How Much Time Should You Spend Preparing a Lesson?

I'm occasionally asked how much time should be spent preparing a lesson.

The answer: It depends.

I know, that's a cop-out. The reality is that some lessons do take longer to prepare than others. Short lessons often take as long or longer to prepare than lengthier lessons; it takes work to winnow out the non-essentials. Is the material something that you've mastered in the past, or is it new? Do you already know the audience well, and have a sense of their needs? Is this lesson a bridge to or from other materials, that helps to shape the content? Many questions!

My recommendation is not to procrastinate, because then it's much more difficult to hear from the Lord. (He's still speaking, but we're not in position to listen well.)

So I hesitate to give you a specific number of hours or minutes as a guideline, because the real issue is to seek the Lord's direction, and start working on it. God honors our part when we act faithfully, and put our best into it. Once we begin working on it, we trust that the Lord steers and directs us in the way He wants us to go.

Now, if you're thinking, "Great, I only need to spend 10 minutes on it!" then you missed the message here.