Category: Pray with Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: God, I want to know you (and be like you!)

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Teach us, O Lord, to know the reason of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15), and to be able to defend the faith against all who come. Plough deep in us, great Lord; and let the roots of your grace strike into the roots of our being, until it shall be no longer I that live, but “Christ that lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Holiness, also, of life we crave after. Grant that our speech, our thoughts, our actions, may all be holiness, and “holiness unto the Lord.” We know that there be some that seek after moral virtue apart from God. Let us not be of their kind; but may our desire be that everything should be done as unto the Lord, for you have said, “Walk before Me, and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). Help us so to do, to have no master but our God, no law but his will, no delight but himself. 

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“…but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15)

We want Bible students as Christians—men who not only believe the truth, but have good reasons for believing it. We want men who can meet error with the argument, “It is written,” and can maintain the truth at all hazards, using weapons taken from the armory of God’s inspired Book. Oh, that we had among us more who were fit to be teachers! May we grow in grace so that, when the question is asked, “Who is this?” we may be able to answer it.

Covet earnestly this spiritual gift of knowledge, and give yourselves diligently to the search after it, that you may become fully established in the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a blessing you will be to others if you have much knowledge of the things of God!

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Know, understand, apply, share, and defend Bible truth

Today we prayed that God would help us grow in knowledge and holiness, so that we are better equipped to defend the faith and teach others. The study of theology is an important discipline for all Christians. It will always be well worth your time to think and study about who God really is (and not just who the world says he is).

A great resource for getting started with the study of theology is 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith: A Guide to Understanding and Teaching Theology by Gregg Allison. This book offers a quick, biblical explanation of fifty crucial doctrines.

Each doctrine covered in the book is explained and defended biblically, and then applied to our own lives — how does this truth change the way we live and follow God?

This is also a great book for those further along in their study of theology, serving as a quick reference and teaching guide for every doctrine (The book also shares tips for teaching these doctrines to others).

I hope you’ll grab a copy of 50 Core Truths and be equipped to “give a defense” for your hope.

Buy 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith:

Pray with Spurgeon: I want to love God more

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We trust we can say also that we love the Lord, but oh that we loved him more! Let this blessed flame feed on the very marrow of our bones. May the zeal of your house consume us; may we feel that we love the Lord with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, with all our strength; and may there be about our life a special consecration, an immoveable dedication unto the Lord alone.

O Lord Jesus, deepen in us our knowledge of you. You have made the first lines of your likeness upon our character; go on with this work of sacred art, until we shall be like you in all respects. We wish that we had greater power in private prayer, that we were oftener wrestling with the covenant angel. We would that the Word of God were more sweet to us, more intensely precious—that we had a deeper hunger and thirst after it. Oh, that our knowledge of the truth were more clear, and our grip of it more steadfast.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I have become a stranger to my brothers and a foreigner to my mother’s sons because zeal for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” (Psalm 69:8-9)

Zeal for God is so little understood by men of the world that it always draws down opposition upon those who are inspired with it; they are sure to be accused of sinister motives, or of hypocrisy, or of being out of their senses. When zeal eats us up, ungodly men seek to eat us up too, and this was pre-eminently the case with our Lord, because his holy jealousy was pre-eminent. With more than a seraph’s fire he glowed, and consumed himself with his fervor.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A resource to deepen your love for God

Today we prayed that our love for God and his Word would increase — that we would be more fully dedicated to him. Oh, isn’t that always true of us? Don’t we always long to know God more dearly, to worship him more truly, and to serve him more fully?

I’ve read one book that has fanned the flame of my love for God more than any other in the past year, it’s called Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. This book is an absolutely stunning picture of God’s grace to us in Christ. You know that Christ died for you, but do you know why?

I’ve been moved to tears several times while reading this book and seeing the stunningly beautiful and biblical picture of Christ’s love for his people. The book is great reading for any sinning and suffering Christian (which is all of us!)

I hope you’ll grab a copy and read it this summer. I promise that you won’t regret it!

Buy Gentle and Lowly:

Pray with Spurgeon: May my heart belong to God alone

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Now, Lord, we ask you, hear the voice of our cry. Your people would first of all ask you to deepen in us all the good works of your grace. We do repent of sin—give us a deeper repentance! May we have a horror of it, may we dread the very approach of it, may we chastely flee from it and resolve, with sacred jealousy, that our hearts shall be for the Lord alone.

