Category: Pray with Spurgeon

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord look upon your church in these days. Lord revive us. Lord restore us. Lord, give power to your Word again that your name may be glorified. Remember the church of God in this land in all its various phases and portions, and pour out your Spirit upon it. Remember the multitude of your people across the sea in America; prosper them, bless them with the increase of God. And wherever you have a people may Jesus dwell with them and reveal himself to his own, for Christ’s sake, to whom be glory with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. 

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“LORD, remember David and all the hardships he endured.” (Psalm 132:1)

God will never forget what his people suffer for his sake. No doubt innumerable blessings descend upon families and nations through the godly lives and patient sufferings of the saints. We cannot be saved by the merits of others, but beyond all question we are benefited by their virtues. Paul said, “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward his name.” There is a full reward for the righteous. That reward frequently comes upon their descendants rather than upon themselves; they sow, and their successors reap.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Seek God in College*

College can be a great time for any student to deepen their faith and their walk with Jesus, and I think Spurgeon College in Kansas City, MO is a great place to do it.

Spurgeon College (named after Charles Spurgeon) exists “For the Kingdom.”

No matter what a student is studying, they will be given a vision to give their college years — and the rest of their lives — to God’s purposes.

If you’re looking at Christian colleges now (for yourself or someone else), this is the perfect time to check out Spurgeon College.

This month (They’re calling it Spurgeon College Month 🎉), SC is giving away some great prizes to lucky winners who apply (or even just request more information!)

If you want more information, this is a great time to ask — enter to win a College Starter Kit (details) and get more info.

Check out Spurgeon College and enter free giveaways.

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)

O Lord, your works praise you, but your saints bless you; and this shall be our heaven; yes, our heaven of heavens eternally, to praise and magnify the great and ever blessed God. May many a woman and man break forth this day and say, with the virgin of old, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

May there be going up this day sweet incense of praise laid by holy hands, privately upon the altar of God. May this place be filled with the smoke thereof, not perhaps to the consciousness of every one, but to the acceptance of God who shall smell a sweet savor of rest in Christ, and then in the praises of his people in him.

Amen.

WIN AN IPAD, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND MORE

February is Spurgeon College Month at Midwestern Seminary. Spurgeon College is for students who are called to live for God’s Kingdom, whether in the market-place, mission field, or ministry.

Throughout the month, you can join in the celebration in three ways:

1. Enter to win a college starter kit (including an iPad Pro, a Fjällräven backpack, and a $1,000 scholarship)
2. Apply to Spurgeon College with code SPURGEON24 and get a free sweatshirt.
3. Check out free resources from Spurgeon College to discover how you can live for the Kingdom.

Check out all of these giveaways here.

WEEKEND LONG READ (SERMON BY SPURGEON)

“Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war.” (Revelation 19:11)

Our Lord is here described as sitting upon a gallant steed, charging his foes upon a snow-white horse. This means that Christ is honored now. He is no weary, dusty, fainting footman now, I warrant you. Pilate and Herod rode the high horse, and Jesus walked in pain and dishonor. But now, like a greater Mordecai, he rides on the King’s horse, for this is the man whom the King delights to honor. In royal state our Jesus goes forth to war, not as a common soldier, but as a glorious prince, royally mounted.

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

A FREE RESOURCE FROM MIDWESTERN

Tips for Delighting in the Old Testament

The OT is Christian Scripture, and we can enjoy it best when we approach it through Christ and for Christ. The OT magnifies Jesus in numerous ways, and his person and work clarify how to rightly discern the continuities and discontinuities of salvation history. Through the light and lens that Christ supplies, Christians can enjoy in the same God and the same good news in both Testaments.

Listen to the full podcast on For the Church

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.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

God grant that we may live to see better days. But if perilous times should come in these last days make us faithful. Raise up in our nation, men who shall hold the truth firmly as their fathers did. Raise up in every country where there has been a faithful church, men who will not let the vessel drift upon the rocks. O God of the Judges, you who raised up first one and then another when the people went astray from God; raise up for us still (our Joshuas are dead) our Deborahs, our Baraks, our Gideons and Jephthahs, and Samuels, that shall maintain for God his truth, and worst the enemies of Israel.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“… for the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the power of one stronger than he.” (Jeremiah 31:11)

Redemption lies at the bottom of every favor we receive from God. He blesses us because he has redeemed us. He has bought us with so great a price that we are too dear for him ever to lose us. Because he has bought his flock, he will, therefore, keep it away from the power of the enemy.

