I have learned over the years that sermon preparation involves as much, if not more, perspiration than inspiration. It requires hard work to dig the message out of the text.

About a year before the event, I began to sense a prompting from the Holy Spirit to preach from the book of Haggai for my 2011 General Council sermon.

To be totally transparent, the only time I had every delved into Haggai was on the fly as part of a Wednesday night series on the Minor Prophets. As far as I was concerned, Haggai truly was minor. At the time the prompting first came, I could not even tell you what the book of Haggai was about or the issues addressed in his prophecy.

But the Spirit kept nudging, "Spend some time in Haggai. Preach from Haggai at General Council."

So I began to read Haggai, but I resisted. The more I read Haggai, the more I balked. For one thing, I felt it was too long a text to preach at a General Council. By the time I finished reading the text to the audience, half my time would be shot.

Then, there were parts of Haggai that were the Mount Everest of biblical interpretation. How can the issues of consecrated meat and dead bodies talked about in Haggai's third message (2:10-14) even relate to a contemporary audience? I would shoot another 10 to 15 minutes just trying to explain that passage. And worse, I did not at the time understand the text myself. What would I do with Haggai's four sermons that talk about Zerubbabel being a signet ring (2:20-23)? Who was Zerubbabel, and what was a signet ring? How would that apply?

So I shelved the idea of preaching from Haggai. However, the Spirit would not let me drop it. The notion kept coming to me, "Preach from Haggai. Keep looking. You have not yet seen what you need to see."

I got my hands on every commentary and sermon I could find on Haggai. I knew there were some good parts, like 1:4, "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" That will preach to anyone prompted to put self-interests above God's interests. And then there was 2:9, "'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty." I like that. I do believe these latter days of the Assemblies of God will be even greater than the beginning days.

Slowly the book began to open up to me. I discovered why the Spirit wanted me to preach from Haggai. He wanted four issues dealt with from Haggai's four prophecies: delay, discouragement, defilement and destiny. (You can access the Haggai sermon here).

I wish I could give you a three-step, or a five-step, or a multi-step teaching on how to listen to the Spirit. I do not expect that my way of listening to the Spirit will necessarily be the way the Spirit speaks to your heart. It is important that you find the cadence by which you march to the Spirit's drumbeat.

• Study in His Word is essential. The Spirit speaks through His Word.
• Prayer is vital. You cannot do without it.
• Study is absolutely necessary.
• Take time to stew — to let the process of Bible reading, prayer and study gestate in your mind and heart.
• Listen to the still, small voice; pay attention to impressions. Instincts can be Spirit-generated and not just whimsical notions.

The sermon exists as a delivery mechanism to impact the hearer. I encourage you to have the kind of message that responds to the statement made to Peter by Cornelius, "Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us" (Acts 10:33).

If we, in our preaching, can respond as did Peter, then we will also see the same kind of impact. Powerless preaching will produce vapid and ineffective saints; preaching that comes with the Spirit's direction and anointing results in changed lives. You preach to people who are gathered together in God's presence to hear what He has commanded you to say.

George O. Wood is the general superintendent for the Assemblies of God. For the original article, visit georgeowood.com.

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