Author: Charles Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: I want to give my life to God

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Gracious God, we pray, work in us such a holy love to you, that we may give to you all that we have. We have sometimes said in our soul: “Take not tithe, but take it all.” Keep us true to this. May we feel that we are “not our own, but bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20) and let this be no sentiment which ought to have power over us, but a real force which constrains us, because “For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15).

We do pray for grace, that we may spend all our time, every faculty, and all that we possess in glorifying our Lord and Master among the sons of men.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

Paul reminded us that we were redeemed from the punishment due us, redeemed from the wrath of God, redeemed to Christ to be his forever. “You were bought” implies a price, but the words “at a price” are added to show that it was not for nothing that we were purchased; something inestimably precious was paid for us—the precious blood of Christ.

Our being “bought at a price” is the most important fact in our present existence. It determines all we do and are as Christians. If bought, we are not our own. Now if it is true that we are not our own, then the inferences from this are that we have no right to injure what does not belong to us; and, as we are not our own, we have no right to be idle or to waste our talents.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Teach kids about the wonder that our Lord served us.

Today we prayed and reflected on the glorious reality that our great God, the Lord of all creation, laid down his life for us. We are sinful, through and through, but we have been “bought with a price.” This is a marvelous thought that we must never forget.

A great resource for teaching this glorious divine paradox of a great King who is also a lowly servant is Jesus and the Very Big Surprise by Randall Goodgame. This is a really thoughtful and fun picture book, based on Jesus’ parable of the servants who waited for the master to return.

This book is an amazing balance of biblical faithfulness and really fun (and funny) creativity. Your kids will love it, and so will you.

Buy Jesus and the Very Big Surprise:

Pray with Spurgeon: God is at work in your suffering

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, we desire this morning to contemplate with admiration your ways toward us. You have put some of us into the furnace. There is no child of yours who does not something of the heat of the furnace; and we know that you are as a refiner unto us, and that the fire is meant to consume our dross and tin; therefore we thank you for it. For all the acts of discipline to which we are subject, we would praise the wisdom and the love of our divine Father.

You would not have us live in sin; sin is much worse than furnace work. All the trial in the world is not so hard to carry as a sense of sin. Lord, if you give us choice to keep our sins and to live in pleasure, or to have them burnt away with trial, we will say to you, “Lord, give us the sanctified affliction, but deliver us from all the influences of sin, from every evil habit, all the ore that is mixed with the precious metal, everything that diminishes the brightness of your grace in us; everything that keeps you from taking delight in us, take it away, we beseech you.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6–7)

Can a Christian greatly rejoice while he is in distress? Yes, most assuredly he can. Mariners tell us that there are some parts of the sea where there is a strong current upon the surface going one way, but that down in the depths there is a strong current running the other way. Two seas do not meet and interfere with one another, but one stream of water on the surface is running in one direction and another below in an opposite direction.

Now, the Christian is like that. On the surface there is a stream of heaviness rolling with dark waves. But down in the depths there is a strong undercurrent of great rejoicing that is always flowing there.

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

Today we prayed, thanking God for the refining influence that our trials and suffering have had on our life. We know this to be true; even in the worst of our suffering, we know that God is at work to protect, preserve, and purify us.

Spurgeon himself learned a lot from his own suffering. Stricken with significant illness and depression throughout most of his ministry, Spurgeon’s suffering drew him closer to Christ and gave him a deeper hope in 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.

Buy Spurgeon on Suffering:

Pray with Spurgeon: Our sins are many, God’s mercy is more

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, will you listen to us while we confess before you how unworthy we have been of all your goodness; for we are a sinful generation, even as our fathers were. We have sinned, times without number. Our sins of pride, of unbelief, of hasty judgment of your providence, our neglect of searching into your mind in the Word, our neglect of possessing your mind in our daily life, our transgressions and our shortcomings, make against us a great list of accusations.

