Category: Pray with Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: Let my faith no longer waver

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Now with this thankfulness upon our hearts, we would humbly ask you to strengthen us as to our future confidence in you. Are there any of your servants here at this time, or anywhere all over the world, whose confidence begins to fail them, by reason of present affliction or deep depression of spirit?

We ask you, strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die; and let their faith no longer waver, but may they become strong in the Lord in full assurance of faith. Oh God, you know the burden of every heart before you, the secret sighing of the prisoner comes up into your ears.

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.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Trust the God who is able to keep you until the end

Today we prayed that God would strengthen our faith, that he would help us trust him more until the end of our lives. As we pray for God to strengthen our faith, we can also fill our minds with his Word as a means to boost our faith.

A great book on growing your faith in God is Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. This book focuses on God’s sovereignty, his good control over all things, and shows that we really can trust God in any circumstance. This book is full of reasons to trust God and applies those reasons to the trials in our lives that make it particularly hard to trust God.

This book will strengthen your faith and confidence in our great God — I hope you’ll grab a copy today!

Buy Trusting God:

Pray with Spurgeon: God will keep the truth alive

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We bless you on the behalf of the much tried among your children. They went through fire and through water; men did go over their heads, yet you have preserved them. Their hope seemed to wither like the fading leaf and the summer of their joy turned into a bleak winter of adversity, yet the spring time has come to them, and the time of the singing of birds; yes, they begin to pluck their first ripe fruits, and they joy and exult in the Lord.

O Lord, we praise you for keeping alive a testimony for the truth in the land. There have been dark and evil days, and some that professed to be your servants have turned traitors to the gospel; yet still you have heard the cry of the faithful, and the candle is not put out, neither has the sun gone down; but even unto this day the Lord, the God of Israel reigns in the midst of his people, and his saints exult in His name.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.” (Psalm 80:18)

It is in Christ that we abide faithful, because he lives we live also. There is no hope of our perseverance apart from him. If the Lord gives life out of death, his praise is sure to follow. The Lord Jesus is such a leader, that in him is life, and the life is the light of men. He is our life. When he visits our souls anew we shall be revived, and our praise shall ascend unto the name of the Triune God.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

God wants you to be confident in your salvation. Here’s how.

Today we prayed a prayer of thankfulness that God has preserved suffering Christians through their trials. This is the foundation of our hope, that God is holding onto us, equipping us to hold onto him. From the beginning to the end, he is our Savior.

Many faithful Christians are living in a state of constant fear, worrying about whether or not they’re really saved. Friend, if this is you, know that this is not God’s design for your life. God wants you to walk confident in your eternal security, not because of your own goodness, but because of Christ’s grace.

If you’re walking in worry about whether or not you’re really saved, Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart by J.D. Greear is a great resource. Greear offers a diagnostic for Christians to “know for sure that you’re saved.” It’s not rooted in looking back at the moment of your conversion, but about honestly evaluating God’s preserving work in your life right now.

This book is really biblical and really practical. I hope God will use it to encourage you and end your worry. You don’t need to get saved again, because Christ will always hold onto you.

Buy Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart:

Pray with Spurgeon: God has always loved us (even in our suffering)

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

The Lord has helped his people, yes the Lord hath been the strength and the help of his chosen. “One who is righteous has many adversities, but the LORD rescues him from them all” (Psalm 34:19), and at this moment, in looking back upon the past, we have nothing to do, but to admire and to adore the constancy of love, the faithfulness of grace.

We thank you, O God, on the behalf of many of your people, our brethren, that you have dealt so well with them. We knew them many years ago when their young hearts first believed in you, and here they are still, the living, the living in Zion, to praise you, as they do this day. Their feet have sometimes almost gone, their steps have nearly slipped; but you have held them up, and they are walking in their integrity, preserved as only grace could preserve them, living still to praise your name.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“One who is righteous has many adversities, but the LORD rescues him from them all.” (Psalm 34:19)

Thus are they made like Jesus their covenant Head. Scripture does not flatter us like the story books with the idea that goodness will secure us from trouble; on the contrary, we are again and again warned to expect tribulaion while we are in this body. Our afflictions come from all points of the compass, and are as many and as tormenting as the mosquitoes of the tropics. It is the earthly portion of the elect to find thorns and briers growing in their pathway, yes, to lie down among them, finding their rest broken and disturbed by sorrow.

