Category: Pray with Spurgeon

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Is there anything this morning between us and God; does anything darken our light? Lord, take it away. Have we any doubts? Let the light remove them. Does anything trouble us? May we cast our care on you. Have we any dark worry? May we put our worrying away, for sufficient unto the day is its own trouble.

Enable every child of God to have perfect rest in God, this morning. May we be on loving terms with God. May we have not even the least grit in the machinery. May there not be a speck of dust in the eye, for in dealing with God our heart is tender, as the apple of the eye, and the least thing offends. May we be, in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, dear to God, and may God be dear to us.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy…” (Jude 24)

The power to create a world, to divide the rocks, to shake the mountains or set them ablaze is inferior compared with the power that is able to keep us from stumbling. God has been pleased to make us free agents and never deprives us of our free agency. Yet, without the destruction of a quality necessary to our responsible personhood, God is nevertheless able to keep us from stumbling. He could do this by shutting us up in a prison or by depriving us of the power to commit sins. But he does not keep us in that way. He leaves us with every faculty and propensity that we had before. Yet, by some mysterious, omnipotent working of his Holy Spirit—which we can no more understand than we can the blowing of the wind—he keeps his people from stumbling.

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Christmas (or New Years) Gift Idea for a Teen: Help them Know Their Faith

Teenagers today are living in a really difficult environment. If a teen wants to follow Christ today, he is surrounded every day with a seemingly endless list of objections to the gospel. From evolution to LGBT issues; from racism to God’s sovereignty over suffering, it can be hard to follow Christ in the midst of a hostile world (or a hostile high school!)

A great resource for teens to help them know, understand, and defend their faith is 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin. This book is tackles ten really pressing, important topics with Bible-saturated reasoning and Christ-centered hope.

We should never discourage our teens from asking questions about God or his world — but we should always help them find solid, true, biblical answers to their questions.

10 Questions is a great resource to help your teen follow Christ, and it’s a great Christ-centered Christmas gift. I hope you’ll grab a few copies for teens that you love (in your family or your church).

Buy 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity:

• 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)

Jesus, we believe in your precious blood. Once for all, it has put away sin; the great sacrifice has made complete atonement; it can never be repeated, it never needs to be. In that one sacrifice we are clean, as many as have believed, and there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.

But Savior, we now sin in another fashion, as children against paternal government, against a Father’s love, and as children we ask to be pardoned. Hide not your face from us, put not your servants away in anger; deal graciously with your children, and let us walk in the light, as God is in the light, and have fellowship with the Father and with the Son, and may joy and peace abound in us.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

If guilt returns, his power may be proved again and again. There is no fear that all my daily slips and shortcomings will not be graciously removed by this precious blood.

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Christmas Gift Idea for Your Pastors

Your pastors labor week-in and week-out to shepherd you, preach the Word, manage the church, and pray for your family. Christmas is a great opportunity to thank them for their labors with a small gift.

What do you give a pastor who has everything? Check out The Visual Wordby Patrick Schreiner. This book features a visual guide for every book in the New Testament. Your pastor will LOVE reading this book and it will help him prepare sermons.

This book is absolutely beautiful and I know it will bless your pastor and your church. I hope you’ll grab a copy to gift!

Buy The Visual Word:

• 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)

Lord God, sacred Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, reign on earth. Let your eternal purposes be accomplished. Let the decrees of your sovereignty be carried out. Let your grace be glorified. Let the whole earth be filled with your glory. We know no deeper and no higher prayer than this. Oh, that it were fulfilled right speedily!

Now suffer us to speak for ourselves, having thus endeavored to pay in homage to you. We confess that we have sinned. Father forgive us. To many, forgiveness has been once for all bestowed. You have washed us, and he that is washed does not need to wash, except his feet. But give us the foot washing, this morning. Oh that we might come to the laver and be clean, and then go in as priests into the Holy Place of the Most High.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8)

The very high value that the apostle Paul set on the Savior is most palpable when he speaks of gaining him. This shows that the Savior held the same place in Paul’s esteem as the crown did in the esteem of the runner at the Olympic games. To gain that crown, the competitor strained every nerve and sinew, feeling as though he were content to drop down dead at the goal in order to win it. Paul felt that if he were to run with all his might, straining soul and body to gain Christ, it would be well worth the effort. Christ would be well worth dying to gain.

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Christmas Gift Idea for Young Readers

If you know a kid who can’t get enough books — you need to check out the Wingfeather Saga. This is a series of fantasy novels for kids, ages 8–12, by Andrew Peterson.

These are not cheesy, Christian adventures — these are incredible fantasy novels written from a Christian worldview (like a modern day Narnia). These books will keep kids glued and will help them think about Christian themes like redemption.

You can grab the first four books in the Wingfeather series in a great boxset with cool art that will get any kid excited to dive in.

Buy The Wingfeather Saga Box Set:

• 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)

Will you look upon those who are rich with money, but are poor. So many of them, know nothing about you, and are worshipping 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. You will hear us, O Lord!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song.” (Psalm 28:7)

The Lord employs his power on our behalf, and moreover, infuses strength into us in our hour of weakness. The Psalmist, by an act of appropriating faith, takes the omnipotence of the Lord to be his own. Dependence upon the invisible God gives great independence of spirit, inspiring us with confidence more than human.

The Lord preserves his people from unnumbered ills; and the Christian warrior, sheltered behind his God, is far more safe than the hero when covered with his shield of brass or triple steel.

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Christmas Gift Idea for Your Pastor’s Wife

Being a pastor’s wife is a uniquely challenging work. I’m so thankful for the ways my wife bears my burdens and equips me to serve our church more faithfully.

If you want to bless and encourage the wives of your pastors this Christmas, consider grabbing copies of a new book, Partners in the Gospel: 50 Meditations for Pastors’ and Elders’ Wives by Megan Hill. This book is a collection of 50 short devotionals that will leave readers feeling refreshed and encouraged for the uniquely challenging (and rewarding) work ahead of them.

I hope you’ll consider grabbing a few copies for your pastors’ wives this Christmas.

Buy Partners in the Gospel:

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

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

May we, every one, have an audience of God. To some of us you have long been sweetly familiar; we have spoken more to you than to anyone else. There are those here that have spent more time with God than with any other individual. Certainly we have asked larger things of you and have obtained greater answers from our requests to you than from our requests to our fellow men. Lord, hear our prayers.

Some people that we know, however, have never prayed; may the unfamiliar prayer be breathed this morning for the first time. Lord compel men to come near their God. They will have to come to you, they will have to come before your Judgment Seat; let them not refuse your Mercy Seat. While yet the day of grace lasts, let them not turn their backs on God, but rather may they seek you now with full purpose of heart, and seek until they find salvation.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He satisfies you with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle.” (Psalm 103:5)

This is heavenly feasting on heavenly fare. There is divine satisfaction to be derived from the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. O my soul, pray to God to give you this satisfying food so that thy youth may be renewed, so that your wing-feathers may grow again, that you might fly as eagles do! Surely, dear friends, this little list of mercies, though such a short one, comprises an immensity of mercy far beyond our utmost comprehension; let us bless the Lord for it all.

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Still time for Christmas Shopping! Save $350 on Spurgeon’s Lost Sermons*

This month, the Collector’s Edition set in The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon series is $350 off. In many places around the world, there’s still time to order and receive it in time for Christmas.

The Lost Sermons books are incredible resources — reading Spurgeon’s earliest sermons will be a great blessing to you and will encourage you to walk in godliness.

The series contains hundreds of outlines and sermons from Spurgeon’s early ministry, full-color scans of Spurgeon’s personal notebooks, and study notes to help you connect these early sermons with Spurgeon’s early influences and later ministry.

Plus, these books are beautiful (inside and out!) and will look great in your library!

I’ve never seen this set so heavily discounted, and I don’t know if it will ever be again, so you definitely want to grab this as a Christmas gift for yourself, your pastor, or another Spurgeon fan you love.

Buy the Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon on Lifeway.com

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, if you will help us to pray we will begin by adoring you. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Here, all prayer should begin with reverent homage to the Most High. Your are our creator, preserver, benefactor; all good comes from you, you deep abyss of love. Every drop of the rain of comfort falls from heaven. Every dewdrop of consolation, are you not the Father of it? We ascribe all honor and glory to you, for every good gift and every perfect gift, is from above, and coming down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

There is variableness and there is the shadow of turning in the sun, but in that greater Father of lights there is neither parallax nor tropic; he is evermore the same, and we may go to him with unwavering confidence because he is the same. Oh! what a blessing to such changing creatures as we are to have an unchanging God!

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Celebrate Christmas with Confidence

In this wonderful season, we celebrate the birth of Jesus. But, how do we know that Jesus was really born at all? Can we really believe that the Son of God was born in a manger… to a virgin, no less?!

Friends, YES, we CAN really believe that! And there are good reasons to believe it, as well!

If you want to increase your confidence in the Christmas story this week, check out Is Christmas Unbelievable? by apologist Rebecca McLaughlin. This book asks and answers four tough questions about the Christmas story.

This book is super short (just 64 pages), so you can read it this week and be equipped to better defend your faith this month to non-Christian friends and family members.

Grab a copy of Is Christmas Unbelievable? and celebrate with confidence this Christmas. (You can also grab a copy for a non-Christian you know!)

Buy Is Christmas Unbelievable?:

• 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)

May “Hosanna” be our one cry, which shall make us forget every other prayer this morning. Oh, this one thing we do desire—that the hearts of all would acknowledge you; that every closed door should be opened to you; that every obstinate spirit could yield to you.

Lord Jesus, reign in the hearts of our young children, of our husbands, wives, brethren, friends, and families. Lord, rule in the hearts of our neighbors. Lord Jesus, look at all the kingdoms and republics of the earth. May the whole earth know you, exalted One. By the merit of your Passion, we beseech the Father to glorify you. Father, glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you. And unto Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be glory forever and ever, world without end

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” (John 5:6)

The great Physician fixed his eye on him, for his was an extraordinary case. Probably he was known and talked of as the man who had been paralyzed thirty-eight years. Note that it does not say, “When the man saw Jesus,” but, “When Jesus saw him.” He did not know Jesus. Possibly he had not even heard of his healing power and compassionate love. He was not seeking Jesus, but Jesus was seeking him.

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Time is running out to save on Spurgeon’s earliest sermons*

This month only, you can the complete Collector’s Edition Set of Spurgeon’s Lost Sermons collection for $350 off.

What is this series of books?

One thing many people don’t know about Spurgeon is that he started preaching when he was only 17-years-old, about a year after his conversion. Four years later, he would become the pastor of the New Park Street Chapel in London and his sermons began to be regularly published.

But what happened to the sermons he preached before his arrival in London?

Up until a few years ago, these sermons were completely unavailable for reading anywhere. But now, a new series of books is making the outlines and manuscripts of these sermons available for our enjoyment and edification: The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon.

To be honest, before I read the Lost Sermons, I wasn’t sure how useful reading sermons written by a 17-year-old Spurgeon would be, but WOW, the content is so rich.

Each book contains hundreds of outlines and sermons from Spurgeon’s early ministry, including full-color scans from Spurgeon’s personal notebooks, along with typed-out transcripts.

Everytime I pick up any of the volumes, I can’t put them down. Reading them is just such a delight.

Thanks to my friends at B&H Academic, the complete set of these beautiful, leather-bound volumes is available for $350 off this month. Order now to get it in time for Christmas!

Buy the Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon on Lifeway.com

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord Jesus, work in the world more powerfully than you have done recently. Our heart is often heavy as we see sin of every kind around us, and especially the insidious advance of error in the midst of your own church, which makes the cross of Christ have no effect. Lord Jesus, reign, we ask you. O Son of God, we ask you, reign from the Tree.

You have gone up on high, you have led captives home. All power is in your hands; exert that power, graciously exert it, for the salvation of myriads of men. Let the earth bow before you. What a little flock is still yours! We ask you, gather the nations; let the whole earth call you blessed. Our prayer is, “Let the whole earth be filled with his glory!”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” (1 John 3:16)

True love is not satisfied with expressing itself in words. Love must express itself in deeds. Love delights in sacrifices. Love rejoices in self-denials. The more costly the sacrifice, the better is love pleased to make it. Christ’s love is best seen in the laying down of his life.

There were no claims on him on the part of those for whom he died. I can understand a mother dying for her children. I can see some reason a noble citizen would die for his city. But the Son of God had no relationship to us until he chose to assume one out of his infinite compassion. There was no more relation between him and us than between the potter and the clay. If the clay on the pottery wheel is misshapen, what does the potter do but discard the clay? So might the great Creator have done with us. Yet with no claims on himself, of his own free will, he yielded to death because of his amazing love for us.

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Glorify God this Christmas.

Every year, it seems harder than ever to focus on Christ at Christmas. As the world is screaming about gifts and Santa and holiday travels, it’s easy to lose sight of the meaning behind it all — the baby in the manger who was Savior and Lord.

I put together a book, Spurgeon on Christmas — a collection of Christmas sermons from Charles Spurgeon. These sermons are rich and I know that they will help you focus on Christ this Christmas.
(Plus, buying a copy of this book will help support this ministry, so I can continue sending this daily email!)

I hope you’ll buy a copy of Spurgeon on Christmas and be encouraged throughout this Advent and Christmas season.

Buy Spurgeon on Christmas now on Amazon (Paperback or Kindle 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 know some who know nothing yet of the power of Jesus Christ; and our prayer is that they may look on him whom they have pierced, and may mourn for him, and be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

And this day, may there be opened in the House of David, and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a fountain which shall cleanse them from sin and from uncleanness. Oh that today some might stop and ask: What is this? The Son of God in death. Why? May none of them pass by, as if it were nothing to do with them, but may a great multitude stand and look at Jesus—look till they live, until they weep, until they wipe their tears away with a holy joy because he died that sin might die.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)

The natural tendency of our heart is to try to appear to be what we are not. We all, more or less, struggle against this tendency. Love of approval, rightly checked and kept in order, has its uses. But often it pushes people to pretend to be better than they are. The Lord cannot stand with us on the platform of seeming and appearance but only on the ground of what we really are. We must, therefore, judge ourselves severely. If we do not, our natural tendency to falseness will lead us to delude ourselves into the foolish belief that we are what we proudly represent ourselves to be.

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A resource to help you share your faith (AND help others too!)

Today we prayed that God would bring people that we know to saving faith in Christ. The incredible thing is, we get to be a part of this!

Evangelism can be daunting for some, but it doesn’t have to be complicated! The most effective thing you can do with a non-Christian friend is to read the Bible together.

And to help you do that, I’ve created a new resource, Know Jesus. This is a simple, easy-to-use Bible study. It’s designed for a Christian to take a non-Christian through 15 passages in Mark’s Gospel.

I worked really hard to create a resource that was as easy-to-use as possible, because we are called to share Christ with others.

The best part: 100% of the profits from this book are given to purchase copies for evangelism in Washington, DC, where I live and minister. (One copy purchased = one copy for a non-Christian in the nation’s capital).

So I hope you’ll buy two copies (one for you and one for a non-Christian friend) and start a fall Bible study with someone that you know.

Buy Know Jesus on Amazon (Paperback)

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We ask that we may see the world crucified unto us, and that we may be crucified unto the world; that henceforth Christ only may live in us, and we may only live in him.

Lord, bless your people, that this high privilege—for we are persuaded it is a high privilege—may indeed become ours—to be dead with Christ, to be buried with Christ, to be risen with Christ, to be reigning in Christ, and henceforth to be in loving, living, lasting union with him who has redeemed us to God by his blood.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:2)

Worldly desires, however strong they may be, do not in many cases obtain what they seek. A person longs to be happy, but he is not. He pines to be great, but he grows more ordinary every day. He aspires after what he thinks will content him, but he is still unsatisfied. One way or another his life is a disappointment. How can it be otherwise? If we sow the wind, must we not reap the whirlwind and nothing else? If a person’s desires are the longings of fallen nature, if they begin and end with self, if the chief end for which one lives is not to glorify God but to glorify self, then one can desire but will not have.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Beautiful books to help you dive into Spurgeon’s earliest sermons*

I absolutely love to find well-designed books that look good on a shelf and feel good in your hands. And The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon is one of my favorite series.

Each volume in this series contains a full-color reproduction of one of Spurgeon’s handwritten journals, including dozens of outlines from his earliest sermons. These books look great in your library, but more importantly, they are just so enjoyable to read — it’s so cool to see Spurgeon’s thinking and preaching develop (in his own handwriting!) Every time I pick these books up, I just find that I can’t put them down.

But these books aren’t just fun to read — they’re incredibly encouraging. Even from the earliest days of his preaching, contained in these books, Spurgeon was consistently pointing his readers to the glory of God and the finished work of Christ. Hundreds of years later, we get to benefit from these sermons.

The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon Collector’s Set is on sale for more than $350 off. This is a great opportunity to get a beautiful set of Spurgeon volumes as a Christmas gift for a Spurgeon fan you love.

Buy the Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon on Lifeway.com