Category: Pray with Spurgeon

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We ask, while we stand this morning at the foot of the cross, that we may be crucified with Christ to all the world. Oh that the spear might go through our hearts; that the heart henceforth might be dead to all but Christ. And may hands and feet—the instruments of action and of motion—be fastened to his cross, that we may stray no more, and serve no more the old masters, but may become wholly the Lord’s from now on. We desire, sweet Savior, to feel the power of your death, that we may know the power of your resurrection.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.” (Psalm 126:5)

Present distress must not be viewed as if it would last forever: it is not the end, by any means, but only a means to the end. Sorrow is our sowing, rejoicing shall be our reaping. We must sow: we may have to sow in the wet weather of sorrow, but we shall reap, and reap in the bright summer season of joy. Let us keep to the work of this present sowing time, and find strength in the promise which is here so positively given us. Here is one of the Lord’s shalls and wills; it is freely given both to workers, waiters, and weepers, and they may rest assured that it will not fail: “in due season they shall reap.”

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What was Spurgeon like as a teenager?*

It’s always interesting to think about what major leaders and thinkers were like as kids — how their thinking developed and how they rose to prominence. And Spurgeon is no different.

Shortly after his conversion, Spurgeon entered into the ministry and began preaching. And he kept careful, hand-written notes for each of his sermons in notebooks.

Up until a few years ago, these notebooks (and the early sermons they contained) weren’t available to the general public.

Now, you can check them out for yourself in The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon — a beautiful collection of books that will give you a unique look into Spurgeon’s early ministry.

Each volume in the series is a reproduction of Spurgeon’s actual notebooks, complete with full-color scans and stunning covers.

These books won’t just help you love Spurgeon, they will help you love Christ, because the sermons are full of gospel-centered, Christ-exalting content.

I highly recommend grabbing the Collector’s Edition series as a Christmas gift for a Spurgeon fan you love. Right now, this beautiful series of books is available for more than $350 off.

I’ve never seen this series so heavily discounted, and I don’t know how long this deal will last, so I hope you’ll grab it today.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Dear Savior, will you so deal with us when you wash us, that you shall not only take away the guilt of sin, but the power of it—that henceforth we may treat you better; that holiness and true reverence, and hearty loyalty may be our service all our days. O you, who hung naked on the cross, we pray, we ask you, take our whole body, soul, and spirit, and dwell in it and reign over it, and get your glory from it, while we live and when we die, and when we rise again, and to eternity.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For every firstborn among the Israelites is mine, both man and animal. I consecrated them to myself on the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt.” (Number 8:17)

God’s people are the elect; they have escaped from death. In that day when the sword of the Lord was drawn, they were shielded by the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the lintel and on the two side posts; and, henceforth, because they have been thus preserved, they belong to the Lord.

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Be encouraged by Spurgeon’s earliest sermons* 

If this newsletter encourages you every day, I know you’ll find more encouragement in Spurgeon’s other writings.

Recently, I’ve been really blessed by The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon, a collection of books featuring Spurgeon’s earliest sermon outlines. This series was recently completed with the publication of the seventh volume.

Up until a few years ago, these sermons were locked away in the archives and weren’t available for reading anywhere. Now, they’re available for our benefit in The Lost Sermons series.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Hundreds of outlines and sermons from Spurgeon’s early ministry
• Full-color scans of Spurgeon’s personal notebooks
• Critical footnotes to connect with Spurgeon’s early influences and later ministry
• Introductions by well-known pastors and scholars
• Beautiful books that will look stunning in your library
• Thousands of pages of gospel-saturated teaching

I highly recommend grabbing the Collector’s Edition series as a Christmas gift for a Spurgeon fan you love. Right now, this beautiful series of books is available for more than $350 off.

I’ve never seen this series so heavily discounted, and I don’t know how long this deal will last, so I hope you’ll grab it today.

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)

Our heart is filled with the praise which shall make us sit silent—praise sits silent on our tongues. We can never sufficiently express your goodness. But we ask also that this morning in coming to the cross, we might then exhibit before you a true repentance for sin. But what have we done? We have put to death the Son of God! What have we done? It seemed playing when we sinned, but it turns out to be dreadful work, work of the most solemn kind. We playfully brought ourselves into a mischief, out of which nothing could redeem us but his death. We laughed and sported when we transgressed, but it cost him cries and tears and bloody sweat, and agonies unknown, to bring us back again from our foolish wandering.

