You Can't Pray Away the Butterflies

You stand up to preach, and there's a war going on that nobody can see.

Dry mouth. Butterflies you can't pray away. Thoughts scattering. A split second where you wonder if any of it is going to land.

So you plant your feet. You take a breath. You open the Book.

And the whole time, part of you is listening to yourself preach, hoping it doesn't show.

Every honest preacher knows what that is.

The fix isn't a better performance. It's no performance at all.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. — Hebrews 4:12

The Word doesn't need your composure to cut. It just needs to be preached.

Hide behind the cross. You're standing behind something that doesn't need you to be okay.

When a man believes the Book — not just preaches from it, but trusts it — the nerves don't disappear, but they step back. The Text steps forward.

You carried His Word to that pulpit.

The preacher who hides behind the cross isn't lacking confidence. He just knows whose Word it actually is.

Believe the Book. Preach it straight. Trust it to land.