How to Make Your Heart Dry & Barren...

He who lives without prayer, he who lives with little prayer, he who seldom reads the Word, and he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high -he will be the man whose heart will become dry and barren.

-- Charles Spurgeon

Lack of reading hurts you

What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear, to this day, is want of reading. I scarce ever knew a preacher who read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian. Oh begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercises. You may acquire the taste which you have not; what is tedious at first will afterwards be pleasant. Whether you like it or no, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a pretty, superficial preacher. Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether. Then will all the children of God rejoice (not grieve) over you; and in particular yours.

 

-- John Wesley, quoted in D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge, Letters Along The Way, p.169.

More Pleading, Less Worry

The passion of preaching Christ should emanate from our total being, demonstrating that we are experiencing the Spirit's work in our own hearts as we preach. We must spend more time pleading with God to open the eyes of our listeners and less time worrying about remembering our illustrations, our punch lines, or our transition statements.

-- Greg Heisler, Spirit-Led Preaching, p.34

It Takes Years...

Disappointment sets in the minute I tell (young seminary men) that what they are seeing in the sermons of these (great) preachers is the finished product that comes only at a great price: consistently walking with God in humility, daily seeking and surrendering to the Lord through prayer, and living clean and pure before God. Only after years of study, years of walking in holiness before God, and years of time spent alone with God in prayer is the chamber of the Spirit-filled heart ready to give birth to powerful preaching.
Preaching is not so much about you preparing to preach; preaching is about God preparing you -- his vessel -- to preach.

-- Greg Heisler, Spirit-Led Preaching, p.15