Category: Pray with Spurgeon

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our Father, who is in heaven, please forgive our sinful acts towards your Son. We know you take pleasure in him, and we also do, but sometimes we fail to show it. Grant us the ability to love him perfectly. May we be able to say, “Lord, you know everything; you know that we love you.” May we love you so much that even our enemies will recognize it and say, “See how they love their Lord!” May we show our love for you as clearly and decisively as our Master showed his love for buried Lazarus.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Fools suffered affliction because of their rebellious ways and their iniquities.” (Psalm 107:20)

Many sicknesses are the direct result of foolish acts. Thoughtless and lustful men, by drunkenness, gluttony, and the indulgence of their passions, fill their bodies with diseases of the worst kind. Sin is at the bottom of all sorrow, but some sorrows are the immediate results of wickedness: men by a course of transgression afflict themselves and are fools for their pains.

Worse still, even when they are in affliction, they are fools still; and if they were brayed in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet would not their folly depart from them. From one transgression they go on to many iniquities, and while under the rod they add sin to sin. Alas, even the Lord’s own people sometimes play the fool in this sad manner.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

How can you increase your love for Jesus?

Today, we prayed that God would increase our love for his Son. This has been a particular prayer of mine over the last several months as I’ve been preaching through the Letter to the Hebrews at my church. I’ve summarized the message of the book this way: Jesus is better than anything, so don’t let go of him. If we read Hebrews, we ought to walk away adoring our wonderful Jesus.

A great resource to help you study Hebrews is Hebrews For You by Michael Kruger. This is a simple commentary that will help any Christian understand and apply the message of Hebrews (Don’t be scared by the “commentary” label, this book is accessible to anyone).

Hebrews will fill your heart with love for Jesus and Hebrews for You will help you along the way, so I hope you’ll buy a copy today.

Buy Hebrews for You:

• 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.

PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH (BY SPURGEON)

God, as we gather be pleased to reveal yourself to your servants. Oh, for the uplifting of the veil, for the drawing near of the people that are made glad by the blood, for the speaking of God unto the soul, and the speaking of our soul unto God.

Oh, for communication with the Eternal, for such fellowship as they may have who are raised up together with Christ, and made to sit in the heavenly places with him. Oh, Savior, grant us a glimpse of your great love. One flash of your eye is brighter than the noonday. One word from your lips will be sweeter to us and more full of music, than the harps of angels.

Amen.

GET A FREE BOOK

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

This month, Midwestern is giving away three copies of Dr. Geoff Chang’s new book, Spurgeon the Pastor. Plus, everyone who enters will receive the first chapter for free! Click here to enter to win.

Spurgeon the Pastor is a great book. When you read this book, Spurgeon becomes your mentor — you’ll learn from his example what a healthy church should look like. This is an incredible resource (and it’s NOT just for pastors!)..

Midwestern has also curated some great resources, including FREE seminary-level video classes. Get all of these resources right here.

WEEKEND LONG READ (SERMON BY SPURGEON)

The Power of His Resurrection

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus was in itself a marvelous display of power. To raise the dead body of our Lord from the tomb was as great a work as the creation. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each one wrought this greatest miracle.

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

A FREE RESOURCE FROM MIDWESTERN

The Gospel Never Does Nothing

As we prepare to worship Christ this Easter, we desire that many people will come to know Christ as we celebrate his resurrection.

This article reminded me that no matter what kind of a response we see at our services, we can have confidence that God will do his work.

PREPARE FOR MINISTRY AT MIDWESTERN

Midwestern is home of the Spurgeon Library, which contains more than 6,000 volumes from Spurgeon’s personal library and many of his personal artifacts.

In just a few weeks, they’ll be hosting their annual Spurgeon Library conference. This year, the conference will focus on Spurgeon’s private devotional life.

