It’s been said many times before, probably because it is true.  The best way to learn something is to have to teach it.  People tend to think they understand something in their minds, but then find it difficult to explain what they claim to understand.  That’s why teachers test students by requiring something more than a signature to state they understand what they’ve been taught!  This is one of the great blessings of preaching.  It forces you to study a passage or subject beyond the normal threshold and then consider how to effectively explain and communicate that to others.  In preaching, we learn.

It is possible to get a small taste of the same by paraphrasing passages of Scripture.  When you force yourself to express the meaning of the text in your own words, you do a small version of preaching.  Without the multiple channels of communication, without the complexities of pastoral ministry, without so much of the process, but the core skill of expressing explanation of a text is replicated by paraphrasing.

I would encourage this among non-preachers to get at least one of the benefits of preaching.  But I would encourage preachers to do it too.  Perhaps in a passage you aren’t planning to preach, just one you are looking at for yourself.  Trying to restate the passage in your own words forces you to think about what the author meant, and it forces you to craft your own sentences.  Both of these skills are core skills for a preacher, so in a tiny microcosmic way, this exercise is a form of practice preaching.