7 Ways for Pastors to Maximize Sermon Prep Time

Time management is one of the most crucial areas of stewardship in a pastor’s life. We have lives and responsibilities outside of our pastoral duties, and the work of ministry is time consuming. We are always on call. Daily tasks demand our attention. Yet unexpected events throw our planned schedules into chaos.

Many people, including church members, think that pastors don’t actually work. If only they knew the truth. In reality, most pastors feel overworked. Pastoral ministry is stressful. And if we are not careful, we can work so hard that we do not have time for our most important tasks: prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4). As with many important matters in life, we don’t have time to study. We must make time to study. Here are seven pieces of practical advice for maximizing your study time (plus one bonus point).

1. Plan ahead.

Your study time is already limited. You don’t have time to figure out what you are going to preach each week. Your study time needs to be spent studying the text, not finding a text to study. So plan your preaching in advance. Planning ahead for a month or quarter or even a year will help you get down to business when it is time to study the text and prepare a message. The goal is to have a planned schedule that will enable you to use your time in study and make the most of it.

2. Schedule your study time.

Do you schedule meetings and appointments? How about your study time? Your time of study is just as important as staff meetings, counseling sessions, and hospital visits. So begin each week by marking out the hours you will study each day. Determine how long it takes to prepare a message. Schedule it into your week. Then keep your appointments to study and write. If you have a secretary, share your schedule with him or her and ask them to help you guard it. If not, be your own schedule security guard. Have the courage to tell people that you have something scheduled that you cannot cancel. And use that scheduled time to get your sermon work done.

3. Steal time.

There will be weeks when your schedule is out of control. Stealing time is a good way to make up for the time you may lose to other things. I copy down the resources that I need from week to week and put them in a file. I take it wherever I go, and I steal back as much time as I can while I am waiting for an appointment, between meetings, or any other time I can take advantage of. It may be only fifteen or twenty minutes. But those are minutes I can use to my advantage for Sunday. If you use software study tools, it is even easier for you to have your materials with you wherever you are. Make the most of any and every opportunity you get to study.

4. Study when it’s time to study.

You know how it goes. When you finally get to the study, you are blitzed by the temptation to do other things. By all means, resist that temptation. When it’s time to study, study. Don’t web surf or answer emails or play with your smartphone or clean your desk or organize your books or . . . You get the point. Put your behind in the seat. Get to work. Don’t procrastinate. Pray. Read. Study. Think. Write. You have no right to complain about the time you do not have if you do not use the time you have wisely. Remind yourself that you will never get this week again.

5. Educate your people.

Many church members think sermons grow on trees. They don’t. Others think you just get up there and preach from the overflow of what you learned in seminary. You don’t. At least, I hope you don’t. Few church members understand what it takes to produce a good sermon. You must educate them. Talk to your deacons, elders, staff, leaders, and members about your study process. The more they understand what it takes for you to prepare, the more willing and able they will be to help you. Softhearted members will appreciate your labor, pray for your study, and free you up to prepare yourself to preach.

“You have no right to complain about the time you do not have if you do not use the time you have wisely.”

6. Practice intentional neglect.

Many urgent matters come across a pastor’s desk each week. Much of it has nothing to do with prayer or the ministry of the Word. You must distinguish between what is urgent and what is truly important, then learn to neglect some things during the week to prepare yourself for Sunday. Bottom line: You have failed if you go to every meeting, oversee every detail, and respond to every correspondence, but are not ready to preach. You will never get this Sunday again. Prioritize.

7. Delegate.

In order to practice intentional neglect, without the sky falling around your ministry, make sure the things that need to be covered are covered by someone. If you have staff to assist you, trust them to do so. If you have to recruit and train volunteers, do it. Accept the fact that they may not do it the way you do it. Give them time to grow and room to fail. Stop trying to do it all. Determine the responsibilities that you can either give away or share. Then do it. And use the time you gain to work on your lesson for Wednesday and your sermon for Sunday.

Bonus Point: By Any Means Necessary

Do whatever you have to do to be ready to preach the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ! View sermon preparation as spiritual warfare. There is a battle for your attention. The Enemy would do anything to keep you from spending time in the Word and preparing the message God wants your people to hear. Fight! Pray hard. Get up early. Sacrifice a night of sleep. Drink a cup of coffee. Turn off the TV. Sacrifice your favorite hobby until you are finished. Make deals to treat yourself for the amount of work you get done. Don’t go to lunch until you’ve made some progress. Hold the calls and turn off the email alerts. Pass certain responsibilities on to others. Do whatever it takes to get ready to preach.