’ (Col. 4:3-4). There is a tendency in some quarters to regard clarity as being inimical to warmth and power. The reverse is the case, as the apostle well knew.

Praying for the hearer

However, all this does not guarantee conversions. Stephen was bold before the furious Sanhedrin and made the issue clear to them. His opponents ‘could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke’ (Acts 6:10), but the result was not their conversion, but his martyrdom. The sovereign working of the Spirit in his hearers was lacking. Elsewhere Paul asks the brothers to pray that the gospel might spread rapidly ‘just as it was with you’ (2 Thess. 3:1), that is as described in 1 Thessalonians 1:5: ‘not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction’. The outward call of the gospel in words needs ‘power by the Spirit’, His inner work to make the truth effectual. The Spirit enlightens blind eyes, opens closed ears, quickens dead hearts and transforms rebellious wills.

The further element was ‘deep conviction’, of both sin and the truth of the message (see also 2:13). Some interpret this as the preacher’s own assurance about his message, but that cannot be the meaning here. It must refer to the hearers’ experience, for Paul uses it as proof of their election by God (v4). If it were the preacher’s assurance we would have to conclude that all the hearers were elect! It is this conviction which is so (and so sadly) lacking today, a conviction that compels action: repentance and faith, even in the midst of ‘severe suffering’ (1 Thess. 1:6). 

We need to think of these different elements separately and pray accordingly. Instead of spiritual-sounding, but actually vague petitions, which may ignore either the preacher or the hearers, we shall intercede for both, confident that we are seeking to pray according to God’s will in Scripture.

John Legg is a member of the editorial board of The Evangelical Magazine.