God forgive us—yes, you have forgiven us! This sacrifice of Christ upon which we do rely is the assurance that you have put away our sin—that we shall not die here. As the Scapegoat, he has carried our transgressions into the wilderness of forgetfulness: they shall not be numbered against us any more for ever. But Lord, while you forgive us, we cannot forgive ourselves. We would chide ourselves as long as we live for having cost our Lord so dear. Such love, and such an ill return!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other for an uninhabitable place, he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the LORD and sacrifice it as a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot for an uninhabitable place is to be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement with it by sending it into the wilderness for an uninhabitable place.” (Leviticus 16:8–10)

These two goats were not for himself but for the people. We must regard them as if they were but one offering, for it needed both of them to set forth the divine plan by which sin is put away. One was to die, and the other was, typically, to bear away the sin of the people. One goat was to show how sin is put away in reference to God by sacrifice, and the other goat was to show how it is put away in reference to us, God’s people, by being carried into oblivion.

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Dive in Deep to Spurgeon’s Earliest Writings*

Like many of you, I’ve been a big fan of Spurgeon for years. His preaching ministry, even over 120 years after his death, has been a constant source of hope and encouragement for me.

If you’re a Spurgeon fan like me, you need to check out The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon. These books contain the outlines and manuscripts of Spurgeon’s earliest sermons — sermons that he preached while a teenage pastor at a small Baptist chapel. The content is absolutely incredible.

One really cool feature is that the sermon outlines have been annotated with critical notes featuring references to Spurgeon’s later preaching and writing. You can see how Spurgeon’s faithfulness to Scripture never wavered throughout his ministry.

This series really is a must-have for any student of Spurgeon. You will benefit richly from these sermons.

I highly recommend grabbing the Collector’s Edition series as a Christmas gift for a Spurgeon fan you love. Right now, this beautiful series of books is available for more than $350 off.

I’ve never seen this series so heavily discounted, and I don’t know how long this deal will last, so I hope you’ll grab it today.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Help us, we pray, in spirit and in truth, to come near to the cross of him who has redeemed us from death and hell by his death. We would first of all praise you. The heavens are telling of your glory; but not so loudly as the greatest providence declares your kindness, and not so sweetly as the cross. Here we behold your innermost heart. Here we see the love of God made manifest. Behold what manner of love is here!

We could not have imagined it; but we do believe it. It could not have seemed true at first blush that you should pierce your Son that we might enjoy the richest life; yet so it is, and we believe it. It pleased the Father to prove him. You have put him to grief, you have made his soul an offering for sin.

Lord, we cannot praise you as we would for the Gift unspeakable: it is unspeakable, and so we must leave it. We can each one of us feel with emphasis how true this is: for me, unworthy me, God, the Lord of love and glory, the Eye of the Universe, the Jewel of heaven, died a villain’s death for me! Lord we shall always wonder at it; we shall always feel we can never comprehend the height of this.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

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

The sense of the term justified is, in this place and in most others, to declare a person to be righteous. A person is put on trial and brought before the judge. One of two things will happen: either he will be acquitted, or else he will be condemned. We all essentially stand before the judge, and we are at any given moment either acquitted or condemned. It is not possible that any one of us should be acquitted on the grounds of our not being guilty, for we must all confess that we have broken the law of God thousands of times. The Lord has provided a way by which he can be righteous and yet declare the guilty to be righteous. Simply stated, this is the way of substitution and imputation. Our sins are taken off of us and laid on Christ Jesus, the innocent substitute.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Fight unbelief with the truths of faith

Asking questions is not a bad thing — we just need to labor to answer our questions in a faith-filled, biblical way. There ARE answers available for even the toughest questions about the Bible — do you know those answers?

A great resource for being equipped to defend your faith is Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin. This book gives practical, biblical, and winsome answers to some of the world’s most pressing objections to the gospel.

Be equipped to answer questions like “Isn’t Christianity homophobic?” and “How can you say there’s only one true faith?” with Bible-centered wisdom and Christ-centered hope.

Confronting Christianity will bolster your own faith and equip you to be a bold witness for Christ. I hope you’ll buy a copy today and read it this summer.

Buy Confronting Christianity:

• Amazon (Hardback, 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.

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O God, thrice holy, infinitely blessed, we can meet you at the cross. You are well-pleased with Jesus, and so are we. Your pleasure in him is as constant as it is boundless. Our pleasure in him increases every day. That is all our salvation and all our desire.

With Thomas, we have put our hand into the great gash in his side, and we have cried “My Lord and my God!” Our very heart loves Jesus; oh that we loved him more! Still we do delight in him. Our happiest moments are in his company—Jesus the Well-spring and River of joy. We are our Beloved’s, and our Beloved is ours.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For my eyes have seen your salvation.” (Luke 2:30)

When Simeon came into the temple, he saw a little baby and recognized in that newly born child Jesus the promised Savior. And as he took up that Savior into his arms, he said, “My eyes have seen God’s salvation”—not only the worker of the salvation but the salvation itself. Whether in Bethlehem’s manger, or on Calvary’s cross, or on his throne of glory from where he will judge the quick and the dead—wherever we see him, we see the salvation of God.

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Great Christmas Gift Idea for Spurgeon Fans (On Sale Now!)*

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.

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

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our next prayer is that others may be found by Christ, and forgiven, and washed, and made white, and may become the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. O Lord, save the millions of our race. The whole world still lies in the wicked one; comparatively, the light has fallen upon few.

O Lord, grant that the Kingdom of Christ may be extended, and the first grey beams of light that denote the morning sun be followed by the glorious noontide. Oh, that the morning might chase away the long dark ages of the world. The Lord grant power to his gospel, in our own country, in this our own city, too.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Now what will you gain by traveling along the way to Egypt to drink the water of the Nile? What will you gain by traveling along the way to Assyria to drink the water of the Euphrates?” (Jeremiah 2:18)

Those who are trying to find pleasure in the world, who are going to the resorts of sin to seek amusement, why are they drinking the muddy waters of sinful pleasure and beginning to like the taste of it? It will never do! What they dream of as pleasure will prove to be their plague.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

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

Today we prayed that God would extend his kingdom as people come to know 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)

Now we pray, our Father, by the love of Jesus Christ, that the Spirit of God dwelling in us, may sanctify us unto the service of him who has redeemed us with his precious blood. Take out of us, O God, everything which would grieve his Spirit. Plant in us every fair and lovely thing in which he may take pleasure. May the weeds be taken up by the roots, and may the flowers be watered until they come to a sweet perfection.

Oh, how we long to live Christly lives—such lives in business, in the domestic circle—such lives even upon a sick bed, if you appoint our portion there. Oh, help us, dear Savior, to live as those whose life is hid in you, to whom you have become the life, linking yourself so completely with our personality that we can say “I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I am at rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.” (Psalm 62:1)

It is a blessed thing to wait only on God. You have proved everything else to be a failure, and now you hang upon the bare arm of God alone. There is certainly enough for us to depend on there. Most people want something to see, something tangible to the senses, to be the object of their confidence, but David rests only in God. His salvation is already on the road. It is coming now. It is a salvation from present trouble and from present temptation. A complete salvation is on the road for all those whose souls are waiting only on God.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

How God’s grace helps you grow

Today we prayed that God would help us grow in holiness and set us free from sin. We ask God to help us grow in holiness, because we know that God’s grace doesn’t just save us from sin, it also gives us the power that we need to slay sin. The work of growing in godliness is a work of cooperation between us and God’s grace.

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

Reading The Discipline of Grace will definitely help you grow in holiness. I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

Buy The Discipline of Grace:

• 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)

We only come to you Father, by Jesus Christ; and coming by him, we bless the Father that he has given his Son to die for us, that we might live through him. This is the center of all history to us. This is the light of every day, and the star of every night; the life of our life, and the light of our delight, our entrance into heaven—that he loved me and gave himself for me. May every believer here not only know this, and be sure of it, but be deeply affected by the fact. May we be stirred to an intense affection, to a fervent gratitude to One who has done everything for us, that we might live through him.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.” (Psalm 100:4)

Our Lord would have all his people rich in high and happy thoughts concerning his blessed person. Jesus is not content that his brethren should think little of him; it is his pleasure that his chosen ones should be delighted with his beauty. We are not to regard him as a bare necessary, like to bread and water, but as a luxurious delicacy, as a rare and ravishing delight. To this end he has revealed himself as the “pearl of great price” in its peerless beauty, as the “bundle of myrrh” in its refreshing fragrance, as the “rose of Sharon” in its lasting perfume, as the “lily” in its spotless purity.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

3 Things Every Parent Needs to Know

1. Kids Need God.
What our kids need more than anything is a clear picture of who God is and what he has done. Only God can save them, teach them truth in a world of lies, and give them a lasting purpose.

2. God is Revealed in His Word
If our kids need God, then they need the Bible, where God has revealed himself with precision and clarity.

3. You are better equipped than anyone to teach your kids the Bible.
Parents, you really can teach your kids the (entire) Bible.

And I’ve created a resource to help.

God Centered Family, a resource that gives you EVERYTHING you need to teach your kids the Bible in just ten minutes each day.

Here’s what makes family devotionals from God Centered Family unique:
— Whole Bible.
Over the course of three years, you’ll read and discuss every chapter of the Bible (not just the easy ones).

— Interactive.
Practical resources to help your kids become active listeners — to hear, believe, and enjoy the Bible, not just sit through it.

— All Ages.
There are age-appropriate resources for children ages 2–18.

Subscribers to God Centered Family get instant, unlimited access to our full library of family devotionals (and other discipleship resources) for just $6 each month.

Learn more, see a sample, and subscribe today.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Now, Father, having come to you in saving faith, we are not afraid to come to you this morning, making mention of the righteousness of Christ, and coming into the innermost place of your sanctuary without fear; for our Father will receive us, and he will hear the desires of our heart.

Our first cry shall be one of gratitude to you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, that he, as the good Shepherd, might lay down his life for us, and redeem us from wrath. Oh, we have joy in God today, a deep fathomless joy; but it is through Jesus Christ, by whom also we have received the Atonement.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)

Genuine faith in Christ turns a person from darkness to marvelous light and transforms him into light in the Lord so that the light pours forth from the windows so as to be seen by others. The believer is appointed to be a lighthouse to others, a cheering lamp, and a guiding star. His light will be increased as he learns more of Christ. He will be able to impart more instruction to others when he has received more. But even while he is a beginner, his faith in Jesus is in itself a light.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Seeing How All of Scripture Points to Jesus

Today’s prayer focused on the wonders and the greatness of God’s greatest gift — Jesus Christ. When we see Jesus for who he really is, in all of his beauty as the King of all Ages, we have to fall to our faces in worship. We must lay everything on the table in submission to this great king.

We always need resources that will magnify Christ to us — books that will remind us of how wonderful he is. One of those books is Christ from Beginning to End: How the Full Story of Scripture Reveals the Full Glory of Christby Stephen Wellum and Trent Hunter. This book walks through the story of Scripture, showing how Christ is the supreme hero and the supreme hope — he is what all of the Bible is pointing to.

This book is a helpful handbook to help you read Scripture in a more faithful, Christ-centered way and a guide to help you see Christ in every page.

This book will help you treasure Christ and the Bible more. I hope you’ll grab a copy for yourself.

Buy Christ from Beginning to End:

• Amazon (Paperback or Kindle edition)
• ChristianBook.com (Hardback or ebook 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 Father God, we wish to speak with you as a man speaks with his friend. But who are we that we should draw near to you, for at best we are but dust and ashes? Yet we come through him who is our Friend, who long ago introduced some of us to you, and has given us permission to use his name with you. You know him well. He is your only-begotten Son, the Well-beloved of your heart. He is very dear to us, but he is dearer still to you.

We do remember well when you did receive us at the gate of the house, with all your Fatherly compassion, when you did, for his dear sake, “accept us in the Beloved.” Many days have passed since then; they have been happy days, days of rest compared with that wretched time in the far-off country, when we wasted our substance, and were like a waste ourselves

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)

Sins are “works of darkness.” They delight in concealment. They are not fit to be seen. They flourish in the darkness of the unrenewed heart. They are most fully maintained in the ignorance of a soul that is without the knowledge of the ever-blessed God. There is no true light, no real joy, in sin. They are works of darkness, too, because they tend to further darkness. The man who pursues them goes from blackness to a deeper blackness, and in the end his portion will be darkness unbroken by a ray of hope.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A Great Bible Study Resource Just Got Better

I’ve been using Logos Bible Software for ten years. I use it every day for personal devotions, sermon prep, and even preparing this newsletter (I have Spurgeon’s complete works in my Logos library). I really can’t imagine living the Christian life or doing ministry without it.

And so I was really excited to hear about all of the new features in Logos 10 and to receive a review copy.

The software has been significantly improved from a technology standpoint, including support for Apple Silicon chips. (Basically, Logos is running a lot faster on new computers. It’s a pretty noticeable difference for me). There are also several new features that are pretty valuable (auto-translating books into English, the ability to search the contents of your print library, and a new layout).

There is also a lot of new content available in Logos 10 as well. One of my favorite new features in Logos 10 is a new Church History dataset that gives you a quick glance at major movements and players from throughout church history. Paired with resources like Lexham’s Essential Dictionary of Church History, Logos is becoming my one-stop shop for church history.

If you’re looking to take the next step in deepening your Bible study, prepare sermons or lessons more efficiently, or expand your Christian library — I highly recommend grabbing a Logos 10 Base Package.

(And by the way, I often talk to people who think Logos is expensive. But they really do have a number of flexible pricing options, so you can find one that works for you. And you can always build your library later on. Logos Dynamic Pricing means you’ll never pay for a book, resource, or feature twice).

Learn more about Logos 10 here.