Prayer before the Sermon - Evangelical Practice

In our church we have someone pray just before the reading of the scripture and just before the pastor brings the message. And it is pretty predictable in its formula, it has a salutation to God or Jesus, some sort of please open our minds and hearts to receive the word that you are going to put into Pastor (insert name here) message, and a closing that declares that we hope it does us some good. And then the pastor usually prays again at the start that God would make him a worthy vessel and speak his words through him. But I always find myself wondering if that is what really happens each Sunday. How can we know that the sermon is God's word for us today? We've been programmed to believe that, or at least hope for it, but why do we even need to say it or pray it at all? Why must everything be God's word, God's direction for this very minute? Why can't the sermon just be some insightful comments on the scriptures, or an application of a scriptural truth, or even just some wise opinion or statements that the pastor wants to share? Why do we demand that the very words of the sermon be the very words of God spoken from heaven through the pastor to us who are gathered on a Sunday? If the pastor has our best interest at heart, if he is a man of God seeking to be faithful to his calling, if he has been accurate in his reading of the scripture and diligent in his exposition of its content, isn't that beneficial as well? What I am saying is this. If God is present in our gathering, and each of us are responsible before him in whatever position or location we occupy in the congregation, isn't this enough to validate what we do, hear, or speak on any given Sunday?

I only say that because if the typical Sunday sermon is really the very word of God being spoken then I feel very guilty because it does not seem like there is often a whole lot of substance to God's message and I have been very remiss in being cut to the heart by the message. But I do hear truth, I do seek for application, I want to receive all that is offered. I just don't want to have to struggle with another unnecessary evangelical practice and dogma that we keep foisting on ourselves each Sunday. Every sermon is not another revelation from heaven, every pastor is not an Apostle Paul debating before his audience, some Sunday's I tend to be a little hard of hearing and slow of heart...but that does not make it unprofitable. It remains what it is, I just can't play the game of trying to make it more than it is.