Author: Charles Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: Praise the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O Eternal Spirit, with reverence do we worship you, for it is by you that we come to Jesus, and it is through Jesus that we come to the Father. Oh, your wondrous love in dwelling in us! We are often astonished as we think of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; we put it side by side with the incarnation of the ever-blessed Son, and we know not which is the greater mercy, the greater condescension of these two. O blessed Spirit, make us deeply grateful for both, and because we know the one through the other may we rejoice in each as you shall help us.

Blessed be the one God, the God of Abraham, “the God of the whole earth shall he be called.” With all our spirit reverently prostrate we adore and worship the only living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“My eyes favor the faithful of the land so that they may sit down with me. The one who follows the way of integrity may serve me.” (Psalm 101:6)

He would seek them out, engage their services, take care of them, and promote them to honor. This is a noble occupation for a king, and one which will repay him infinitely better than listening to the soft nothings of flatterers.

It would be greatly for the profit of us all if we chose our servants rather by their piety than by their cleverness; he who gets a faithful servant gets a treasure, and he ought to do anything sooner than part with him. Those who are not faithful to God will not be likely to be faithful to men; if we are faithful ourselves, we shall not care to have those about us who cannot speak the truth or fulfil their promises; we shall not be satisfied until all the members of our family are upright in character. 

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Increase your faith and fight your sin

In today’s prayer, we praised the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us. We need the Holy Spirit to increase our faith and help us to follow him. We can’t do it alone — we need God the Holy Spirit to bear fruit in our lives (Galatians 5:23).

While our growth in holiness is a miracle that only God can do, we also have a role to play in this work. You will not automatically grow in godliness — you need to pursue godliness with the strength that God the Holy Spirit gives you.

A great, practical book on growing in godliness (self-control, taming the tongue, and more) is The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges. This book won’t just tell you that something is sinful, it will actually equip you practical tools and truths from God’s Word to slay your sin and live in godliness.

Whatever pressing sin you are currently facing and want to grow in, The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges is a great resource to help you take your next steps. I hope you pick up a copy today.

Buy The Practice of Godliness:

Pray with Spurgeon: We will see God face-to-face

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

You, most blessed Jesus, Son of the Highest, we also worship you with an intensity of affection. You are our brother, our redeemer, our next of kin, and we know that you live; and though after worms destroy this body, yet in our flesh shall we behold you. We shall see you for ourselves and not another, to which hope we are daily coming.

You will come to take your people up to their eternal home; therefore do we adore you now with all our heart, and with all the sacred love of our being. Blessed be the Son of God who spared not his honor, but became a man, who spared not himself, but died “the just for the unjust to bring us God.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor; I cannot tolerate anyone with haughty eyes or an arrogant heart.” (Psalm 101:5)

Proud, domineering, supercilious gentlemen, who look down upon the poor as though they were so many worms crawling in the earth beneath their feet, the psalmist could not bear. The sight of them made him suffer, and therefore he would not suffer them. Great men often affect aristocratic airs and haughty manners, David therefore resolved that none should be great in his palace but those who had more grace and more sense than to indulge in such abominable vanity.

Proud men are generally hard, and therefore very unfit for office; persons of high looks provoke enmity and discontent, and the fewer of such people about a court the better for the stability of a throne. If all slanderers were now cut off, and all the proud banished, it is to be feared that the next census would declare a very sensible diminution of the population.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Study the Bible with Spurgeon himself*

Spurgeon had an incredible clarity to read, understand, and apply Scripture. Even today, hundreds of years after his death, Spurgeon’s preaching and writing still has tremendous power — because it’s rooted in Scripture.

The Spurgeon Study Bible is an incredible resource to benefit from Spurgeon’s insight during your daily Bible reading. It really does feel like sitting down one-on-one to study the Bible with Spurgeon himself.

