Remember Who is Doing the Real Work

Teaching ministry can be very hard work. We need to pour ourselves out in prayer, study, and preparation. That's what we're called to do. But spiritual transformation is work done only by the Lord. We must not think too much of ourselves!

I like this story, because it's a good illustration of how God uses even weak preaching/teaching to grip a heart:

Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers, creator and host of television's "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood," recently gave an address describing the time he was a student at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and attended a different church each Sunday in order to hear a variety of preachers.
One Sunday he was treated to "the most poorly crafted sermon (he) had ever heard." But when he turned to the friend who had accompanied him, he found her in tears.
"It was exactly what I needed to hear," she told Rogers.
"That's when I realized," he told his audience, "that the space between someone doing the best he or she can and someone in need is holy ground. The Holy Spirit had transformed that feeble sermon for her—and as it turned out, for me too."