The less you prepare, the more you ramble. In order to preach with clarity, preparation time will need to be high priority. A lot goes into message prep and it can be overwhelming. Message prep does not have to be miserable though.

Here is a checklist to help you enjoy your preparation time instead of putting it off. Keep reading!

Message Prep Checklist

1. Prioritize a Quiet Place

   • A message preached with clarity begins with focused preparation.

   • Starbucks or some place that is loud and full of distractions is not a great place to focus and hear the Spirit of God.

   • You need solitude (even if you don’t like it at first). Get in a place that helps you turn your mind off and get settled in your spirit.

   • Give yourself a minimum of two hours blocked off – and scheduled on a calendar to take it seriously.

2. Put your Phone Away

   • Technology can be your greatest advantage or your greatest disadvantage.

   • When it comes to sermon prep, putting your phone away is a great start to focusing your mind and heart on the task at hand. This is a discipline that always pays off.

   • While you’re at it, put your watch that get texts and your ipad or computer away as well.

3. Use your Hard Copy Bible

   • Using your hard copy Bible gives you a place to start.

   • You can see your notes, any revelation you may have written in the margins.

   • When you prep using your Bible it gives you another opportunity to get to know your way around the Bible.

4. Make proper use of Commentary

   • Commentaries are needed when sermon prepping but I always look to these last. Otherwise you may get into reading so much commentary that you do not allow the Holy Spirit to speak directly to you.

   • A commentary should be used as a backup not as a startup.

     • Here are a few options: R.C. Sproul’s Expositional Commentaries, IVP Bible Background Commentary, Expositor’s Bible Commentary

5. Use a Storage System

   • The more we honor revelation the more God will give. Pick a revelation and message storage system and use it each time you begin a new message.

   • Google docs is one of my top tools for sermon prep. I use the same program every time I sermon prep in order to make the process seamless. It’s like cooking a dish over and over again until you don’t need to look at the recipe. It saves you time and bandwidth.

     • Here are a few options: Pages, Microsoft Word, Google Docs

If you want to know more about Sermon/Message Prep consider applying for The Echo Weekend.

The best way to develop your voice is to invest in your voice. Every time you invest in your own voice, your family, your community, and your world improve.

I believe in your voice! This is a weekend you do not want to miss!!!