But we bless you that they will not stand as accusations; for, behold, none can lay anything to the charge of your people, seeing all was laid on him, upon whom the transgression of your people was laid of old, by your own hand; and now, washed in his precious blood, and clothed in his matchless righteousness, we know that despite our faults, we stand accepted in the Beloved.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.” (Romans 8:33)

Every sin of the elect was laid upon the great Champion of our salvation, and by the atonement carried away. There is no sin in God’s book against his people: he sees no sin in Jacob, neither iniquity in Israel; they are justified in Christ forever. When the guilt of sin was taken away, the punishment of sin was removed. For the Christian there is no stroke from God’s angry hand—nay, not so much as a single frown of punitive justice. The believer may be chastised by his Father, but God the Judge has nothing to say to the Christian, except “I have absolved you: you are acquitted.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

What’s so amazing about grace?

Today, we prayed a prayer of thankfulness that God has forgiven our sins out of his infinite, marvelous, amazing grace. We celebrate God’s “amazing grace” like this every day, but when was the last time you sat down to really consider and celebrate the good news that God saves sinners by grace?

One book to help cultivate enjoyment of God’s grace is By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me by Sinclair Ferguson. This book is a great devotional, with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of God’s amazing grace.

I can’t think of a better topic to study and consider this summer than God’s amazing grace. You will walk away from this book singing with joy at the wonders of God’s grace. I hope you’ll buy a copy today.

Buy By Grace Alone:

Pray with Spurgeon: God is overflowing with goodness

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are of clean heart. Your people desire to set their seal to this, and to acknowledge that you are overflowing goodness. O blessed God, you have remembered both our temporal and our spiritual wants; you have lifted us up from the gates of the grave, delivered our soul from death, our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling.

You have dealt well with your servants, O Lord, according to your Word. There is none like the God of Jeshurun (Deuteronomy 33:26), there is none that deals so bountifully; for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are his thoughts above our thoughts and his ways above our ways.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, the clouds in his majesty.” (Deuteronomy 33:26)

Notice how near God is said to be to his people. He is described as being above us with his divine power. Faith can hear the tramp of the celestial cavalry above our heads. He is all around us so that we are encompassed with God—with the glorious presence of his mighty love. He is above, beneath, before, and all around us. He never forsakes us, for in him we live, move, and have our being. Let us rejoice, therefore, in our Lord’s nearness.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Be amazed by our great God.

Our view of God is much too small, much too tame. The Bible reveals a ravishing, glorious, fear-inspiring, awesome picture of the God who created all things and sits in the heavens. If you want to better understand God’s glorious infinity, read None Like Him by Jen Wilkin.

In each chapter, Jen unpacks one of God’s incommunicable attributes — the attributes that make God unlike us — and discusses how knowing each of these attributes of God will change our lives. This is biblical, rich, glorious theology.

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Pastor, you’re not a perfect preacher (and that’s okay)

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

It is not every one of us who can speak as some can do, and even these men cannot speak up to their own ideal. If there be any brother here who thinks he can preach as well as he should, I would advise him to leave off altogether. If he did so, he would be acting as wisely as the great painter who broke his palette, and, turning to his wife, said, “My painting days are over, for I have satisfied myself, and therefore I am sure my power is gone.”

Whatever other perfection may be attainable, I am certain that he who thinks he has gained perfection in oratory mistakes the ability to talk for eloquence, and verbiage for argument. Whatever you may know, you cannot be truly efficient ministers if you are not “apt to teach.” You are probably all acquainted with ministers who have mistaken their calling, and evidently have no gifts for preaching; make sure that none think the same of you.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the need to be born again.

Brethren, we ought not always to profess our ability to prove Scriptural truths to ungodly men, for many of those truths lie outside the region of their understanding. I should not try to prove to a blind man that the grass is green and the sky is blue, because he can have no idea of the proposition which I am proving. Argument in such a case is folly on both sides.

Pray with Spurgeon: May the gospel press into our hearts and all nations

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Let the people praise you, O God, and learn war no more! Let all the nations be blessed! May the gospel of Christ Jesus penetrate into the most remote regions, and where it is known, may the power of it be felt far more. Bless our brethren across the sea of another land, but who, with the same tongue, worship our Lord in spirit and in truth; and our brethren on the southern side of the globe.

