Martyn Lloyd-Jones and the Priority of Prayer in Preaching

 

In Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s thought and practice there was no more important part of preaching and preparation then that of prayer. In addressing the students at Westminster seminary he pointed out the vitality of prayer to the work of the preacher. He says the following regarding the importance of prayer, “From every standpoint the minister, the preacher, must be a man of prayer. This is constantly emphasized in the Pastoral Epistles and elsewhere, and , as I say, it is confirmed abundantly in the long history of the Church, and especially in the lives of the outstanding preachers.”¹ Prayer in the thought of Lloyd-Jones was so important because of its connection to the unction given by the Holy Spirit in preaching. It is this knowledge and dependence upon the unction and power of the Holy Spirit that comes in preaching through prayer which shaped his preaching.

1D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching & Preachers (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1971),171.