Editor’s Note: The latest devotional from God Centered Family, covering the book of Jeremiah, is releasing today. If you’re a parent looking to lead your kids to be lifelong followers of Jesus, check out God Centered Family today.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A College Centered on God’s Word*

At any college, students are faced with COUNTLESS new ideas. Christian college students and their families need to have confidence that the new ideas they’re being exposed to are biblical. College students need to be surrounded by a community that points them TO Christ and stirs their love for him rather than drawing him away.

If you or someone you love is exploring college choices right now, you NEED to check out Spurgeon College (The undergraduate program at Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City).

And RIGHT NOW is the perfect time to learn more, because… 

🎉 IT’S SPURGEON COLLEGE MONTH! 🎉🎉

This month only, Spurgeon College is giving away a college starter kit, which includes an iPad Pro, a $1,000 scholarship, and more.

It’s completely free for anyone to enter — just sign up right here.

Check out Spurgeon College and enter free giveaways.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

There are those who never repented of sin and never believed in Christ, and consequently the wrath of God abides on them. They are living without God, they are living in darkness. O God, in your great mercy look upon them. They do not look to you, but we ask that you would look at them. May the sinner see his sin and mourn it; see his savior and accept him; see himself saved, and go on his way rejoicing. Father, do grant us this.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

Oh, to be so decided, that we may pursue one thing only! We would hate evil and love God, despise falsehood and hold to truth! We need to know how we are affected both to righteousness and sin; and when this is ascertained to our comfort, we must stand to the right with uncompromising firmness. Greed for money is the direct opposite of God as much today as in past ages, and we must loathe its greed, its selfishness, its oppression, its pride; or we do not love God.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Will you surrender everything to God?

Today’s verse of the day challenged us to surrender our whole lives to God — that every bit of rebellion and unwillingness to serve him would be removed, because we recognize that we belong to Jesus, our creator and savior.

An excellent book to help you consider how you can serve God with more boldness and surrender is Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt.

The idea of the book is simple to understand, but bold to live out. In a world that tells us to live for ourselves, we need to hear the counter-cultural message of Jesus with clarity: “Take up your cross.”

This book will challenge you and give you specific practical guidance to give your all in service to Jesus. I know this book has encouraged many in the past and I know it will encourage you as well. I hope you’ll buy a copy today.

Buy Radical:

• Amazon (Paperback, Kindle, or audiobook editions)
• ChristianBook.com (Paperback edition)

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Take away from us everything which might stop us from delighting in God. May we come to God this day with a supreme joy; may we speak of him as “God my exceeding joy; yes, my own God is he.” O God give us a sense of property in yourself. May we come near to you, having no doubt and nothing whatsoever that shall spoil the beautiful simplicity of a childlike faith which looks up into the great face of God and saith, “Our Father, which art in heaven.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22–23)

If a man does not see things in a right light, he may live in sin and yet fancy that he is doing his duty. A man should live up to his light; but if that light is itself darkness, what a mistake his whole course will be! If our religion leads us to sin, it is worse than irreligion. If our faith is presumption, our zeal selfishness, our prayer formality, our hope a delusion, our experience infatuation, the darkness is so great that even our Lord holds up his hands in astonishment and says—“How great is that darkness!”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Anger is deadly… And God can offer lasting change

Anger is a persistent issue for me. I encounter it every day in my home, in my church, and, most of all, in my own heart. Most of us who struggle with anger, no matter how infrequently, hate it but we don’t know how to change.

A really great book to help you is The Heart of Anger by Christopher Ash and Steve Midgley. This book is an incredible exploration of everything the Bible teaches about anger. It will help you understand your anger, what motivates it, and how to slay it. This book is practical, biblical, and deep.

Reading The Heart of Anger will really help you, because it doesn’t offer short-cuts — it offers real transformation, rooted in God’s Word and dependent on God’s grace. (And, if you’re a pastor, you should grab a copy to be equipped to confront anger in others you disciple/counsel).

This book is incredibly useful. I hope you’ll pick up a copy today.

Buy The Heart of Anger:

• Amazon (Paperback, Kindle, or audiobook editions)
• ChristianBook.com (Paperback or ebook editions)

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

May every child of yours have his conscience purged from dead works to serve the true and living God. May there be no cloud between us and our heavenly Father; nay, not even a mist, not even the morning mist that is soon gone. May we walk in the light as God is in the light. May our fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, be unquestionable; may it be fuel; may it fill us with joy; may it be a most real fact this day; may we enjoy it to the full, knowing whom we have believed, knowing who is our Father, knowing who it is that dwells in us, even the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

This is a grand moral motive for keeping our desires above groveling objects. The heart must and will go in the direction of that which we count precious. The whole man will be transformed into the likeness of that for which he lives. Where we place our treasures our thoughts will naturally fly. It will be wise to let all that we have act as magnets to draw us in the right direction. If our very best things are in heaven, our very best thoughts will fly in the same direction: but if our choicest possessions are of the earth, our heart will be earth-bound.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Looking at college? Look to Spurgeon*

College can be a great time for any student to deepen their faith and their walk with Jesus, and I think Spurgeon College in Kansas City, MO is a great place to do it.

Spurgeon College (named after Charles Spurgeon) exists “For the Kingdom.”

No matter what a student is studying, they will be given a vision to give their college years — and the rest of their lives — to God’s purposes.

If you’re looking at Christian colleges now (for yourself or someone else), this is the perfect time to check out Spurgeon College.

This month (They’re calling it Spurgeon College Month 🎉), SC is giving away some great prizes to lucky winners who apply (or even just request more information!)

If you want more information, this is a great time to ask — enter to win a College Starter Kit (including an iPad and $1,000 scholarship) and get more info.

Check out Spurgeon College and enter free giveaways.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, when we have praised you, we have to cover our face and feet and stand before you to worship in another fashion, for we confess that we are evil, evil in our original, and though renewed by sovereign grace your people cannot speak of being clean, rid of sin. There is sin which dwells in us which is our daily plague.

O God, we humble ourselves before you. We ask that our faith may clearly perceive the blood of the atonement and the covering of the perfect righteousness of Christ; and may we come afresh, depending alone on Jesus. “I, the chief of sinners am, but Jesus died for me.” May this be our one hope, that Jesus died and rose again, and that for his sake we are accepted in the Beloved.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20)

Let our desires and efforts go after heavenly things. These are not liable to any decay within themselves, nor can they be taken from us by force or fraud. Does not wisdom bid us seek such sure possessions? Out of our earthly possessions which are used for God is laid up in heaven. What is given to the poor and to the Lord’s cause is deposited in the Bank of Eternity. To heaven we are going; let us send our treasures before us. There they will be safe from decay, and robbery: but in no other place may we reckon them to be secure.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A Book to Help Kids Understand God’s Forgiveness

Today we prayed, praising God for his wonderful, forgiving mercy that holds onto us no matter how much we sin. Even though we sin, we don’t have to hide from God — his grace is enough to cover our sins.

Recently, my family has been loving a new kids’ book by Melissa Kruger, His Grace is Enough: How God Makes it Right When We’ve Got it Wrong. This book unpacks this crucial message of God’s grace and invites our sinful children to run towards God, not away from him.

His Grace is Enough invites children to know and rest in the sin-forgiving love of God, shown in Christ. It’s a serious, wonderful, joy-filled message, but the book is really fun, with engaging illustrations that help kids understand the message.

If you have preschoolers in your life, I know you’ll want to buy a copy (or two, to use as gifts!) — I hope you’ll add it to your family’s library today.

Buy His Grace is Enough:

• Amazon (Hardback edition)
• ChristianBook.com (Hardback edition)

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)

O Lord, bring multitudes of working men to listen to the gospel. Break in, we pray, upon their indifference; for how many there are of them who have not yet risen from their beds this morning, who have not thought of coming up to any place of worship—Lord give them a love for your house, a desire to hear your gospel.

And then, will you look upon the poor rich who, so many of them, know nothing about you, and are worshiping their own wealth. The Lord grant that the many, for whom there is no special gospel service, but who are wrapped up in self-righteousness, might be brought to hear the gospel of Jesus, that they also, as well as the poor, might come to Christ. God bless this land with more of gospel light; with more of gospel life and love.

Amen.

WIN AN IPAD, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND MORE

February is Spurgeon College Month at Midwestern Seminary. Spurgeon College is for students who are called to live for God’s Kingdom, whether in the market-place, mission field, or ministry.

Throughout the month, you can join in the celebration in three ways:

1. Enter to win a college starter kit (including an iPad Pro, a Fjällräven backpack, and a $1,000 scholarship)
2. Apply to Spurgeon College with code SPURGEON24 and get a free sweatshirt.
3. Check out free resources from Spurgeon College to discover how you can live for the Kingdom.

Check out all of these giveaways here.

WEEKEND LONG READ (SERMON BY SPURGEON)

“Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief eunuch not to defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8)

I will urge you to stand fast to the right, to speak the truth at all times, to be straightforward, for you will find that honesty is the best policy. Any man who speaks the truth will find it the best thing in the long run. To fence, to prevaricate, to temporize, to try to hold with the hare and run with the hounds, involves you in a world of difficulty and trouble. Be straight as Daniel was. The Lord help you to be so!

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

A FREE RESOURCE FROM MIDWESTERN

Thinking the Best of Each Other

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson and Ross Ferguson talk about a “hermeneutic of suspicion” in our relationships and the impact of viewing others this way upon our lives and local churches. Why should we “believe all things” about others? And how can we do that?

Listen to the full podcast on For the Church

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.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

When we think of all that you have promised to give, which our faith embraces as being really ours, since the covenant makes it sure, we do not know how abundantly enough to utter the memory of your great goodness. We long to make our praises equal to our expectations, and our expectations equal to your promises. We can never rise so high. We give to you, however, the praise of our entire being; unto the Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the Creator of the world, the redeemed of men, unto the Lord be glory forever and ever, and let all his people praise him. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19)

Lay not out your life for gathering wealth; this would be degrading to you as servants of the heavenly kingdom. If you accumulate money, your treasures will be liable to “moth and rust;” and of both you may be deprived by dishonest men. That earthly things decay, or are taken from us, is an excellent reason for not making them the great objects of our pursuit. Do not hoard for thieves to steal from you, do not gather that which will only become corrupt; accumulate for eternity, and send your treasures into the land where you are going. To live for the sake of growing rich is a gilded death in life.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Understanding Sexuality by Understanding Who We Are

Last weekend, I started a sermon series at our church on gender and sexuality. To prepare for this series, I’ve been reading a lot of books about these crucial topics. And one of the best has been Finding Your Best Identity by Andrew Bunt.

The book’s subtitle is A Short Christian Introduction to Identity, Sexuality, and Gender, but the book is so much more than that. It explains how our culture’s understanding of gender and sexuality gives us a poor foundation to build our lives on while suggesting a better alternative — understanding our identity as image-bearers of God and those who are redeemed in Christ.

This book will fill you with confidence to share with others and thankfulness for the astounding work God has done to give you a new identity in Christ. I can’t recommend it enough.

Buy Finding Your Best Identity:

• Amazon (Paperback or Kindle editions)
• ChristianBook.com (Paperback edition)

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our hearts would pause as we remember the greatness of each one of your favors, and we say “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” When we consider our utter unworthiness before conversion, and our great faultiness since, we can but admire the riches of abounding grace which God has manifested to us unworthy ones. Bless the Lord! And when we think of all that you have promised to give, which our faith embraces as being really ours, since the covenant makes it sure, we know not how abundantly enough to utter the memory of your great goodness.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

Have you ever heard of a man who said he did not teach his children the ways of God because he thought they were so young that it was very wrong to prejudice them, and he would rather leave them to choose their own religion when they grew older? One of his boys broke his arm, and while the surgeon was setting it the boy was swearing all the time. The good doctor said, “I told you what would happen. You were afraid to prejudice your boy in the right way, but the devil had no such qualms. He has prejudiced him the other way, and pretty strongly too.”

Cultivate a child’s heart for good, or it will go wrong by itself, for it is already depraved by nature. If only we were wise enough to think of this, and leave no little one to become a prey to the destroyer!

Editor’s Note: If you are looking for resources to help you teach your children to be followers of Jesus, check out my family devotionals at GodCenteredFamily.org

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Enjoy the love of God

In a world full of hatred, selfishness, and anger, it’s easy to forget that God is love. And so we need to always be reminded of this crucial reality from the truth of Scripture.

And Spurgeon is one of the greatest guides there is to understanding and enjoying God’s love.

That’s why I put together a new book, Spurgeon on God’s Love. This book compiles twelve sermons by Spurgeon, all reflecting on the glorious reality of God’s unchanging love.

These sermons have really encouraged me over the last few months and I know that they will encourage you! Plus, buying a copy is a great way to support this ministry, so I can continue to send this newsletter every day.

I hope you’ll grab a copy for yourself (and another one for a friend!) and reflect on God’s love.

Buy Spurgeon on God’s Love:

• Amazon (Paperback or Kindle editions)