All the scattered saints in every nation, visit them with the sprinkling of the Holy Spirit; and make the gardens of the Lord amidst the desert to be green, and blossom as the rose.

Now help us this morning, give to every one a sense of pardoned sin: forgive us, O Father, for Christ’s sake! Give to each one of us also, sanctifying power, that we may be cleansed from the influence of guilt.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you.” (Psalm 67:3)

Cause them to own your goodness and thank you with all their hearts; let nations do this, and do it continually, being instructed in your gracious way. May every man bring his music, every citizen his canticle, every peasant his praise, every prince his Psalm. All are under obligations to you, to thank you will benefit all, and praise from all will greatly glorify you; therefore, O Lord, give all men the grace to adore your grace, the goodness to see your goodness.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Don’t be content with a shallow love for God*

We all want to grow in our knowledge of God and our love for God, but do you have a plan in place for actually growing in faith this summer? What steps will you take to increase your knowledge of God, your love for his glory, and your desire for his Word?

One great step to take is reading The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer. This is a great resource to equip you for fanning the flame of your love for God.

There’s a new audiobook of The Pursuit of God available now from Goodwill Audiobook Classics Library. Listening to Christ-centered audio during your daily tasks to encourage your faith and grow in grace.

If you’re content with a shallow love for God, you can ignore this book. But if you’re ready to dive deeper than ever, check out The Pursuit of God. I hope you’ll grab the audiobook and listen this summer.

Buy The Pursuit of God Audiobook Now.

Pray with Spurgeon: God, destroy false gospels and build your church

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Rebuke, we pray, those who, with their philosophy and vain deceit (Colossians 2:8), would mar and spoil the gospel of Jesus Christ. Grant that in all deliberations of any part of your church, which concern this great and grievous and crying evil, there may be decision and wisdom and help given, that all may be done and ordered to your glory.

Bless our nation, Lord, we pray; and let the spirit of Christianity permeate it, enter into the high places, and flow down even to its darkest dens. And, we beseech you, let us have peace; may nothing happen to break it, may it be established on a firm and judicious footing; and for many a year may no sound of trumpet, or noise of cannon, be heard throughout the whole earth.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ. For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ…” (Colossians 2:8–9)

Cling to Christ, beloved. Go no further than he leads you; and turn not away from him either to the right hand or to the left. In him are contained all the riches of grace, and all the treasures of knowledge. If you would become truly wise, seek to know more of the wisdom of God in Christ Jesus.

You have everything in Christ that you ought to want; you are fully furnished, completely supplied and equipped for all future service. You need not go to Christ for the supply of some of your needs, and then go elsewhere for the supply of other needs; but, “you are complete in him.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Be equipped to defend your faith against false gospels

Today we prayed for an end of all false gospels — those who, in the name of Christ, teach contrary to his Word. We all want truth to prevail and falsehoods to be destroyed, but are you prepared to defend your faith against those falsehoods? Are you ready to answer the world’s toughest questions for Christianity?

A great resource for being equipped to defend your faith is Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin. This book gives practical, biblical, and winsome answers to some of the world’s most pressing objections to the gospel.

Be equipped to answer questions like “Isn’t Christianity homophobic?” and “How can you say there’s only one true faith?” with Bible-centered wisdom and Christ-centered hope.

Confronting Christianity will bolster your own faith and equip you to be a bold witness for Christ. I hope you’ll buy a copy today.

Buy Confronting Christianity:

Pray with Spurgeon: Revive our love for the gospel

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Let my church, Lord, receive a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, that all its members may be spending themselves for the Master. Will you quicken, we pray, every ministry of our church. Let not anything flag to which the church has set her hand. May we be great soul-winners that the Lord’s name may be glorified.

