Acts 20:7 Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

It is some comfort to know that preachers have always been long winded! Actually, the depth and breadth of God’s truth is such that there is always more that could be said. Paul didn’t really expect to be able to see these people again, and so he wanted to leave them with as much as he could in person, since he would be limited to letters and messengers in the future. Of course, the risk of people nodding off during a long message is very real, and this story is a very famous instance of that. It is quite interesting that even though oxygen hadn’t been identified at that point, as a physician, Luke was aware that the large number of lamps burning in their meeting room had an impact on people becoming sleepy. Once Eutychus had fallen, died, and been resurrected, I’m sure everyone was wide awake! They were also very open to hearing more about the power and love of God, having seen such a dramatic demonstration. Paul’s focus, and the people’s focus, wasn’t on comfort, but on God’s truth. That doesn’t mean that preachers have an unlimited license to drone on and on. Rather, it means that preachers need to be sensitive to whether the congregation has ears to hear, as well as to what the Holy Spirit wants to say at a given time. It is a waste of time, not to mention risky, for a preacher to keep talking when the Holy Spirit has stopped.

As someone who will preach at the drop of a hat (just ask my wife!), this is extremely applicable to me. Though preaching and prophecy aren’t necessarily equivalent, I’ve experienced prophesying and continuing to talk after the Holy Spirit stopped, and it’s a horrible feeling. I personally don’t see how people can preach without an assurance of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In my own experience, sometimes that awareness is stronger that at other times, and sometimes people later speak of how they were impacted by a message in which I felt very little anointing. All that is to say that subjective feelings aren’t to be trusted. My most powerful messages have been when I personally had the least to say. I need to be acutely aware that I am a very small part of the preaching process. What is important is the unhindered flow of the Holy Spirit through me, and the hearts of the people to receive what He is saying. I need to seek God’s revelation as to the heart condition of my hearers, so that I may say enough but not too much, giving them maximum opportunity to absorb and appropriate what God wants to say to them.

Father, thank You for the privilege of preaching Your Word. Help me never take that for granted, nor think for a minute that I could do it effectively in my own strength and ability. Help me operate always under the full guidance of Your Spirit, so that Your Word through me may accomplish exactly that for which You send it, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!