Registration for the conference is just $30, which includes book giveaways. If you’re close to Kansas City, MO, you don’t want to miss this event.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We are nothing, you are everything. We are poor worms of the dust, and you are the Eternal Son of God. We are disgusted with ourselves that there ever could have been a temptation to be ashamed of the Crucified, ashamed of the soft impeachment that we are indeed your followers. Forgive us Savior! Because of your great tenderness, put this away also among all our other sins, and mention it not against us forever that such a wicked cowardliness could have made us so hold our tongue when we ought to have spoken for you. From henceforth may we be able to say, “I’m not ashamed to own my Lord or to defend his cause.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For he has broken down the bronze gates and cut through the iron bars.” (Psalm 117:16)

The Lord breaks the strongest gates and bars when the time comes to set free his prisoners, and spiritually the Lord Jesus has broken the most powerful of spiritual bonds and made us free indeed. Brass and iron are as tow before the flame of Jesus’ love. The gates of hell shall not prevail against us, neither shall the bars of the grave detain us. Those of us who have experienced his redeeming power must and will praise the Lord for the wonders of his grace displayed on our behalf.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Christ suffered for suffering people

Today as we reflect on Christ’s suffering, we can remember that the cross proves that Jesus sympathizes with us as we suffer. This means that there is unparalleled wisdom in his Word for seasons of suffering.

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:

• Amazon (Paperback or Kindle editions)

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We thank you for ever coming so near us, and our prayer is that we may have the grace today to feel very near to you. You are not strange to your own flesh, and shall we be strange to you? Great Bridegroom, you love us, and you delight in us, and shall we not delight ourselves in you?

Come, take away the hardness of our hearts, and give us now to be quick and tender, sensitive to your love. Melt the wax, and then impress your image on it, and make us bear the faintest touch of your finger throughout the whole of life. Oh for want of sensitiveness, how we miss the highest privileges you give. Make us very tender. Oh that we might yield to your sweet love with all our hearts. May we rejoice in you beyond all things, and find our heaven in the effects of your relationship to us.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Let them give thanks to the LORD for his faithful love and his wondrous works for all humanity.” (Psalm 107:15)

The sight of such goodness makes a right-minded man long to see the Lord duly honored for his amazing mercy. When dungeon doors fly open, and chains are snapped, who can refuse to adore the glorious goodness of the Lord? It makes the heart sick to think of such gracious mercies remaining unsung: we cannot but plead with men to remember their obligations and extol the Lord their God.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Increase your faith and fight your sin

Today we prayed that God would increase our love for himself. We prayed for this today, because we can’t do it alone — we need God the Holy Spirit to bear the fruit of self-control 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:

• Amazon (Paperback or Kindle 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)

If any among us have not yet been forgiven, Father forgive them. Oh let great love convince of sin, and lead to the sin-atoning blood. This very day may many a sinner lose the burden of his sin at the empty tomb of Christ. Oh for pardons to be freely distributed! You are the Father of pardons. “Who is God like unto you, passing by iniquity, transgression and sin, and remembering not the iniquity of the remnant of your people?” Glory be unto your name!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He brought them out of darkness and gloom and broke their chains apart.” (Psalm 117:14)

The Lord in providence fetches out prisoners from their cells and bids them breathe the sweet fresh air again, and then he takes off their fetters and gives liberty to their aching limbs. So also he frees men from worry and trouble, and especially from the misery and slavery of sin. This he does with his own hand, for in the experience of all the saints it is certified that there is no jail-delivery unless by the Judge himself.

He sets them free by force, so liberating them that they could not be chained again, for he had broken the manacles to pieces. The Lord’s deliverances are of the most complete and triumphant kind, he neither leaves the soul in darkness nor in bonds, nor does he permit the powers of evil again to enthral the liberated captive. What he does is done forever. Glory be to his name.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A devotional to help you run from sin and cling to Christ

Today we prayed, celebrating that God has fully forgiven us of our sins by the blood of Christ. But God wants us to have confidence that our sins are forgiven, to help us know that we are forgiven of our sin by the great mercy of Christ.

One resource that’s been helpful as I’ve studied God’s Word and his promise of forgiveness is Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul Tripp. This book features 52 short devotionals (one for every week of the year) on Psalm 51. This is an incredible resource to help you remember the horrors of your sin and the wonders of God’s amazing grace.

You could read the book over the next few months with just five minutes a day, or read one devotional each week for the next year. I can’t think of a better way to spend your time than reflecting on God’s mercy towards broken sinners like us.

I hope you’ll buy a copy and enjoy mediating on God’s unending mercy with me. I know this devotional will be a great way for you to spend your year, rooted in God’s unchanging grace.

Buy Whiter Than Snow:

• Amazon (Paperback or Kindle 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.

PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH (BY SPURGEON)

As we gather with our church, many of us need comfort; our heart is cast down within us. Command your loving-kindness this weekend, and let your song be with us at this moment. Up from the shades may we ascend into the eternal light. Oh, that the sun of your love might shine full on our brows, until our faces shall be bright like the face of Moses!

Oh, that we might have such fellowship with God this morning, that we might defy Satan, defy unbelief, defy the flesh, defy the world, with a holy joy which comes not of the creature, and which the creature cannot mar—a “joy unspeakable and full of glory,” a drink out of the eternal fountains, which well up from the deep which lies under, in the immutable and everlasting love and decree of God. Oh, let it be so with every child of yours this good weekend.

Amen.

GET A FREE BOOK

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

This month, Midwestern is giving away three copies of Dr. Geoff Chang’s new book, Spurgeon the Pastor. Plus, everyone who enters will receive the first chapter for free! Click here to enter to win.

Spurgeon the Pastor is a great book. When you read this book, Spurgeon becomes your mentor — you’ll learn from his example what a healthy church should look like. This is an incredible resource (and it’s NOT just for pastors!)..

Midwestern has also curated some great resources, including FREE seminary-level video classes. Get all of these resources right here.

WEEKEND LONG READ (SERMON BY SPURGEON)

Now, and Then

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

There are many things that we have been accustomed to see that, after this transient life has passed, we shall see no more. Though we delighted in them, and they pleased our eyes while sojourning on earth, they will pass away as a dream when one awakes; we shall never see them again, and never want to see them; for our eyes in clearer light, anointed with eye-salve, shall see brighter visions, and we shall never regret what we have lost, in the presence of fairer scenes we shall have found.

Other things there are that we know now and shall never forget; we shall know them forever, only in a higher degree, because no longer with a partial knowledge; and there are some things that we see now that we shall see in eternity, only we shall see them there in a clearer light.

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

A FREE RESOURCE FROM MIDWESTERN

How to Respond to Deconstructionist Social Media

How should we respond to videos online that claim to “disprove” Christianity? This article offers a “tried and true” response.

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)

As for our sin, you have cast it as far from us as from yourself, as far as the east is from the west. Have you not said, “I will cast all their sins behind my back” (Isaiah 38:17)? And you have done it. Even to as many as have looked to the wounds of Jesus you have given personal cleansing, and we are clean everywhere through the water and the blood; and we need not be ashamed to stand even before your presence, O three-times holy one, for we have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, we would always be before you, and serve you day and night in your temple, dwelling ever with you, sleeping under the shadow of your wings, and rejoicing in the light of your countenance.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; he saved them from their distress.” (Psalm 107:13)

Many a man offers what he calls prayer when he is in good ease and thinks well of himself, but in very deed the only real cry to God is that which is forced out of him by a sense of utter helplessness and misery. We pray best when we are fallen on our faces in painful helplessness.

Speedily and willingly, God sent relief. It was a long time before they cried, but it was not long before he saved. They had applied everywhere else before they came to him, but when they did address themselves to him, they were welcome at once.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

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 SPURGEON23).

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 SPURGEON23 to save 50%)

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

If any of us have not yet been forgiven, Father, please forgive them. May great love convict them of their sins and lead them to the sin-atoning blood. This very day, may many sinners be released from the burden of their sins at the tomb of Christ. Oh, may pardons be freely distributed! You are the Father of pardons. “who is like you, passing by iniquity, transgression, and sin, and not remembering the iniquity of the remnant of your people?” Glory be to your name!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He broke their spirits with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.” (Psalm 107:12)

When a soul finds all its efforts at self-salvation prove useless, and feels that it is now utterly without strength, then the Lord is at work hiding pride from man and preparing the afflicted one to receive his mercy. The spiritual case which is here figuratively described is desperate, and therefore affords the finer field for the divine interposition; some of us remember well how brightly mercy shone in our prison, and what music the fetters made when they fell off from our hands. Nothing but the Lord’s love could have delivered us; without it we must have utterly perished.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

What does it mean to take up your cross and follow Jesus?

Christ calls his people to an amazing, grace-fueled life of self-denial. It’s an exciting life, but what does it actually look like to lay down your life and take up your cross?

A great and short book on this topic is A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin. It describes, in a beautifully biblical way, Christ’s call to deny yourself. This book is a stunning invitation to lay down your life in order to start really living.

A warning: If you grab a copy of this book today, get ready. This book is not for the faint of heart. It will expose sin and challenge you to live righteously. It is a challenging read (in the best way), but it is full of treasure!

Buy A Little Book on the Christian Life:

• Amazon (Paperback, Imitation Leather, audiobook* or Kindle editions)
• ChristianBook.com (Paperback with Two Cover Options, or Imitation Leather editions)

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

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our dear Redeemer, we have read of your weeping at the grave of Lazarus. We have been made to feel how near you are to us. You are no stranger; you are no great noble set high above us, ashamed of us; you are not ashamed to call us brothers. And we have said in our hearts, “Have I ever been ashamed to own him in any company?” We are ashamed to think that ever the bare idea of being ashamed of Christ should have crossed our spirits. We are nothing, you are everything.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Others sat in darkness and gloom— prisoners in cruel chains— because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the counsel of the Most High.” (Psalm 107:10–11)

They thought that they knew better than the judge of all the earth, and therefore they left his ways and walked in their own. When men do not follow the divine counsel they give the most practical proof of their contempt for it. Those who will not be bound by God’s law will, before long, be bound by the fetters of judgment. There is too much condemning of the divine counsel, even among Christians, and hence so few of them know the liberty with which Christ makes us free.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A great, short book to fill you with joy this Easter (and help you share)

As we celebrate the story of Jesus’ resurrection this Easter, it can be easy to forget how absolutely incredible this story really is. We need to constantly read the truth of God’s Word with fresh eyes so that we can see how wonderful Jesus’ resurrection really is.

A great resource to help you refresh your joy this Easter is Is Easter Unbelievable? by Rebecca McLaughlin. The super-short book asks four questions about Jesus’ resurrection and offers answers that are strongly biblical, greatly convincing, and joy-inducing.

Reading this book will be well worth your time. It will make your Easter celebrations so much sweeter and it will enable you to defend your faith with clarity.

I hope you’ll buy a few copies of Is Easter Unbelievable? — both for you and one or two non-Christian friends you know.

Buy Is Easter Unbelievable?:

• 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)

Lord, we would come with our confessions, for as often as we adore you, we feel that we ought to cover our faces. The angels have six wings, but we have none. We cannot cover our faces with wings, but we bless your name we have something better than angelic wings; we have the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, and with this we cover our faces; with this we cover our feet; and with this we fly out to you now in rapture and adoring love.

You have brought us very near to you, despite our sin; and as for our sin, you have cast it as far from us as from yourself, as far as the east is from the west.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Others sat in darkness and gloom— prisoners in cruel chains—” (Psalm 107:10)

In a spiritual sense affliction frequently attends conviction of sin, and then the double grief causes a double bondage. In such cases the iron enters into the soul, the poor captives cannot stir because of their bonds, cannot rise to hope because of their grief, and have no power because of their despair. Misery is the companion of all those who are shut up and cannot come forth. O you who are made free by Christ Jesus, remember those who are in bonds.

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 for a limited time, they are 50% off when you use promo code SPURGEON23. I hope you’ll grab one today.

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