Category: Pray with Spurgeon

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Gracious God, the highest pleasure we anticipate is that of worshiping you to perfection with cherubim and seraphim and all the host redeemed by blood, with legions of angels and creatures innumerable we hope to pour out day without night continually songs of adoring joy, and even now one of our nearest approaches to heaven is in sacred song. O you, our supreme delight, our inheritance, our light, our life, our all; we can truly say we delight in God.

O blessed One, we love your Word, we love your House. And you yourself, what shall we say of you! Take us more and more unto yourself through Jesus Christ the Mediator, and let our hearts be more and more taken up with you.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, wiping out all evildoers from the LORD’s city.” (Psalm 101:8)

When our Lord comes in judgment, this verse will be fulfilled on a large scale; until then he sinks the judge in the Savior, and bids men leave their sins and find pardon.

Under the gospel we also are bidden to suffer long, and to be kind, even to the unthankful and the evil; but the office of the magistrate is of another kind, and he must have a sterner eye to justice than would be proper in private persons. Is he not to be a terror to evildoers?

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.

PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH (BY SPURGEON)

We ask especially for this Lord’s Day, that we may be in the Spirit, and know the fulness of his quickening power. May we do nothing after the dead manner of formality. May there be no dead hymn, nor dead prayer. Lord, give the preacher life. Oh, give the hearers life. Oh may this be living worship this morning, the bowing not of heads alone, but of hearts, and the closing not alone of the eyes to things that can be seen, but the closing of the eyelids of the thought to everything worldly.

Amen.

CELEBRATING THE CALL TO MINISTRY

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

This month, Midwestern is celebrating Called Out Month — helping you understand and pursue your call to ministry.

They’ve put together some great resources (including videos of great preachers and authors sharing about their call to ministry) and incredible giveaways (including seminary scholarships, free books, and more).

Celebrate Called Out Month right here.

WEEKEND LONG READ (SERMON BY SPURGEON)

Our Lord’s Humanity: A Sweet Source of Comfort

“Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me.” (Daniel 10:18)

it is ever to us the richest and highest comfort, as believers in Christ, that the Lord Jesus is a man; and when he strengthens us it is full often by laying his human hand upon us. He reveals his kinship with us, and our spirit is consoled and strengthened by a sense of his union with us. My one object is, by the Spirit’s aid, to draw water from the ancient well of our Lord’s humanity.

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

A FREE RESOURCE FROM MIDWESTERN

Do You Love the People of God? by Jason K. Allen

Ministry service is glorious, but it can also be uniquely taxing, and only those propelled by a love for Christ and his church survive the long haul.

Read the full article 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)

Most gracious God, we feel this morning as if we must show forth your praise as we remember all your delivering mercy to us. Some of us have now known you for years, and we have had great and sore troubles, but you have established your Word unto your servants wherewith you have caused us to hope. You have led us by various ways, but always by the right way. You hast chastened us sore, but you have not appointed us to death. You have given us marks of your Fatherly love in every touch of your rod, and therefore do we bless your name.

You did bring us through fire and through water; men did ride over our heads, yet you have brought us out into a wealthy place. You have set our feet upon a rock and established our goings, and our soul sometimes wishes that the body would dance before the ark of God, for very joy and gratitude that overflows the soul, and would overflow the body too, until the very flesh should be made to pay homage before the ever-blessed one who has caused his mercy to flow to us in ceaseless rivers of love.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“No one who acts deceitfully will live in my palace; the one who tells lies will not be retained here to guide me.” (Psalm 101:7)

He would not have a liar within sight or hearing; he loathed the mention of him. Grace makes men truthful, and creates in them an utter horror of everything approaching to falsehood.

If David would not have a liar in his sight, much less will the Lord; neither he that loves nor he who makes a lie shall be admitted into heaven. Liars are obnoxious enough on earth; the saints shall not be worried with them in another world.

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%)

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O Lord, we take to ourselves without stealth, but of good and honest right, all the blessings of the Covenant; seeing we are heirs of the Covenant, joint-heirs with Christ Jesus your Son, and therefore our soul exalts in God; for you are ours in Covenant now, and we are yours. You are the Covenant God, and we are the Covenanted ones, a people near unto you, whom your grace has chosen and called and redeemed and set apart unto yourself; of whom you have said, even of all believers: this is “the people I formed for myself will declare my praise” (Isaiah 43:21)

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

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

What I wish myself to be, that I desire my servant to be. Employers are to a great degree responsible for their servants, and it is customary to blame a master if he retains in his service persons of notorious character; therefore, lest we become partakers of other men’s sins, we shall do well to decline the services of bad characters.

A good master does well to choose a good servant; he may take a prodigal into his house for the sinner’s good, but if he consults his own he will look in another quarter. Wicked nurses have great influence for evil over the minds of little children, and ungodly servants often injure the morals of the older members of the family, and therefore great care should be exercised that godly servants should be employed as far as possible. Even irreligious men have the sense to perceive the value of Christian servants, and surely their own Christian brethren ought not to have a lower appreciation of them.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

God will destroy your idols — here’s how

Today we prayed, reflecting on our covenant with God. We are in a relationship with him, and we must strive to be faithful. We must work to destroy idols — both in our own hearts and all around the world. This process of growing as a Christian to love God more, being redeemed from our love for idols, is an incredible work of God.

That’s the point of Matt Chandler’s book, Recovering Redemption: A Gospel-Saturated Perspective on Change. This book explains the incredible work that God is going to do in your life to redeem everything about you — to destroy your idols and purify your heart.

This book will fill you with thankfulness and amazement at God’s work to save you from the penalty and power of sin every day. It will also help you understand your role in fighting sin.

This is a don’t-miss book to help make you more like Jesus. I hope you’ll grab one today.

Buy Recovering Redemption:

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

*Get the audiobook for free with a free trial of Audible. Even if you cancel your free trial, the audiobook will still be yours to keep.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

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

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

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

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

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

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

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Increase your faith and fight your sin

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

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

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

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

Buy The Practice of Godliness:

• 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)

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

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

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

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

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

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

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Study the Bible with Spurgeon himself*

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

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

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

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

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

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

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

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

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

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

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

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

The (not-so-surprising) cure for anxiety

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

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

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

Buy Humble Roots:

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

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

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

Amen.

FREE RESOURCES

(And Seminary Scholarships!)

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

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

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

WEEKEND LONG READ (SERMON BY SPURGEON)

Work for Jesus

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

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

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

A FREE RESOURCE FROM MIDWESTERN

Geoff Chang on Underappreciated Aspects of Spurgeon’s Theology

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

Watch it here.

PREPARE FOR MINISTRY AT MIDWESTERN

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

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

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

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

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

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

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

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Give Godly Role Models to Your Children

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

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

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

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

Pre-order Gladys Aylward:

• Amazon
• ChristianBook.com

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

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

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

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

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

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

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

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

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

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

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

Buy Spurgeon on Suffering:

• Amazon (Paperback or Kindle editions)