Tips for Teachers: How to have godly confidence as you speak

It’s normal to feel nervous as you get ready to teach or preach God’s Word. Your heart beats faster, your palms get sweaty, your mouth feels parched. You are keenly aware of your own limitations and others’ expectations.

So where do you find the courage to speak with godly confidence? Here is what I’ve found helpful.

Be diligent and devoted in your preparation

Follow Paul’s exhortation to Timothy: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”   (1 Timothy 4:13-14)

Being devoted to preaching and teaching calls for diligence in your preparation. As John Eldredge observed: under pressure we don’t usually rise to the level of our aspiration but sink to the level of our preparation.

Find your security in Christ not your performance

Remind yourself, “I don’t serve Jesus so He will love me more, I serve Him because He couldn’t love me more.”

Rest in the words of Jesus: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15:9)

Focus on the good of others and the glory of God

Keep in mind what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:10-11: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

The more you get your eyes off yourself, the better you will tend to teach or preach.

Consciously rely on the Holy Spirit

The apostle Paul shows us what this involves: “And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”  (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)

As he stepped up to preach, Charles Spurgeon would whisper to himself:  “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Depend on the Holy Spirit to empower you as you speak His Word.

Commit yourself to growing as a teacher or preacher

Pay attention to what Paul wrote to Timothy: “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”  (1 Timothy 4:15)

While you will never achieve perfection as a teacher or preacher, you can make noticeable progress. Pursue progress.