But, blessed but, how it takes the sting out of the previous sentence! “But the LORD rescues him from them all.” Through troops of ills Jehovah shall lead his redeemed scatheless and triumphant. There is an end to the believer’s affliction, and a joyful end too. None of his trials can hurt so much as a hair of his head, neither can the furnace hold him for a moment after the Lord bids him come forth of it. The same Lord who sends the afflictions will also recall them when his design is accomplished, but he will never allow the fiercest of them to rend and devour his beloved.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Trust in God’s preserving, purifying power through all of your suffering

Today, we prayed a prayer of thanksgiving that God has preserved us (and others) through significant trials. And then, turning to God’s Word in Psalm 34:19, we saw that this is always the case: God is at work in your suffering to preserve you and to purify you.

This was one of the major themes in Spurgeon’s teaching on suffering, but it was not all he had to say on the topic. Spurgeon learned supernatural wisdom from God’s Word and his own pain on how to address our suffering in a God-glorifying, hopeful way.

Spurgeon’s teaching on suffering is very useful, so I compiled a brief collection of it in a short book, Spurgeon on Suffering. This book contains 12 classic sermons from Spurgeon on suffering, pain, and God’s grace through it all.

I hope you’ll buy a copy today, and I hope it will bless you.

(As a side note, purchasing a copy is a great way to support this ministry so that I can continue to send this daily newsletter!)

Buy Spurgeon on Suffering on Amazon (Paperback or Kindle edition)

Pray with Spurgeon: Trust in God, who never fails

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O LORD God, the strength and the hope of your people, we would approach your through Jesus Christ your Son, with notes of thanksgiving; for we are not ashamed of our hope, neither has our confidence led us into confusion. We have proven it to be true, that they that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which can never be moved, which abides forever. We trusted in you with regard to our innumerable sins, and you have cast them behind your back.

We trusted in you, yes, we trusted in you when many evils compassed us about, and we were sore beset with temptation, and you brought us out into a wealthy place: you did set our feet upon a rock and establish our goings (Psalm 40:2). We trusted in you, alas! Too feebly, in the hour of our distress when we were troubled exceedingly with earthly things, still you did not fail us, though our faith trembled: though we believed not you did abide faithful.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure.” (Psalm 40:2)

David sings of the Lord’s bringing him up from a pit that was horribly deep, dark, and damp, with mud at the bottom that would cause one to sink. What a wonderful bringing up this was, and, as God never does anything by halves, he did not let his servant slip back again, for David added, “And set my feet on a rock.” When God sets someone’s feet, those feet are well set. There is no sliding, no slipping. And more than that, God established his steps—made them firm so that when he stirred he did not stumble.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A Visual Guide to the Entire New Testament

We need the Bible. But we don’t just need to have it, we need to understand it; we need to know it through-and-through. We need to study every passage and learn every book.

A great guide to help you know your Bible deeper is The Visual Word by Patrick Schreiner. This book offers an outline and a visual guide to every book in the New Testament. This gives you a great overview of the entire New Testament, which you can use as a guide for jumping in deeper.

The book is simple enough (and rich enough) for any Christian to benefit from. The illustrations that accompany each outline are stunning and help guide us into the New Testament books.

The Visual Word is an incredible (and beautiful!) resource to add to your Bible study tool belt. I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

Buy The Visual Word:

Pray with Spurgeon: May the Prince of Peace rule our nation

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

The Lord bless our country. God save the Queen. Keep us in peace, we beseech you and in times of congress and deliberation may there sit in the council chamber One higher than the kings of the earth, and greater than the ambassadors thereof.

Oh, that long-continued peace might happen to this poor earth, for its wounds are many. Behold, how all things languish for the lack of peace—the Lord send it. Quicken trade and commerce, remove the complaining that is now heard in our streets. Kindly consider us in the matter of the weather, that the harvests may not be spoiled, and bless the people, O Lord. Let the people praise you, and “then shall the earth yield her increase” (Psalm 67:6). The Lord grant all this, with the forgiveness of sin, the acceptance of our person, and assist us ever to live to his glory, for Jesus’ sake.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“The earth has produced its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.” (Psalm 67:6)

Sin first laid a curse on the soil, and grace alone can remove it. Under tyrannical governments lands become unproductive; even the land which flowed with milk and honey is almost a wilderness under Turkish rule; but, when the principles of true religion shall have elevated mankind, and the dominion of Jesus shall be universally acknowledged, the science of tillage shall be perfected, men shall be encouraged to labor, industry shall banish penury, and the soil shall be restored to more than its highest condition of fertility. There is certainly an intimate relation between moral and physical evil, and between spiritual and physical good.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Finding peace in the Prince of Peace

As today’s prayer and Scripture commentary remind us, we live in a broken, sin-cursed, fallen world. We desperately need the Prince of Peace to come and redeem us, to make his blessing known as far as the curse is found.

In our salvation, this cosmic redemption is already breaking in. Christ is already at work in our hearts to free us from the curse of sin and death.

