How to prepare an

exhortation/message
I would like us to learn from each other tonight. I believe each of us has their own unique
and different way of preparing for their Wednesday night messages and I thought that we
might be able to pick up some helpful tips from one another. I thought the best way to do this
would be for me to share the steps I take first. I say that because there are some steps that all
of us do naturally. Once I have shared the steps I do, then you can let me know any steps you
do that I dont. That way we can learn from each other. ince time is limited, we will not
share the steps that we all do, we will only share steps that I havent mentioned.
1. !ray for "ods help
2. #hoose a topic. I might choose a verse or a topic depending on what I feel "od directing
me, or what my feeling is. I have chosen verses in the past such as I #or $% and II Tim %. I
have chosen topics in the past such as &how to pray'.
3. (ut even if I choose a topic, my first thing to do after that will be to match that topic with a
verse which can be done by memory, using the concordance or (ible software. Once I have a
verse, the steps continue.
o carrying on with my e)ample of prayer, I would perhaps choose this verse*
+ew ,merican tandard, &The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much'
James 5:16c
4. I write down what comes to my mind immediately. I write down any verses that pop into
my memory and I continue to ask "od for reminders. ,t this stage Im looking at the verse
as a whole sentence.
-or me, the first thing that I thought about from this verse is &righteous man' and I remember
that +oah was a righteous man. o I look up the verse in Genesis 6:9 and it says that Noah
was a righteous man, blameless in his time and walked with God. o I straight away I have
the idea that to be righteous we need to be blameless in front of "od and walk with .im.
5. I re/write the verse and put it in a different order 0ust to get another feel for the verse.
1.g. !rayer that is effective coming from someone who is righteous will accomplish a lot.
6. I ask myself questions that I hope will be answered as I continue to study
i. What does it mean to accomplish a lot2
ii. What does it mean to have effective prayer2
iii. What does it mean to be righteous2
7. I read different versions of the verse from different (ible translations to see if there are any
differences.
+34* the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much
34* the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much
-rom there we can see that righteous and effective remain the same. (ut there is a new word,
&fervent' which wasnt there in my original version. This is significant I believe. ,lso, there
is the word &avail' instead of &accomplish'.
8. I look these words up in the dictionary
1ffective* something that works well, that produces the intended result
-ervent* very enthusiastic and sincere, especially about something you believe in or support
!rayer* speaking with "od
5ighteous* "ood or correct according to standards set by religion
,ccomplish* to succeed in doing something especially something youve been trying to do
for a long period of time
,vail* to obtain something
9. I look the individual words up in "reek
1ffective* to be active and energetic, to prove oneself strong. Inspired by .oly pirit
!rayer* supplication for something specific
5ighteous* living according to laws set by "od or man in society. , righteous person is one
who is 0ustified by faith and shows his faith by his works. 1.g. +oah
,ccomplish* to be strong, to be of use, to be able, to have power
10. I make it applicable
If I want my prayers to be strong, to be of use, to have power and I want to obtain something
from these prayers then I need my prayers to be effective. 1ffective means I need my prayers
to work well and to produce the intended result. In order for them to be effective, I need my
prayers to be active, energetic and inspired by the .oly pirit. Therefore I should ask for the
.oly pirit to help me to pray and I should pray actively, energetically, not like someone who
is bored or tired.
-or our prayers to be effective and to accomplish the intended result, we need to pray with
fervour*
/ 6ery enthusiastically 7 pray like you mean it
/ incerely 7 pray like you care. 1.g. the intercessory prayer meeting, we have to
put ourselves in others shoes
/ We have to pray what we believe in or support 7 it is pointless to pray if we dont
support the prayer topic because we will have no faith.
In order for our prayers to be successful and to achieve the desired result, we have to
righteous*
/ "ood or correct according to the standards set in the Word of "od. Therefore we
need to know the Word of "od and to meditate on the Word, we need to compare
ourselves, our actions and thoughts to the Word and if we are wrong somewhere
we have to change. If not, our prayers will not achieve the desired result.
+ow it is your turn. If you do different steps to these, please let us all know so that we can
learn from each other. !lease dont repeat the same steps though because time is limited.