The study Bible contains hundreds of notes taken right from Spurgeon’s sermons, as well as a short biography of Spurgeon, 20 outlines of his earliest sermons (in his own handwriting), an introduction from Spurgeon for each book of the Bible, and more. The Bible is available in the CSB, KJV, and Spanish RVR 1960 translations.

For a limited time, the Spurgeon Study Bible is 50% off for “Pray with Spurgeon” subscribers. Just use promo code SPURGEON23 when you check out.

Buy the Spurgeon Study Bible on Lifeway.com (Use promo code SPURGEON23 to save 50%)

Pray with Spurgeon: Worship God with all our heart

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Oh, what have you done for us, great God? What a wondrous grace is this; and what have you prepared for us? Who can tell what you have laid up for them that fear you, among the sons of men? We would now approach you, Lord, with that fatherly fear which well becomes dear children who are conscious of a thousand transgressions.

Yet would we approach you with that familial boldness which is born of a sense of love, and daily grows upon mercies perpetually given. We worship you, O God our Father, with all our heart, and soul and strength. We love you; we trust you; we delight in you; you are all in all to us. You have made with us an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things and sure; and therefore are we bound to you by bonds that never can be broken.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor; I cannot tolerate anyone with haughty eyes or an arrogant heart.” (Psalm 101:5)

The psalmist had known so bitterly the miseries caused by slanderers that he intended to deal severely with such vipers when he came into power, not to revenge his own ills, but to prevent others from suffering as he had done. To give one’s neighbor a stab in the dark is one of the most atrocious of crimes, and cannot be too heartily reprobated, yet such as are guilty of it often find patronage in high places, and are considered to be men of penetration, trusty ones who have a keen eye, and take care to keep their lords well posted up.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

The (not-so-surprising) cure for anxiety

No matter what trials we face today, we know that God is with us through it all. And that’s why pride is often the source of our worries. We’re depending on ourselves, rather than our God.

The path to a peaceful life, free of anxiety, starts by laying down your pride, by relying on the Savior instead of yourself. If you want peace in your life, start by growing in humility.

That’s the point of Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson. This book discusses Christ’s call to humility and practical steps to walk in it. It will definitely encourage you, shape you into Christlikeness, and fill you up with peace.

Buy Humble Roots:

Weekend Edition: Jesus, help your church to stand firm

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH (BY SPURGEON)

May we not be ashamed to be old fashioned, and to be thought fanatical. May we not wish to be thought cultured, nor aim to keep abreast of the times. May we be side by side with you, O bleeding Savior; and be content to be rejected, be willing to take up unpopular truth, and to hold fast despised teachings of sacred writ even to the end. Oh make us faithful—faithful unto death.

Now Lord, bless this people, this our beloved church. You have been very gracious to us; be gracious to us still. Oh that we had health and strength to labor here as our heart desires: may it please you yet to give us these! But if not, use what there is of us until the last is gone, and be pleased ever to find some one or other to go in and out before this people, to feed them with knowledge and understanding. “Father, glorify your name.”

Amen.

FREE RESOURCES

(And Seminary Scholarships!)

Thanks to Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College for sponsoring the Weekend Edition.

In February, Midwestern gave away five sets of The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon to Pray with Spurgeon subscribers. Here are the winners of this giveaway:

  • Grace McKitty
  • Carolyn Freeman
  • Michael Knapp
  • Linda Wachs
  • Jay Torres

WEEKEND LONG READ (SERMON BY SPURGEON)

Work for Jesus

“My son, go work in the vineyard today.” (Matthew 21:28)

The text, I hope, may be blest of God to be such a voice as that. Listening to it, we notice four things. First, the character under which it calls us, “Son;” secondly, the service to which it calls us, “go work;” thirdly, the time for which it calls us, “go work today;” and fourthly, the place to which it directs us, “go work to-day in my vineyard.” 

Read the full sermon from the Spurgeon Center for Biblical Preaching at Midwestern Seminary.

A FREE RESOURCE FROM MIDWESTERN

Geoff Chang on Underappreciated Aspects of Spurgeon’s Theology

FTC.co asks Geoff Chang, curator of the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, “What is an underappreciated aspect of Spurgeon’s theology?”

Watch it here.

PREPARE FOR MINISTRY AT MIDWESTERN

What Jesus purchased is precious. We’ve made it our purpose. Midwestern Seminary exists for the Church, and we serve the church by biblically educating God-called men and women to be and make disciples of Jesus Christ. If you’re called to serve the church, train with us, for the Church.

Pray with Spurgeon: God, we are your family. Keep us close.

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We revel in the thought that now it is given to us to become the sons of God, even to as many as believe on the name of Jesus, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Help us to enjoy the sweet privileges which come to us through being introduced into your family. May we be among the number of those who dwell in your house and go no more out forever; who must be still praising you, because they are always within the precincts of their great Father’s house.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“A devious heart will be far from me; I will not be involved with evil.” (Psalm 101:4)

He refers both to himself and to those round about him; he would neither be crooked in heart himself, nor employ persons of evil character in his house; if he found such in his court he would chase them away. He who begins with his own heart begins at the fountain head, and is not likely to tolerate evil companions. We cannot turn out of our family all whose hearts are evil, but we can keep them out of our confidence, and let them see that we do not approve of their ways.

“To know” in Scripture means more than mere perception, it includes fellowship, and in that sense it is here used. Princes must disown those who disown righteousness; if they know the wicked they will soon be known as wicked themselves.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Give Godly Role Models to Your Children

I LOVE the series of kid’s books from the Good Book Company — Do Great Things for God. Each book in this series features a short child-friendly biography of a Christian woman. This is a great way to celebrate Women’s History Month in a Christ-centered way.

One of these book is Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman with a Big Dream and I was blown away by the compelling story of this little-known missionary’s life and service. The storytelling is enjoyable for kids of any age (and their parents!), the illustrations are approachable and beautiful, and the lesson is amazing: Gladys was able to do great things, because her God is great!

I’ve loved reading this biography to my daughter and I’m praying she’ll find great, faithful heroes like Gladys that will point her to a greater and more faithful God.

I hope you’ll grab a copy of Gladys Aylward for your family today.

Pre-order Gladys Aylward:

Pastor, pray AFTER your sermon too. Here’s why.

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

After the sermon, how would a conscientious preacher give vent to his feelings and find solace for his soul if access to the mercy-seat were denied him? Elevated to the highest pitch of excitement, how can we relieve our souls but in importunate pleadings. Or depressed by a fear of failure, how shall we be comforted but in moaning out our complaint before our God. How often have some of us tossed to and fro upon our couch half the night because of conscious shortcomings in our testimony! How frequently have we longed to rush back to the pulpit again to say over again more vehemently, what we have uttered in so cold a manner! Where could we find rest for our spirits but in confession of sin, and passionate entreaty that our infirmity or folly might in no way hinder the Spirit of God!

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this quotation in your own preaching to describe how God is at work in his people.

You know how an artist can, if he likes, dash off a picture. There! A little red, and a little blue, and so on, and it is done. And away it goes! Yes, but when he wants to paint something that will be observed and admired, then he takes more pains. See how he works at every part of it; note what care and what trouble he takes with it.

You are, I hope, the kind of material that will pay for cutting and carving, and the Lord is using his chisel upon you more than he does upon most folk. He wants to make you just like his dear Son, so now he is chipping out a thorn crown and you must wear it around your head. He is fashioning the image of his Son out of the block of your renewed nature, and you must patiently bear the blows from his hammer and chisel until that work is done.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

Special thanks to the Christian Standard Bible for sponsoring the Pastor’s Note newsletter. The CSB is both accurate and readable. So that you (and your flock) can read God’s Word with confidence, clarity, and precision.

Click here to learn more about the CSB (and request a free CSB Bible).

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

Whether you are despairing or overconfident after preaching, we must be careful to obey the command to pray without ceasing. Let’s be quick to thank God for helping us and pray that our words would find soft soil.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pray with Spurgeon: God is our Father (Father! What a wonderful name!)

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our Father in heaven, it is an intense joy to us to call you by that endearing name, for it is no mere empty title. We feel the spirit of adoption in us “whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” We feel the nature of God in us, which has been given us by the Spirit of God, the quickening, the renewal, the begetting again unto a living hope. O Lord, we thank you, that we are your children by regeneration as well as by adoption, that we have been made partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I will not let anything worthless guide me. I hate the practice of transgression; it will not cling to me.” (Psalm 101:3)

I will disown their ways, I will not imitate their policy: like dirt it may fall upon me, but I will wash it off, and never rest till I am rid of it. Sin, like pitch, is very apt to stick. In the course of our family history crooked things will turn up for we are all imperfect, and some of those around us are far from being what they should be; it must, therefore, be one great object of our care to disentangle ourselves, to keep clear of transgression, and of all that comes of it: this cannot be done unless the Lord both comes to us, and abides with us evermore.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

God is at work in your trials. Learn more from Spurgeon

In our trials, we need God to preserve us. To give us faith, even when we are surrounded by trials. When we are overwhelmed by trials, we must hold fast to our God.

Spurgeon knew that suffering was an important experience in the Christian life, which is why he preached about it so often. If you want to learn Spurgeon’s biblical wisdom on trials, check out Spurgeon on Suffering: Reflections on Our Pain and God’s Grace. This is a collection of 12 classic sermons on trials, suffering, and perseverance.

I put this collection together to help suffering Christians (which is all of us!) find a deeper, more biblical hope through the worst of our trials. I know that this book will encourage you.

(Plus, buying a copy of this book is a great way to support this ministry, so I can continue to send out a newsletter each day)

Buy Spurgeon on Suffering:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, bring us close to Jesus

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O dear Savior, let every believer come very close to you now. May this be a moment in which we shall feel that if there has been distance, and wondering and doubt, there shall not be any of these any longer. We have come close to our Lord; we will lean upon the Beloved; we will abide in him even as he bids us abide, and in the biding gives us the promise, speaks the word of command, “Abide in me and I in you.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I will not let anything worthless guide me. I hate the practice of transgression; it will not cling to me.” (Psalm 101:3)

He was warmly against it; he did not view it with indifference, but with utter scorn and abhorrence. Hatred of sin is a good sentinel for the door of virtue.

How much do we all need divine keeping! We are no more perfect than David, nay, we fall far short of him in many things; and, like him, we shall find need to write a psalm of penitence very soon after our psalm of good resolution.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Find freedom by fearing God.

The fear of God is a troubling and confusing phrase for many. We know that it appears all over Scripture, but we don’t know what it means. We know it means more than basic “respect” or “reverence.” But we also don’t feel right running scared from our loving Father.

A really helpful book, Rejoice and Tremble: The Surprising Good News of the Fear of the Lord by Michael Reeves is a beautifully helpful guide to understanding and applying the fear of the Lord.

Reeves shows that the fear of the Lord is not a negative fleeing from God, but a wonder-filled joy in God and all that he is. The fear of God is the path to freedom from all anxiety. Reading this book filled my heart with joy and love for the God who must be feared, and I know that it will do the same for you. 

Buy Rejoice and Tremble:

Pray with Spurgeon: Help us today, set our minds on eternity

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Comfort the hearts of your children, O Holy Spirit, with priceless consolations. Help us to get out of the present, if it be surrounded with pain or loss or depression, and may we live in that eternal future which is so full of excessive glory that we may well take from it now, and enjoy it without fear of diminishing it when we come to our heritage.

The Lord help us to be risen with Christ and then to set our affections upon things above, where Christ sits at the right-hand of God. Oh for grace to do this. And may this day, therefore, be as one of the days of heaven upon earth. May our life of today be a fragment of the life we lead in Christ, the eternal life that we shall spend with him in the glory.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I will not let anything worthless guide me. I hate the practice of transgression; it will not cling to me.” (Psalm 101:3)

I will neither delight in it, aim at it, nor endure it. If I have wickedness brought before me by others I will turn away from it, I will not gaze upon it with pleasure. The psalmist is very sweeping in his resolve, he declines the least, the most reputable, the most customary form of evil—no wicked thing: not only shall it not dwell in his heart, but not even before his eyes, for what fascinates the eye is very apt to gain admission into the heart, even as Eve’s forbidden fruit first pleased her sight, and then prevailed over her mind and hand.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

The gospel transforms your life TODAY, not just your future*

The good news is better than many Christians have ever realized — because it doesn’t just transform your future (you go to heaven instead of hell) — it also impacts everything in your life TODAY.

You’ve heard the story of the Bible — how God created all things for his glory, sin separates us from him, and Jesus came to make things right again.

We know that this good news is true. And we know that it will secure an incredible future for us — eternity with God.

But it also impacts everything in your life TODAY.

God’s great story makes sense of the most amazing and the most mundane things in our lives. It changes how we have fun, interact with culture, pursue romance, and think about suffering.

My friends at Midwestern Seminary have put together a GREAT video class from Jared Wilson that unpacks exactly how God’s story really can impact every part of your life.

It’s called “The Story of Everything” and it’s available FOR FREE right now.

Click here to get started with this FREE seminary-level course.

Pray with Spurgeon: Rest with God, world without end

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our spirit now anticipates her time of rejoicing when, delivered from the house of clay and from the nature of sin, we shall be forever with the Lord. Yet further, do we anticipate yet more that last Day, when he shall come according to his promise. O Savior, you shall come, as surely as you have come once, you shall come again, and then our bodies, now our burden, shall become our joy, for you will call them, “from beds of dust and silent clay.” You will renew them, you will revive them, and then you will receive us unto yourself to be with you, world without end.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I will pay attention to the way of integrity. When will you come to me? I will live with a heart of integrity in my house.” (Psalm 101:2)

Piety must begin at home. Our first duties are those within our own abode. We must have a perfect heart at home, or we cannot keep a perfect way outside of our homes. Notice that these words are a part of a song, and that there is no music like the harmony of a gracious life, no psalm so sweet as the daily practice of holiness. Reader, how fares it with your family? Do you sing in the choir and sin in the chamber? Are you a saint outside and a devil at home? For shame! What we are at home, that we are indeed. He cannot be a good king whose palace is the haunt of vice, nor he a true saint whose habitation is a scene of strife, nor he a faithful minister whose household dreads his appearance at the fireside.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

What does the Bible (really) say about our bodies?

Today, we prayed, looking forward to the day we would dwell with God forever, w its new, renewed bodies. This is a great hope. Our bodies are not incidental to our humanity — and we will live as embodied creatures forever.

There is more confusion surrounding theology of the body/human embodiment than most doctrines today. Our culture’s confusion about sexuality, gender, and the sanctity of human life — as well as “acceptable” sins against the body (lust, gluttony, laziness) — are rooted in bad theology.

We need a better understanding of what our bodies are and how we live as embodied image bearers in a fallen world.

There’s a great new resource available to help you better understand theology of the body and how to teach this important doctrine to your church: Embodied: Living as Whole People in a Fractured World by Gregg Allison.

This book is a valuable resource to the church — it will be well worth your time to read this summer. I studied under Allison in seminary and have benefited tremendously from his instruction on theology of human embodiment. This book will make you love your body and thank God for his glorious design.

Buy Embodied:

*Get the audiobook for free with a free trial of Audible.