We have faith in Jesus, blessed be your name, but oh strengthen and deepen that faith! May he be all in all to us; may we never look elsewhere for ground of rest, but abide in him with an unwavering, immutable confidence, that the Christ of God cannot fail nor be discouraged, but must forever be the salvation of his people.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

What a blessed thing it is that, when troubles are shed abroad outside us, the love of God is shed abroad inside us; when we are tried without, we are comforted within; and so we are made strong, and we have no cause to fear.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

How God’s grace helps you grow

Today’s prayer was a desperate cry that we would dedicate our entire lives to God, but also a confession that Christ is our only hope and our only salvation. We ask God to help us grow in holiness, because we know that God’s grace doesn’t just save you from sin, it also gives you the power that you 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.

Buy The Discipline of Grace:

Pray with Spurgeon: Hold onto God more firmly than ever before

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O Lord, we would cling to you more firmly than ever we have done: we would say, “Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, LORD, rescued me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling” (Psalm 116:7–8). We would this morning “take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:13). We would “I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people” (Psalm 116:14).

Blessed be the name of the Lord, we have been brought low, but the Lord has helped us; we have oftentimes wandered, but he has restored us; we have been tried, but he has preserved us; yes, we have found his paths to be “paths of pleasantness” and all the ways of His wisdom to be “ways of peace.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“How can I repay the LORD for all the good he has done for me?” (Psalm 116:12)

He wisely leaves off fretting about man’s falsehood and his own suffering, and directs himself to his God. It is of little use to be harping on the string of man’s imperfection and deceitfulness; it is infinitely better to praise the perfection and faithfulness of God.

The question of the verse is a very proper one: the Lord has rendered so much mercy to us that we ought to look about us, and look within us, and see what can be done by us to manifest our gratitude. We ought not only to do what is plainly before us, but also with holy ingenuity to search out various ways by which we may render fresh praises unto our God. His benefits are so many that we cannot number them, and our ways of acknowledging his blessings ought to be varied and numerous in proportion.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A Beautiful Book to Help Children Understand Loss

Today, we prayed that we would remember God’s goodness and faithfulness, even in the midst of great suffering. The God that we pray to is control of all things. And even when the most unimaginably horrible circumstances come against us, we can trust that he is good.

That’s the theme of The Moon is Always Round by Jonathan Gibson. This book for kids of any age tells the story of a family grieving the loss of their baby. This book encourages children (and parents) to trust in our good God, no matter what our circumstances tell us to believe.

Even if the worst of trials come against us, the moon is always round, and God is always good.

This book is absolutely beautiful. It is simple enough for kids to understand and wonderful enough to move parents to tears. Really, this book is an incredible resource.

I hope you’ll add this book to your family’s library.

Buy The Moon is Always Round:

Pray with Spurgeon: God’s love endures forever

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Blessed God, our heart does praise you, our inmost soul exults in your name, for the Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever. Your people praise you, O God, for all that you have been to them, and we can all set bring you worthy praise by reason of our personal experience of your goodness.

You have dealt well with your servants, O Lord, according unto your word. We bless you for teaching us from our youth; for some of us have known you, even from our childhood, and your word was precious to us even in our earlier days, when, like young Samuel, we were spoken to of the Lord. Now you have carried us these years in the wilderness with unchanging love and goodness. You have made us and you do carry us; you do not forsake the work of your hands. “His faithful love endures forever,” and let your praise endure for ever also.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His faithful love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1)

Thanks are the least that we can offer, and these we ought freely to give. The inspired writer calls us to praise the Lord for all his goodness to us, and all the greatness of his power in blessing his chosen. We thank our parents, let us praise our heavenly Father; we are grateful to our benefactors, let us give thanks unto the Giver of all good.

“For he is good.” Essentially he is goodness itself, practically all that he does is good, relatively he is good to his creatures. Let us thank him that we have seen, proved, and tasted that he is good. He is good beyond all others; indeed, he alone is good in the highest sense; he is the source of good, the good of all good, the sustainer of good, the perfecter of good, and the rewarder of good. For this he deserves the constant gratitude of his people.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

How does God’s unfailing love allow suffering and evil?

Today, we praised God for his gracious, merciful, unending, never changing love. For some of us, this kind of prayer is challenging to pray. Our experience tries to drown out the truth of Scripture. Surely a God who allows so much suffering cannot really be infinitely loving?

Grappling with questions like “If God is love why do bad things happen?” can increase your amazement at the wonders of God’s love. And so wrestling through those questions is important.

One great resource for helping you tackle those questions is The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson. This short book explains God’s love in a thoroughly biblical way that will leave you amazed at God’s grace and more eager to love others.

I hope you’ll grab a copy and read it this summer.

Buy The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, be glorified in my life

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Bless, we pray, all city missionaries, all visitors from house to house, all those who seek to reclaim fallen women or orphans among the children. Let the philanthropic work that is done in our city, ever be under your eye, and be upheld by your gracious hand. Our ragged schools, and especially our Sabbath schools, do look upon with favor, and grant them ever to be a nursery for the Church of God.

The Lord bless all that in any way seek to make known the taste of the name of Jesus. Oh, give the humblest tongue that tells of Christ to speak with fire, and where the multitudes are gathered together, there give fervor and earnestness, sincerity and depth of power to bring sinners to Jesus.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Let the peoples praise you, God; let all the peoples praise you.” (Psalm 67:3)

Cause them to own your goodness and thank you with all their hearts; let nations do this, and do it continually, being instructed in thy gracious way. May every man bring his music, every citizen his canticle, every peasant his praise, every prince his Psalm. All are under obligations to you, to thank you will benefit all, and praise from all will greatly glorify you; therefore, O Lord, give all men the grace to adore your grace, the goodness to see your goodness.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Followers of Christ speak about Christ

Maybe the reason so many Christians don’t do the work of evangelism is because they don’t understand it. Evangelism isn’t meant to be an unnatural, guilt-motivated task that Christians carry out with dread and fear — it’s meant to be a natural overflow of our life in Christ.

Marks of the Messenger by Mack Stiles is a short book on evangelism that has the power to transform your life. In the book, Stiles shows that evangelism isn’t motivated by fear, guilt, or pragmatism, it’s simply to be motivated by who Christ is and our faith in him.

This summer, as many places and events re-open after a season of quarantine, will be full of opportunities for evangelism. God wants to do a work through you this summer — get prepared and motivated by reading Marks of the Messenger.

Buy Marks of the Messenger:

Pray with Spurgeon: I want to give my life to God

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Gracious God, we pray, work in us such a holy love to you, that we may give to you all that we have. We have sometimes said in our soul: “Take not tithe, but take it all.” Keep us true to this. May we feel that we are “not our own, but bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20) and let this be no sentiment which ought to have power over us, but a real force which constrains us, because “For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15).

We do pray for grace, that we may spend all our time, every faculty, and all that we possess in glorifying our Lord and Master among the sons of men.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

Paul reminded us that we were redeemed from the punishment due us, redeemed from the wrath of God, redeemed to Christ to be his forever. “You were bought” implies a price, but the words “at a price” are added to show that it was not for nothing that we were purchased; something inestimably precious was paid for us—the precious blood of Christ.

Our being “bought at a price” is the most important fact in our present existence. It determines all we do and are as Christians. If bought, we are not our own. Now if it is true that we are not our own, then the inferences from this are that we have no right to injure what does not belong to us; and, as we are not our own, we have no right to be idle or to waste our talents.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Teach kids about the wonder that our Lord served us.

Today we prayed and reflected on the glorious reality that our great God, the Lord of all creation, laid down his life for us. We are sinful, through and through, but we have been “bought with a price.” This is a marvelous thought that we must never forget.

A great resource for teaching this glorious divine paradox of a great King who is also a lowly servant is Jesus and the Very Big Surprise by Randall Goodgame. This is a really thoughtful and fun picture book, based on Jesus’ parable of the servants who waited for the master to return.

This book is an amazing balance of biblical faithfulness and really fun (and funny) creativity. Your kids will love it, and so will you.

Buy Jesus and the Very Big Surprise:

Pray with Spurgeon: God is at work in your suffering

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, we desire this morning to contemplate with admiration your ways toward us. You have put some of us into the furnace. There is no child of yours who does not something of the heat of the furnace; and we know that you are as a refiner unto us, and that the fire is meant to consume our dross and tin; therefore we thank you for it. For all the acts of discipline to which we are subject, we would praise the wisdom and the love of our divine Father.

You would not have us live in sin; sin is much worse than furnace work. All the trial in the world is not so hard to carry as a sense of sin. Lord, if you give us choice to keep our sins and to live in pleasure, or to have them burnt away with trial, we will say to you, “Lord, give us the sanctified affliction, but deliver us from all the influences of sin, from every evil habit, all the ore that is mixed with the precious metal, everything that diminishes the brightness of your grace in us; everything that keeps you from taking delight in us, take it away, we beseech you.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6–7)

Can a Christian greatly rejoice while he is in distress? Yes, most assuredly he can. Mariners tell us that there are some parts of the sea where there is a strong current upon the surface going one way, but that down in the depths there is a strong current running the other way. Two seas do not meet and interfere with one another, but one stream of water on the surface is running in one direction and another below in an opposite direction.

Now, the Christian is like that. On the surface there is a stream of heaviness rolling with dark waves. But down in the depths there is a strong undercurrent of great rejoicing that is always flowing there.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

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

Today we prayed, thanking God for the refining influence that our trials and suffering have had on our life. We know this to be true; even in the worst of our suffering, we know that God is at work to protect, preserve, and purify us.

Spurgeon himself learned a lot from his own suffering. Stricken with significant illness and depression throughout most of his ministry, Spurgeon’s suffering drew him closer to Christ and gave him a deeper hope in 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.

Buy Spurgeon on Suffering:

Pray with Spurgeon: Our sins are many, God’s mercy is more

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, will you listen to us while we confess before you how unworthy we have been of all your goodness; for we are a sinful generation, even as our fathers were. We have sinned, times without number. Our sins of pride, of unbelief, of hasty judgment of your providence, our neglect of searching into your mind in the Word, our neglect of possessing your mind in our daily life, our transgressions and our shortcomings, make against us a great list of accusations.

But we bless you that they will not stand as accusations; for, behold, none can lay anything to the charge of your people, seeing all was laid on him, upon whom the transgression of your people was laid of old, by your own hand; and now, washed in his precious blood, and clothed in his matchless righteousness, we know that despite our faults, we stand accepted in the Beloved.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.” (Romans 8:33)

Every sin of the elect was laid upon the great Champion of our salvation, and by the atonement carried away. There is no sin in God’s book against his people: he sees no sin in Jacob, neither iniquity in Israel; they are justified in Christ forever. When the guilt of sin was taken away, the punishment of sin was removed. For the Christian there is no stroke from God’s angry hand—nay, not so much as a single frown of punitive justice. The believer may be chastised by his Father, but God the Judge has nothing to say to the Christian, except “I have absolved you: you are acquitted.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

What’s so amazing about grace?

Today, we prayed a prayer of thankfulness that God has forgiven our sins out of his infinite, marvelous, amazing grace. We celebrate God’s “amazing grace” like this every day, but when was the last time you sat down to really consider and celebrate the good news that God saves sinners by grace?

One book to help cultivate enjoyment of God’s grace is By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me by Sinclair Ferguson. This book is a great devotional, with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of God’s amazing grace.

I can’t think of a better topic to study and consider this summer than God’s amazing grace. You will walk away from this book singing with joy at the wonders of God’s grace. I hope you’ll buy a copy today.

Buy By Grace Alone:

Pray with Spurgeon: God is overflowing with goodness

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are of clean heart. Your people desire to set their seal to this, and to acknowledge that you are overflowing goodness. O blessed God, you have remembered both our temporal and our spiritual wants; you have lifted us up from the gates of the grave, delivered our soul from death, our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling.

You have dealt well with your servants, O Lord, according to your Word. There is none like the God of Jeshurun (Deuteronomy 33:26), there is none that deals so bountifully; for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are his thoughts above our thoughts and his ways above our ways.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, the clouds in his majesty.” (Deuteronomy 33:26)

Notice how near God is said to be to his people. He is described as being above us with his divine power. Faith can hear the tramp of the celestial cavalry above our heads. He is all around us so that we are encompassed with God—with the glorious presence of his mighty love. He is above, beneath, before, and all around us. He never forsakes us, for in him we live, move, and have our being. Let us rejoice, therefore, in our Lord’s nearness.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Be amazed by our great God.

Our view of God is much too small, much too tame. The Bible reveals a ravishing, glorious, fear-inspiring, awesome picture of the God who created all things and sits in the heavens. If you want to better understand God’s glorious infinity, read None Like Him by Jen Wilkin.

In each chapter, Jen unpacks one of God’s incommunicable attributes — the attributes that make God unlike us — and discusses how knowing each of these attributes of God will change our lives. This is biblical, rich, glorious theology.

Buy None Like Him: