“To have great poets, there must be great audiences.” – Walt Whitman.

A man asked his friend, “What color are your pastor’s eyes?” He answered, “I don’t know. When he prays he closes his eyes, and when he preaches I close mine.” We faithful church attenders laugh at the pun; however, one of our sacred Christian duties in this life is to sit under the preaching of the Word of God. It’s God’s ordained method for reaching the World and edifying the saints. There is something special that preaching accomplishes that nothing else in this world can accomplish. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) What is true for poetry is true for preaching–it must have great audiences. Here are some things that will help us get the most out of preaching.

• Listen With A Prepared Heart.  “Thus saith the Lord …Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns” (Jer. 4:3). At one end of the pew, a man yawns and looks at his watch; while at the other end, a lady wipes tears from her eyes. What’s the difference? The heart. The seed of the Word of God has found fertile soil in one heart but a stony ground in another.   God says one can “plow up” his hard heart in preparation for the Word of God. By Sunday at church, it is too late to plow. If I stayed up late Saturday, woke up late Sunday morning, didn’t have devotions or pray for the Lord’s Day, my heart is going to be hard and my eyelids heavy. I have to start long before the service seeking God and praying for personal revival.

• Listen Attentively.  When the preacher starts reading the Bible, listen to the Scriptures intently and follow along. God speaks to us through His Word. Be respectful to the Word as it’s preached and just ignore distractions. If your listen carefully and studiously, you will be edified, even from a seemingly boring message.

• Take notes.  There are things that you need to remember that you will not unless you write them down. I find that if I have a pen in my hand it helps me to become a student. Taking notes of the important points and writing down things to study later and to share with others will help you remember what is preached.

• Listen Without Prejudice Toward The Preacher.  There are men we will enjoy hearing better than others. Some people have a certain preacher that is “their preacher.” If “their preacher” is not preaching, they cannot be blessed. Scripture tells us this is a sign of spiritual immaturity (I Cor. 1:12).   Everyone who opens the Bible to us should have our unbroken attention. The Lord will bless our reverence of His Word.

• Listen Prayerfully.  Nothing significant is accomplished apart from God. Pray for yourself. Pray for the preacher. Pray for others around you. We should be praying, “Lord help the preacher,” “help that new person over there…” The “invitation” at the end of the service is a time for me to talk to the Lord about what I have just heard.   “Lord thank you for speaking to me; help me to ________.”

• Listen Discerningly. The Bible warns that we must not put our trust in man (Jer. 17:5). We must carefully test all preaching by the Word of God (Acts 17:11; I Cor. 14:29; I Thess. 5:21).

• Be Thankful to God and to the Preacher  When someone has been a blessing, we should express appreciation to that person. It is always very good to express thanks and be a source of encouragement to someone who prayed and labored in the Word of God to bring a message to us.