Prep and Delivery

(Pro 16:1 NAS77) The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

I am posting today’s verse in the NASB because it speaks better to me today.  I recently had the chance to preach.  It had been about eight years.  This verse reflects what I tried to tell people before and after.  

I always start with my reading and studying.  I am looking for the word from the Lord that might be in the passage under consideration.  I put a lot of thought and effort into the search.  The writing often has many false starts and I end up with more being discarded than is used.  I end up with an outline that is shaped to fit into the time allotted.  I feel I have done my preparation.  I think I know what I am going to say.

Then comes the moment I step behind the pulpit.  I usually know where I am going to start and because I have prepared I have a plan.  I also realize that there are things I have written down that will never be said and that I will say things I don’t have written down.  That is the second part of the verse.  If I have done due diligence and prepared prayerfully then I feel I can trust the Lord to guide my tongue, and my sense of humor, to bring the ink alive.

So?  I think it is a good principle to keep in mind as we go through out days and have our conversations.  We may not be preparing a speech for the clerk at the dry cleaners but if we have been diligent in our daily worship and study we can trust the Lord to guide the conversation.