And all the thousand and one things, which constitute the activities of the churches at large, bless and prosper them, so far as they are according to your mind; and may it please you to give to the churches prayer in proportion to activity, and faith in proportion to zeal. O Lord! Visit your church at this time, which is a time of peril; and in your mercy, revive among us the love of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24–25)

Christian fellowship is helpful to us, and we are helpful to others by it. A Christian is not meant to be a solitary being. Sheep are fond of company, and so are the sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not be solitary pilgrims along the road to heaven, but join that glorious host of God’s elect who march beneath the guidance of our great Master.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A simple summer read to help you love your church more

Today we prayed for our local church and reflected on the value of gathering with our local church from Hebrews 10:24–25. Your local church is not an activity or entertainment — it is the family that God has given you to keep you alive.

We all need to grow to love our local church family more. And a great resource for helping you along the way is Love Your Church by Tony Merida. This is a new book that outlines eight great things about being a church member. I received a review copy several months ago and was so thankful for the book’s faithfulness to Scripture and practical application.

The book is simple and short, making it a great summer read. I promise you, if you will read this book and apply it’s lessons to your own local church, you will grow in love for your church family and grow in godliness as a result.

Buy Love Your Church:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, thank you for all your mercies

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our Father, we pray with a deep gratitude for all your mercies: may they take possession of all our hearts that, as when David sat in his house of cedar he “magnified the Lord,” so may we also, whenever things go smoothly with us. Lord, may the gratitude we feel prompt us to say again, “How can I repay the LORD for all the good he has done for me?” (Psalm 116:12).

Make every child of yours here, to be every day serving you; and serving you so that heaven’s work may begin below, and something of heaven’s pleasure may be enjoyed even now. But Lord, while we work for you, always keep us sitting at the feet of Jesus. Let our faith never wander away from the simplicity of its confidence in him. Let our motive never be anything but his glory; may our hearts be taken up with his love, and our thoughts perpetually engaged about his person. Let us choose the good part which shall not be taken away—that if we serve with Martha we may also sit with Mary.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Try to do so for everything, and if you cannot do it, in everything give thanks for something else—when you are in circumstances which do not excite your thankfulness just then. God wills it. This moved the Crusaders to the war, let this suffice to move you in thanksgiving.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

You need a dictionary (Seriously, you need a dictionary)

Definitions are important. When reading a book or listening to teaching, we can’t learn or apply anything if we don’t know the words an author or speaker is using.

The Baker Compact Dictionary of Theological Terms by Gregg Allison is an invaluable resource for theological studies, offering clear definitions for the most important words for understanding the Bible and theology. This is an incredible resource for looking up new words that you don’t know and for getting a quick refresher on various theological positions.

Buy The Baker Compact Dictionary of Theological Terms:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, let me serve you!

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We would humbly ask you that we may each be permitted to do some great service for you, before we go hence: we do not mean great in the wisdom of our fellows, but let it be all that we can do. If we cannot build a house for you, yet have we set our hearts upon doing something; and if it be your will, direct our minds to what it shall be, lest our minds should not be your mind: but let not one of us be barren or unfruitful. If we have indeed been redeemed by the blood of Christ, may we reckon that we must live to him; may the love of Christ constrain us; and may something come of our lives that shall be a blessing to the sons of men, before we go out.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15)

The true-hearted Christian judges himself to have died when Christ died; and, henceforth, he feels that he must not live for any object but the glory of Christ. He is gone back to glory, so our object is not to win a kingdom for him anywhere upon earth. Our aim now is spiritual, the proclamation of his truth,—the winning of a kingdom for him in the hearts of men.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Teach your children that God is worthy of their service

Lately my family has been loving a new book, The Prisoners, the Earthquake, and the Midnight Song by Bob Hartman, illustrated by Catalina Echeverri. This book tells the story of Paul and Silas while they were in prison in Philippi for proclaiming Christ, and encourages children to proclaim Christ with the same kind of boldness.

The book is incredibly creative (without sacrificing faithfulness to the biblical text) and the illustrations are stunning. It’s a ton of fun and children under ten will love it.

This isn’t just a cheap Bible story — this is a great book full of rich theology, an incredible (true!) story, and an important message. It will encourage kids of all ages to boldly proclaim Christ, no matter the cost.

I hope you’ll add this book to your family’s library!

Buy The Prisoners, the Earthquake, and the Midnight Song: