George Whitefield was one of the greatest evangelists in history. His sermons were heard throughout England, Scotland and America in open fields, streets and pulpits. He preached over 18,000 formal sermons and spoke to multitudes including a crowd estimated at 100,000! Along with his faithful preaching he was a man of prayer. He said about his devotional life, “Above all my mind being now more opened and enlarged, I began to read the Holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying aside all other books, and prayer over, if possible, every line and word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul.” His devotional life no doubt made his evangelistic efforts such a success. With such a commitment to preaching and teaching he provided 6 distinct directions on how to listen to sermons.
1. Direct or entreat you to come to hear them, not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty.
2. A second direction I shall lay down for the same purpose, is, not only to prepare your hearts before you hear, but also to give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the word of God.
3. A third direction, Not to entertain any the least prejudice against the minister.
4 Fourthly, As you ought not to be prejudiced against, so you should be careful not to depend too much on a preacher, or think more highly of him than you ought to think. For though this be an extreme that people seldom run into, yet preferring one teacher in apposition to another, has often been of ill consequence to the church of God. It was a fault which the great Apostle of the Gentiles condemned in the Corinthians. For whereas one said, “I am of Paul; another, I am of Apollos: are ye not carnal,” says he? “For who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but instruments in God’s hands by whom you believed?” And are not all ministers sent forth to be ministering ambassadors to those who shall be heirs of salvation? And are they not all therefore greatly to be esteemed for their work’s sake.
5. To make a particular application of every thing that is delivered to your own hearts.
6. If you would receive a blessing from the Lord, when you hear his word preached, pray to him, both before, in, and after every sermon, to endue the minister with power to speak, and to grant you a will and ability to put in practice, what he shall show from the book of God to be your duty.