Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you.  Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request, and whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you.  I will keep nothing back from you.”  

Jeremiah 42:4

Preachers, this verse is a good guide for us.  We need to listen to the people to whom we preach.  Certainly, we must do this within the guidelines of Galatians 1:10, where Paul asks, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?  Or am I trying to please man?  If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”  We must listen to those who sit in the pews, but not with the goal to say or do nothing but what would always please them.  Rather, we must listen to them in order to get a better idea of what they need spiritually.

Sometimes before I stand up to preach a brother in Christ will lead the congregation in prayer and mention me by name, asking God to help me have wisdom to preach what the congregation needs to hear so they can grow closer to Him.  I am so grateful for brethren who do that.  Perhaps you have experienced a similar blessing.  In order for us to have the wisdom they pray for us to have, we must take time occasionally to ask the congregation — both by going to individual Christians, the leadership of the congregation, and the congregation collectively — to give us feedback about topics which are relevant to where each of them are in their spiritual walk.

We also need to pray for the people whom we serve.  The context of Jeremiah 42:4 shows that this is why Jeremiah said what he said above.  Several individuals had come to him because they knew him to be a man of God and had asked him to pray to God on their behalf.  James wrote, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16).  Christ wants us to “devote yourselves to prayer” (Col. 4:2).

Preachers, we must set the proper example in this as much as we can (1 Tim. 4:12).  We must never be so self-centered, so busy, or so full of ourselves that we do not have the time to pray for others, especially when they ask us to do so.

One more thing.  Notice how Jeremiah wanted to teach his brethren and the lost everything God has revealed, keeping nothing back.  This is what Paul would call “preach(ing) the Word” (2 Tim. 4:2) and “proclaim(ing) the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

Satan will try to tempt us to avoid doing this.  Sometimes he will tempt us to hold back from preaching the whole truth by reminding us that some will likely, almost certainly, be offended…perhaps even to the point where they will take our livelihood away from us.  He will try to use this possibility to motivate us out of fear to keep silent when we should speak.  Undoubtedly some, perhaps many, will be angry with us when we “stomp on their toes.”  Some might tell us directly or through insinuation that there are certain subjects about which we should never speak.

Instead, we must “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).  We must do so with kindness, gentleness, and patience (2 Tim. 2:24-25).  We must do so courageously, “as (we) ought to speak” (Eph. 6:19-20).  We must remember that “every word of God is tested” (Prov. 30:5), which means that every word in Scripture has relevancy in the lives of its hearers.

Be balanced, preachers.  Don’t get hung up on a particular topic to the neglect of others.  Do your best to teach everything in that Bible you carry.  Do so with foresight, purpose, and wisdom.

If you do this, the Lord will hold you blameless in the end (Ezek. 3:17-21).