Author: Charles Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: Saturate your church with prayer

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Bless at this time very graciously the church to which we belong. Let us know the power of prayer today and tomorrow. Pour out upon the members of this church an intense spirit of prayer.

May we agonize tomorrow for the glory of God, and today also, and let it not depart from us so long as we live. Send us, Lord, a mighty ground swell of intense desire for the glory of God, and may these, your servants, banded together in church fellowship, recognize their sweet obligations to their dying Lord, and determine that the prayers of the church shall go up before him like sweet perfume.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be leveled; the uneven ground will become smooth and the rough places, a plain.” (Isaiah 40:4)

When God means to come to men, nothing can stop him or block up his road. He will level mountains, and fill up valleys, but he will come to his people, somehow or other. And when he comes to them, if he finds many crooked things about them, he will make the crooked straight, and the rough places he will make plain.

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Teach the wonders of theology to children

If you don’t teach your child good theology, who will? (Hint: It’s not the children’s ministry worker they see for 45 minutes each week). If you don’t fill your child’s mind and soul with biblical truth, the world will fill it with worldly truth.

We must take this task seriously and teach our children the wonders and joy of who God is and what he has done.

A great resource for teaching theology in a creative and deeply biblical way is The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New by Marty Machowski. This book is a collection of over 70 short devotionals to teach children (primarily ages 6-12) the wonders of God.

The book is simple enough for a 3-year-old to grasp and also deep enough for a 12-year-old to be amazed. It really is an incredible resource!

After hearing about The Ology for years I finally got a copy for my family and I’m planning to read one section every day at breakfast. You can join us!

Buy The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New:

Pray with Spurgeon: I want to belong to Jesus.

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Oh, to be wholly Christ’s! We do mourn that we cannot reach to this—that in the secret of our hearts every devil should be cast out, every demon driven to its deep, every sin made hateful, every thought of sin made loathsome to us, until only pure desires and inward longings after perfect holiness shall predominate in our nature.

O God, let the scourge still be used to drive out the buyers and sellers: we would not ask to have them spared, but let the temple of my body be the Lord’s, seeing that he has built it and has cleansed it with his blood.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“The sorrows of those who take another god for themselves will multiply…” (Psalm 16:4)

We must be faithful to God—to the God revealed to us in the Book of God—the God of the Old Testament, of the New Testament, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must keep to him, not make another god after our own imagination.

It is practical idolatry even to conceive of God otherwise than he is revealed in Holy Scripture. This we must not do; but say, concerning the God of the Bible, “This God is our God forever and ever.”

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What is the church, anyway?

Every Christian has an answer to that question. But is your answer biblical, or is it merely defined by your own experiences (whether good or bad)?

The Church is God’s plan for reaching the world. He designed it, so he knows how it can work best. The good news is, we don’t have to guess at God’s design for the church; it has been clearly revealed to us in the pages of Scripture.

This new short book, The Church: An Introduction by Gregg Allison is a great resource for deepening your understanding of the church. This book is short and approachable. It will drive to your knees in worship and gratitude for God’s wisdom in his plan for your church.

Buy The Church: An Introduction:

Pray with Spurgeon: Jesus, let us love you so intensely

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

May no professed Christian ever violate the loyalty of his obedience to his King. May those dear wounds of his have more sway over us than any silver scepter had over the subjects of earthly princes. May we feel that if he drank for us the vinegar and gall, whatever cup he sets before us we will cheerfully drink.

Rule us, Savior, rule us, we ask you. And let no believer violate the chastity of his heart to the Beloved of his soul. O Jesus, let us love you so intensely, that whatever else there may be of loving relationship, still this may cover all and swallow up all. Oh, to be wholly Christ’s!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Yes, we shall come to this if we are believers. Sorrow shall cease, and tears shall be wiped away. This is the world of weeping, but it passes away. There shall be a new heaven, and a new earth, and therefore there will be nothing to weep over concerning the fall and its consequent miseries.

What will our state be when there will be no more sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain? This will be more glorious than we can as yet imagine. O eyes that are red with weeping, cease your scalding flow, for in a little while ye shall know no more tears! None can wipe tears away like the God of love, but he is coming to do it.

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Celebrate Lent and Easter with Spurgeon and Others

There’s a reason I put together a newsletter with prayers from Spurgeon every day — it’s because I believe there is great wisdom to be found in church history.

Church history has (unfortunately) gotten a bad reputation. Many write off church history as “boring,” but this couldn’t be further from the case. As we learn from and pray with voices from church history, we find ourselves more faithful and Bible-saturated than before.

And that’s why I was really excited to receive a copy of An Ocean of Grace: A Journey to Easter with Great Voices from the Past, a new daily devotional by Tim Chester. Each devotional features a passage of Scripture, a brief reflection, and a prayer from church history (diverse vocies from Augustine to Spurgeon).

The book is designed to be used for devotional reading during Lent, but I know it will be profoundly useful to aid prayer for any time of the year. I hope you’ll grab a copy — this book is a treasure!

Buy An Ocean of Grace by Tim Chester:

Pray with Spurgeon: We do everything for Jesus’ glory.

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Assist us, we pray most blessed Redeemer, to show forth your praises in our lives. Sanctify us in our households. May we go in and out before you showing the name and nature of Christ. Help us in our business, that in all we do among our fellow men we may act as Christ would have us act.

Strengthen us in secret; there may we be mighty in prayer. Guard us in public, that neither in act nor word we may slip away from you. Above all, cast cords of love around our hearts. Oh, hold us, Savior, never let us go! May no professed Christian here ever violate the loyalty of his obedience to his King.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

If I can truly claim that I have both confessed Christ and believed in him, then I am saved. The text does not say it may be so, but it is plain as a pikestaff, and clear as the sun in the heavens: “you will be saved.” As a believer and a confessor, I may lay my hand on this promise, and plead it before the Lord God at this moment, and throughout life, and in the hour of death, and at the day of judgment.

I must be saved from the guilt of sin, the power of sin, the punishment of sin, and ultimately from the very being of sin. God has said it—“you will be saved.” I believe it. I shall be saved: I am saved. Glory be to God forever and ever!

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Spurgeon’s Earliest Sermons (And Hundreds of Other Resources)

This month, the Spurgeon Study Bible is available for 50% off for “Pray with Spurgeon” subscribers (Just use promo code SPURGEONBOOKS).

One of my favorite features of the Spurgeon Study Bible is the LOST SERMONS. Throughout the study Bible, you can find outlines of some of Spurgeon’s earliest sermons — you can even see them in Spurgeon’s own handwriting!

Up until a few years ago, they had never been published or widely read, and now there are 20 of them available right in your Spurgeon Study Bible. These sermons are saturated with rich gospel content. I know they will bless and encourage you.

The Lost Sermons are just one of the many incredible features to this Study Bible. I highly recommend grabbing one now while they’re 50% off!
Buy the Spurgeon Study Bible on LifeWay.com (Use promo code SPURGEONBOOKS to save 50%)

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Pray with Spurgeon: We use every second for God

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our Lord and Master, Redeemer and Savior, come and take entire possession of us. You must take by force what you have purchased, or you will never have it. By force of arms, the arms must be those of love, will you capture our willful, wayward spirit. Come and divide the spoil with the strong in us, we pray.

Take every faculty and use it, overpower and sanctify it. Every moment of our time help us to employ for you; every breath may we breathe out to your honor. We feel that there is unconquered territory in our nature yet. Subdue, Lord, we ask you, our corruptions; cast them out, and in our spirit rule and conquer. There set up your eternal throne—“Wean our heart from every creature, Thee to love, and Thee alone.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I cried out to him with my mouth, and praise was on my tongue.” (Psalm 66:17)

It is well when prayer and praise go together, like the horses in Pharaoh’s chariot. Some cry who do not sing, and some sing who do not cry: both together are best. Since the Lord’s answers so frequently follow close at the heels of our petitions, and even overtake them, it becomes us to let our grateful praises keep pace with our humble prayers. Observe that the Psalmist did both cry and speak; the Lord has cast the dumb devil out of his children, and those of them who are least fluent with their tongues are often the most eloquent with their hearts.

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You will suffer (and Christ will be with you)

None of knows how 2021 will compare to 2020, but we can be confident that we will experience trials this year. Why can we be sure of this? Because Jesus promised “You will have suffering in this world” (John 16:33).

We will experience suffering, so we need to be equipped to walk through our suffering in a God-honoring way. Spurgeon has been an incredible mentor to me on this topic, which is why I compiled 12 of his classic sermons into a book, Spurgeon on Suffering: Reflections on Our Pain and God’s Grace.

Spurgeon offers such a realistic, hopeful approach to our suffering, rooted in the glorious suffering of Christ. I hope that this book will encourage you.

Buy Spurgeon on Suffering on Amazon (Paperback or Kindle edition)

Pray with Spurgeon: Believe in Jesus with your whole heart

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

And now we have a prayer to put up to you, Great God, and it is this, that in us your dear Son may see some portion of the travail of his soul. Lord, let him see a reward for his sufferings, in all of us being repentant for sin, and trusting in God, and confessing his name. We know many who still indulge in the sins which brought Christ to death, some that still are trusting in their own righteousness and so are despising his; because if their’s will suffice, then his were superfluous.

O God, we ask you, bring men away from all their false trusts to rest in the great sacrifice of your dear Son. Let not one person here be so callous to the merit of Christ as not to love him, or so indifferent to the efficacy of his blood as not to desire to be cleansed in it. Oh, bring every one of us now to believe in Jesus Christ with our whole heart unto eternal life, that the may have a portion with the great.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6)

As the very soul of prayer lies in communion with God, we shall pray best when all our attention is confined to him; and we shall best reach our end of being accepted by him when we have no regard to the opinion of anyone else.

Secret prayer is truly heard and openly answered in the Lord’s own way and time. Our King reigns “in secret”: there he sets up his court, and there will he welcome our approaches. We are not where God sees when we court publicity, and pray to obtain credit for our devotion.

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What’s so amazing about grace?

We sing and celebrate God’s “amazing grace” 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. Sinclair Ferguson is an incredible writer and this book is a great Bible study, with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of 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: Father, Son, and Spirit have loved us

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We adore you, O Father, for your great love in the gift of Jesus: we equally adore you, most blessed Jesus, for resigning your life for our sakes: and then we adore the Blessed Spirit who has led us to know this mystery and to put our trust in Jesus.

Unto the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, do we pay our reverent homage this morning; only we see him yet more clearly than the patriarchs of old did; for God in the face of Jesus Christ is seen in the clearest light that mortal eye can bear.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He [Aaron] is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body.” (Leviticus 16:4)

Our great high priest offered me without spot to God. But the Jewish high priest must make himself typically pure by putting on the snow-white garments of holy service. Before doing so, he must wash himself with water, that he might come before God acceptably. No one might approach the Holy God with impurities on them.

If you want to read more, check out the Spurgeon Study Bible. This month only, you can get the Spurgeon Study Bible for 50% off — use promo code SPURGEONBOOKS. Click here to learn more.*

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Celebrate a Christ-centered Easter with your kids

I love Easter. A day set aside to specifically remember and celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus is always a day well-spent. But it can be hard to focus our children’s attention on the real meaning of Easter when the culture around is constantly screaming messages about bunnies, eggs, and candy.

A Very Happy Easter by Tim Thornborough is a great book to help kids remember the real meaning of Easter. This fun book encourages a lot of interaction, instructing kids to copy the faces they see throughout the book.

This is a fun book for the whole family — grab one today and start preparing to celebrate Easter in a few weeks!

Buy A Very Happy Easter:

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Pray with Spurgeon: Jesus died to kill your sin

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We lie in the very dust before you in utter shame, to think that we have sometimes heard the story of your Son without emotion, and even told it without tenderness. The theme truly has never become stale to us.

We can say in your presence that the story of Christ’s death still brings joy, and makes our hearts to leap. But yet, Lord, it never has affected us as we could have expected it would. Give us more tenderness of heart, give us to feel the wounds of Jesus till they wound our sins to death. Give us to have a heart pierced even as his was, with deep sympathy for his griefs, and an all-consuming love for his blessed person.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin…” (Romans 6:6)

We are to regard ourselves as persons that have been dead. We are ourselves, it is true; and yet in another sense we are not our own selves. We are not to look upon ourselves as though we owed any kind of service to the power which we obeyed before we knew the Lord. We are new people, we have got a new life, and have entered upon a new existence—the old man is crucified with him.

There was no getting free from the power of sin, except by dying to it; but, being dead to it, we are free from it; and, now being dead that way, we have entered into a new life that we might live as Christ lives.

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How God’s grace helps you grow

Today’s prayer and verse of the day celebrate the glorious truth that God’s grace doesn’t just save you from sin, it also gives you the power that you need to slay sin. The work of growing in godliness is a work of cooperation between us and God’s grace.

One of my all-time favorite books is The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. This book explains how God’s grace empowers Christians to slay sin and grow in godliness. It is one of the helpful, practical, and encouraging books that I have ever read! If you want to grow in godliness, start with The Discipline of Grace.

Buy The Discipline of Grace:

Pray with Spurgeon: God loves sinners (he really does!)

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Your grace has almost out-graced itself; your love has reached its height: love to rebels; so to love, that even your Son could not be spared. O God, we are afflicted in our hearts to think we do not love you more, after such love as this.

Oh, were there not a stone in our hearts, we should melt in love to you; we should account that there was no thought fit to occupy the mind but this one stupendous thought of God’s love to us: and henceforth this would be the master-key to our hearts, that should unlock or lock them at your will—the great love with which you have loved us.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the Lord’s unfailing love.” (Psalm 33:5)

Come here, astronomers, geologists, naturalists, botanists, chemists, miners, yes, all of you who study the works of God, for all your truthful stories confirm this declaration. From the midge in the sunbeam to leviathan in the ocean all creatures own the bounty of the Creator. Even the pathless desert blazes with some undiscovered mercy, and the caverns of ocean conceal the treasures of love.

Earth might have been as full of terror as of grace, but instead it teems and overflows with kindness. He who cannot see it, and yet lives in it as the fish lives in the water, deserves to die. If earth be full of mercy, what must heaven be where goodness concentrates its beams?

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A devotional to prepare for Good Friday

As we prepare for a season of celebrating Good Friday and Easter, it is important for Christians to think about why Christ died, and why he rose again. Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die by John Piper is an excellent devotional for considering the cost and the reward of the cross.

The book offers fifty short devotionals, each explaining a different reason Jesus came to die. Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die is a great devotional to prepare your heart for Good Friday, and making every day a cross-shaped one.

Buy Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die:

Pray with Spurgeon: Jesus, the King of the World

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, gather in the unconverted: our prayers can never conclude without pleading for the dead in sin. Oh, quicken them, Savior! If any one reading this has a little daughter that lies dead in sin, like Jairus may they plead with Jesus to come and lay his hand upon her that she may live. If we have any relatives unsaved, Lord, save them: save our servants, save our neighbors, save this great city.

Yes, let your kingdom come over the whole earth. Let the nations melt into one glorious empire beneath the sole sway of Jesus the Son of David and the Son of God. Come quickly, O Lord Jesus, even so, come quickly.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23–24)

There are degrees of guilt; but all men have sinned. There is no difference in that respect, whatever gradations there may be in the sinners.

Dear hearers, are you all justified, that is, made just, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus? You are certainly all guilty in the sight of God; have you all been made righteous by faith in the redemption accomplished on the cross by Christ Jesus our Lord? I beg you to consider this question most seriously; and if you must truthfully answer, “No,” may God make you tremble, and drive you to your knees in penitence to cry to him for pardon!

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE*

Study (the entire Bible) with Spurgeon

Good study Bibles have been an incredible blessing to me throughout my Christian life. They are incredible tools for understanding and applying the Bible.

One of my favorite study Bibles is The Spurgeon Study Bible. This is a great tool for deepening your understanding of Scripture.

Two great features: there are hundreds of study notes taken from Spurgeon’s sermons throughout the Bible, and there are short introductions by Spurgeon on every book of the Bible. This is a great way to get a board overview or detailed reflection, right from Spurgeon, on any section of Scripture.

The Spurgeon Study Bible is a great resource for Scripture study. And this month only, they are 50% off when you use promo code SPURGEONBOOKS. I hope you’ll grab one today.
Buy the Spurgeon Study Bible on LifeWay.com (Use promo code SPURGEONBOOKS to save 50%)

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