Life in this fallen world is full of many things to be afraid of, but recognizing the good presence of Christ with us gives us the power to choose faith over fear.

That’s the message of Fear and Faith: Finding the Peace Your Heart Craves by Trillia Newbell. In this book, Newbell addresses a variety of common fears, and shows how the truth of God’s Word and the power of the gospel can help us overcome those fears with faith.

This book will encourage you, boost your confidence in God, and help you walk with faith every day. I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

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Pray with Spurgeon: May God’s Love Change the Whole World

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Convert the nations, we pray! Help our dear brethren who stand far out in the thick heathen darkness, like lone sentinels; let them bear their witness well, and may the day come when the Christian church shall become a missionary church, when all over the world those that love Christ shall be determined that he shall conquer.

Take hold today of some whom you have ordained to be like Paul, who shall be missionaries to the ends of the earth! Take hold of some that are especially set against you, some that are very bold spirits even in sin, thorough-hearted in their wickedness—convert such now! Say unto them, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites” (Acts 9:15); and may there come such power with it, that they may not be disobedient unto the heavenly vision. Your Church needs such men. Oh, that such were brought out today!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:18–19)

By virtue of his kingly authority, he issued this last great command to his disciples. This is our commission as well as theirs. From it we learn that our first business is to make disciples of all nations, and we can only do that by teaching them the truth as it is revealed in the Scriptures, and seeking the power of the Holy Spirit to make our teaching effective in those we try to instruct in divine things. We are not to invent anything new; nor to change anything to suit the current of the age; but to teach the baptized believers to observe all things our Divine King has commanded.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A Guide to Pray for the World (Seriously, the whole world)

Throughout the Bible, God is passionate about all nations. His plan of salvation is to redeem a people for himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Missions isn’t a sub-group for some Christians — missions is the mission the mission of the church.

We’ve all got a part to play in God’s plan to make disciples of all nations. We can’t all go to the nations, but we can all pray. So I want to encourage you to make prayer for the nations a regular part of your devotional life.

A great resource to help you along the way is Pray for the World from Operation World. This book gives a brief overview of the general spiritual state of every country in the world and offers specific, Christ-centered prayer points. The book even includes a reading plan so that you can pray for the world world in a year.

God loves the nations. Pray for the World is a valuable resource to help you learn more about the nations that God loves and to pray for them.

Buy Pray for the World:

Pray with Spurgeon: Forgive us for our coldness

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Be pleased to grant to your churches more power over the sons of men. Oh, Lord, make your ministers throughout all the world to be more fruitful in soul winning. Let us not rest without sowing the good seed beside all waters. Forgive us our coldness and indifference; forgive us that we sleep as do others, for it is high time for us to awake out of sleep.

Oh, Lord, help us to live while we live; shake us clear of these cerements, these grave clothes, which cling to us; say to us, most blessed Jesus, what you said concerning Lazarus of old, “Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44). May we get right away from the old death and the old lethargy, and live under the best conditions of life, diligently serving God.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4)

What love we had for our Savior the first time he forgave our sins. When we first loved him, how passionate we were. There was not a single thing in the Bible that we did not consider most precious. There was not one command we did not think to be like fine gold.

Where did we lose our first love, if we have lost it? Have we lost it in the world? Too much of the world is a bad thing for any person. Have we lost our first love by spending too much time with worldly people? Have we forgotten how much we owe Christ? Have we neglected communion with Christ? There are a thousand possible reasons, but each person must search his own heart.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

May God wake us up and forgive our indifference

Today we prayed that God would wake us up, forgive our indifference, and give us much influence over “sons of men,” that is, non-Christians. And then in Revelation 2:4, we read about the tragedy of Christians who have neglected to love others.

Many Christians today have failed to love our neighbor, demonstrated by our unwillingness to do evangelism. Getting active in evangelism will transform your life, your church, and your community, and that’s why Spurgeon wrote his book The Soul Winner — to encourage every Christian to do the work of evangelism.

This book isn’t a typical evangelism guilt trip, it will fill you up with amazement and excitement at the privilege of evangelism. We get to tell people about Christ! That’s amazing!

I hope The Soul Winner will be a helpful resource as you prepare to share the hope of Christ this summer.

Buy The Soul Winner:

Pray with Spurgeon: God’s light shines in the darkness

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Hear us again while we cry to you. Our chief desire is for your cause in the earth. We are often very heavy about it. The days seem to us to be neither dark nor light, but mingled; oh that the element of light might overcome the darkness!

We do pray, raise up in these days a race of men that shall know the gospel and hold it fast. We do feel that we have so much superficial religion, so much profession without true possession to back it up. Oh, Lord, may our churches be built with precious stones, and not with wood, hay, and stubble. May we ourselves so know the gospel that no one can beat us out of it; may we so hold it, that our faces shall be like flints against the errors of the age; so practice it, that our lives shall be an argument that none can answer, for the power of the gospel of Jesus.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

The light of Christ shone many times amid the darkness that enshrouded the world before his coming to live here in the flesh, yet comparatively few recognized that light, and rejoiced in it. Christ’s light shines more brightly now, but the dark, benighted soul of man perceives not the brightness of our spiritual Lord until the Holy Spirit works the mighty miracle of regeneration, and so gives sight to those who have been blind.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Encouragement to build gospel-centered, darkness-defeating churches

Today we prayed for a generation who will “know the gospel and hold it fast,” so that our churches are built with the truth of God’s Word, rather than worldly ideas. This is a great thing to pray for your pastor — that he would know and hold fast to God’s truth.

Spurgeon knew that God’s plan for reaching the world was healthy churches led by healthy pastors and he loved any opportunity he had to invest in ministers of the gospel.

In that spirit, I recently started a new weekly newsletter called The Pastor’s Note. Every Thursday I send out a short note from Spurgeon about the challenges of ministry and the power of God. This newsletter is designed specifically for pastors, to encourage them in the crucial work God has for them.

If you’re a pastor, click here subscribe to The Pastor’s Note.

If you’re not a pastor, send this link to your pastors. They will thank you later (trust me).

Pray with Spurgeon: We have the joy of God

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Some of us remember our early covenant with God, when we made over to him ourselves and all that we had. Oh, in life’s last hour when we bow ourselves for weakness, may it be to bless that sacred bond and to “enter into the joy of our Lord” (Matthew 25:21).

And if you have taught us anything since then, if you have given us any virtue or any praise, may we hear you say, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown” (Revelation 3:11). Oh let no brother or sister become distinguished in grace and then decline, let none bear fruit and afterwards become barren; but may our path “shine brighter and brighter until midday” (Proverbs 4:18) It is this our spirit craves after, with strong desire, that the whole of our life, from the commencement with Christ to its ending with our being with Christ, may glorify and bring help to his Church.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’” (Matthew 25:21)

This is not the servant’s portion, but the Master’s portion shared with his faithful servants. This will be the consummation of all heavenly delights; not so much that we shall have a joy of our own as that we shall enter into the joy of our Lord.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Teach the wonders of theology to children

If you don’t teach your child good theology, who will? (Hint: It’s not the children’s ministry worker they see for 45 minutes each week). If you don’t fill your child’s mind and soul with biblical truth, the world will fill it with worldly truth.

We must take this task seriously and teach our children the wonders and joy of who God is and what he has done.

A great resource for teaching theology in a creative and deeply biblical way is The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New by Marty Machowski. This book is a collection of over 70 short devotionals to teach children (primarily ages 6-12) the wonders of God.

The book is simple enough for a 3-year-old to grasp and also deep enough for a 12-year-old to be amazed. It really is an incredible resource! I hope you’ll grab one for your family.

Buy The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, all that I have is yours

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Oh, take these hearts, most glorious Lord, and keep them, for “it is the source of life” (Proverbs 4:23); and let us be the instruments in your hand, by daily vigilance, of keeping our hearts, lest in heart we go astray from the Lord our God.

Until life’s last hour may we keep the sacred pledges of our early youth. Some of us do remember our early covenant with God, when we made over to him ourselves and all that we had. We do remember when we were baptized into the sacred Name—Oh, never may we dishonor that sacred ordinance by which we declared that we were dead to the world and buried with Christ.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Mere moralists very often forget the heart, and deal exclusively with the lesser powers. It is as if, when the reservoir was filled with poisonous or polluted fluid, some sage counsellor should propose that all the piping had better be taken up, and fresh pipes laid down, so that the water might run through fresh channels; but who does not perceive that it would be all in vain, if the fountain-head were polluted, however good the channels.

So in vain the rules by which men hope to fashion their lives; in vain the regimen by which we seek to constrain ourselves to the semblance of goodness. unless the heart be right the very best plans of life shall fell to the ground and fail to effect their design.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Being like Christ starts with your heart

Today we prayed that our entire hearts would remain dedicated to God until the very end of our lives. And we saw in God’s Word that our hearts must be right before God, not just our behavior.

Growing as a Christian is not mere behavior modification (forcing yourself to do different things or live a different way) — it’s so much bigger than that. It’s about completely changing your heart so that you love the right things and want to do the right things.

To every Christian, that sounds amazing. We all want to be more like Christ and we all want to stop sinning, but there is a lot of confusion about how that happens. How will God change our lives?

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.

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: