Category: Pray with Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: God is near to save anxious sinners

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O God, suffer us to intercede with you a moment for our unconverted ones. Give us to feel great sorrow and heaviness of heart for those who, as yet, are far off from God: Lord, bring them in. O God, awaken the careless and frivolous who have never given any solemn consideration to the matters of their soul. May they be awakened and aroused today; and while we set forth the way of salvation by grace, may they feel their need of it, and be willing to accept it; and may the Lord save them this day.

May any that are anxious, but are missing the mark, looking to themselves instead of to Christ, learn the way of life and run in it. Save them, O God; yes, save this people.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call to him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)

In these happy gospel times, when Christ is set forth on purpose that “he may be found,” seek him, call upon him. He is very near when the gospel is preached with holy unction, when Christians are praying, when hearts are breaking for the conversion of sinners, and when his Spirit is working in their hearts, that they may repent of sin.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;” that is, now. “Call to him while he is near;” he is near now. Wherever Christ is lifted up, and his gospel is proclaimed, he is there according to his promise, “remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

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You can be the answer to today’s prayer

Today we prayed for God to draw sinners to himself. But this isn’t just something we pray for — this is something we get to be a part of!

Evangelism is the responsibility of every Christian. We should be honored to carry the good news of King Jesus to hell-bound sinners. But evangelism is a daunting task and we need help to persevere ⠀
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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: Cling to the old-fashioned gospel, beloved

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Prosper your universal church. Send the preaching of the pure gospel again to the world. Silence the voices of those that are spreading infidelity and superstition. May the day come when every pulpit shall resound with the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, and his people shall again return to their allegiance to the faith—the faith once delivered to the saints, never to swerve again.

O God, suffer us to intercede with you a moment for our unconverted ones. Give us to feel great sorrow and heaviness of heart for those who, as yet, are far off from God: Lord, bring them in.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” (Romans 10:14–15)

Here you have the whole plan of salvation. Christ is preached, sinners hear the message of the gospel, they believe it, and so they are saved. What a mass of rubbish men have interjected into this blessed simple plan! What counterfeits of so-called human doings and external paraphernalia of all sorts they have interjected! God requires none of their fripperies, and fineries, and ornate performances, but simply says, “Believe, and live.”

How different is this from the cumbrous, complicated plan by which men would destroy our souls! Cling to the old-fashioned gospel, beloved, and never turn away from it. There is nothing that can take the place of the simplicity of divine truth. God grant that throughout England, and from one end of the world to the other, salvation by believing, the result of hearing the gospel, may be proclaimed.

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The gospel isn’t just for you — it’s for the whole world

Today we prayed for the true gospel to spread to all of the earth. A few years ago, through several books and sermons, my life was completely changed when I discovered God’s unparalleled passion for all nations. Global missions is the center of God’s passion — so to be apathetic about it is to be distinctly ungodly.

To help you understand God’s glorious plan for all the nations of the earth, I want to recommend two resources.

First, The Great Imbalance by David Platt is the most recent Secret Church event. This is several hours of in-depth Bible study unpacking God’s heart for all nations and what we must do about it. You can watch the sessions for free on Radical.net.

Second, the book Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper will help you understand why God cares about all the nations of the earth. Piper creates an incredible case to show that God cares about all nations of the earth because his glory is at stake. If every nation doesn’t worship, then God will not be glorified as he should be. So we have to care.

I hope and pray that Let the Nations Be Glad will fill your heart with a passion for God’s glory among all nations.

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Pray with Spurgeon: We rise up above doubt and worry

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

At this hour, which is an hour of grace, we would ask you to help any of your children who are under bondage. If they have lost their hope, if their faith has become weak, if their love burns low—Lord renew the youth of your people, like that of the eagles’ (Psalm 103:5); and let them mount up with eagles, and rise above their doubts, their deadness, and their care.

Should any of your servants be in deep trouble, will you grant them grace to glory in tribulation also, because it works patience, experience, and hope. And may the Lord grant to all his tried and troubled ones, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

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

Renewal of strength, amounting to a grant of a new lease of life, was granted to the Psalmist; he was so restored to his former self that he grew young again, and looked as vigorous as an eagle, whose eye can gaze upon the sun, and whose wing can mount above the storm, most fearless, most majestic, and most soaring.

Thus is the endless chain of grace complete. Sin is forgiven, its power subdued, and its penalty averted, then we are honored, supplied, and our very nature renovated, till we are as new-born children in the household of God.

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Real Hope for All Your Fears and Anxiety

Today’s prayer featured a stunning image — God renewing his people so that we can soar, like an eagle, above all of our doubts and worries. Unfortunately, dealing with our fears isn’t always so easy, is it? We won’t grow past our fears unless we address them with solid biblical truth.

That’s the point of Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest by Ed Welch. This book offers a biblical perspective on fear and worry in general, and then zooms in to offer biblical hope for some of the most common fears (e.g., fear of money, fear of people, fear of death, etc.).

Reading Running Scared will give you more confidence in God and his Word that will help you deal with your own fears and to share the hope of the Bible with others too.

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*P.S. Amazon is currently running a special deal for Prime members — you can save more than 50% on your first four months of an Audible membership. This is a great way to grab some great Christ-centered audiobooks like Running Scared.

Pray with Spurgeon: God, save me from sin — make me holy

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We cry to you after holiness. You know that we do not expect to be saved by it; but we do look upon it as salvation, to be saved from sin, to be delivered from corruption; to be emancipated from the bondage of the evil is the great thought of our spirit, and we look forward to heaven with this as one of its highest felicities, that we shall be without fault before the throne of God, and that nothing that defiles shall ever enter there.

O Lamb of God, by whom we have been redeemed from sin and washed from uncleanness, will you graciously daily wash our feet, that we may be clean everywhere, and may enter in through the gates into the city, and be among those of whom it is written—“they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.” (Revelation 3:4)

They who have not defiled their garments shall have their faces always bright. He who is accepted of God shall wear white garments of joy and gladness while he walks in sweet communion with the Lord Jesus. Why so many doubts, so much misery, and mourning? It is because so many believers defile their garments with sin and error, and hence they lose the joy of their salvation, and the comfortable fellowship of the Lord Jesus, they do not here below walk in white.

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A Practical Plan to (Actually) Become Holy

As we prayed today, we all want to be holy as God is holy. If we are really born again, we hate sin and love righteousness — we want to follow our Lord and be more like him. But many Christians have a hard time making the jump from desiring holiness to pursuing holiness.

The good news is that we don’t have to guess. In the Bible, God has already laid out a perfect plan for helping us grow in godliness (to be more like him). And that plan is the spiritual disciplines.

Spiritual disciplines are disciplined habits like Bible reading, prayer, fasting, and serving with the specific goal of growing in godliness. A great guide for understanding and growing in the spiritual disciplines is Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney.

If you read this book and apply its lesson, I know that you will grow in godliness, because this book is rooted in Scripture. God has a plan for you to grow in holiness — and the spiritual disciplines are this plan. Make this summer a fruitful season of growing in holiness by reading Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.

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Pray with Spurgeon: Love God, Love Others

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Help us to love you with all our heart and soul and mind. Enable us also to live to our fellow men according to your word, loving our neighbor as ourselves. Save us from all unneighborly tempers, all hard thoughts, all slanderous words. Deliver us from bearing any anger in our heart: save us from everything that is ungenerous or unkind, and let the law of love be written on the fleshy tablets of our renewed heart, and be carried out in all the thoughts and words and acts of our lives.

Especially help us to master our tongue; for if that be bridled the whole body will be manageable. Keep us, O God, when we are in company, and equally preserve us when we are in secret. Help us to keep the door of our lips; and grant that when that door is opened there may not come out of it sweet water and bitter: may we not both bless and curse, but may we speak that which is good to edification, and may our speech be also seasoned with salt.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” (Matthew 22:37–40)

The teaching of Moses and all the prophets might be summarized in “these two commandments.” The duty of loving God and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is the supreme subject of the divine revelation.

On this, as on a great peg, “hang all the law and the prophets.” Remove the peg, and what have you left as a support for the teaching given by the Lord through the holy men of old who wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost?

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How does God’s love relate to his wrath? If God is love why do bad things happen?

Today we prayed that God would help us to love others as he has loved us. We know that this is a clear command of Scripture (see, for example, the verse of the day), but do we really understand it? In order to love others the way that God has loved us, we have to understand how God has loved us. We have to have a firm, rooted confidence that God really does love us.

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.

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Pray with Spurgeon: God, forgive me and free me from sin

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We bless you this morning that we can repent of sin, for there was a time when it never struck us that there was much amiss with us, when sin was no plague to us; when we lived even in outward sin with but slight accusation of conscience, and certainly without any pain at heart.

You know, Lord, that sin is our greatest curse; we would sooner suffer anything than sin, at least when we are in our right mind we feel so. O God, deliver us from sin! At the very thought of its coming near to us we cry, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me” (Romans 7:24) and we only find comfort in the blessed truth that you give us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let that victory be very apparent, may it be very clear to our own consciousness, very much displayed in our lives. O God, help us to live towards you in all devotion, confidence, obedience, resignation and simple childlike trust. Help us to love you with all our heart and soul and mind. 

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)

Now, the more holy a man gets the more he cries in this fashion. While he is low down in the scale, he puts up with sin, and he is uneasy, but when he gets to see Christ and get somewhat like him, the more nearly he approximates to the image of his Master, the more the presence of the least sinful thought is horrifying to him. He would, if he could, never look on sin again—never have the slightest inclination to it, but he finds his heart getting abroad and wandering when he would tether it down, if he could, to the cross and crucify it there. And so the more happy he is in Christ the more desperately does he cry against the wretchedness of being touched with sin, even in the least degree.

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A devotional to help you run from sin and cling to Christ

Today’s prayer and verse of the day focus on the horrors of our sin; they include a desperate prayer for forgiveness and mercy. I’ve been reflecting on these themes a lot recently as I’ve been studying Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is a stunningly honest prayer of confession and repentance by King David. Praying through Psalm 51 will leave you broken over your sin and incredibly thankful for God’s mercy.

One resource that’s been helpful as I’ve studied Psalm 51 is Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul Tripp. This book features 52 short devotionals (one for every week of the year) on Psalm 51. This is an incredible resource to help you remember the horrors of your sin and the wonders of God’s amazing grace.

You could read the book this summer in just five minutes a day. I can’t think of a better way to spend your summer than reflecting on God’s mercy towards broken sinners like us.

I hope you’ll buy a copy and enjoy mediating on God’s unending mercy with me.

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Pray with Spurgeon: Help my unbelief!

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Have mercy upon us for our unbelief. You have given us proof of your existence, and of your love to us, and of your care over us: especially have you given us your only begotten Son, best pledge of love. And yet we acknowledge that we do doubt. Unbelief comes into the soul. We are quite ashamed of this. We could lie in the very dust to think it should be so. Lord, have mercy upon us; but also help us to be strong in faith in the future, giving glory to God.

We must sorrowfully also lament our hearts, how they wander. If you give us a blessing we begin to idolize it. How often do we set our hearts upon children, upon some beloved object, or upon wealth or upon honor. Somehow or other, this spiritual adultery too often comes upon us, and the chastity of our hearts towards our God is violated. Be pleased to forgive us in this thing also.

“Take this poor heart and let it be,
Forever closed to all but Thee”—

a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Let the whole heart be Christ’s alone, and never stray again.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Immediately the father of the boy cried out, ‘I do believe; help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:24)

There was faith, even though it was mixed with unbelief. It was a faith that made him pray, as I have already told you, and the Lord Jesus Christ found out where the faith was. He had, as it were, broken the great black lump of dead coal that looked to be nothing but unbelief, and there was the living light of faith burning in the very center of it.

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Finding Scripture-saturated hope in the midst of doubt and suffering

Today’s prayer and Scripture meditation are all about doubt. For Christians, doubt is often associated with our own experiences of suffering. It is hard to believe in a good and powerful God when we feel so much pain in this broken world.

In the midst of suffering, it is easy to doubt God’s love for us and feel as if he has deserted us. An excellent book to help you find hope and faith through that kind of suffering is Deserted by God? by Sinclair Ferguson.

This book offers several reflections on the Psalms of lament in the Bible, where divinely-inspired authors cried out to God in the midst of their pain.

No matter what trials you are currently going through (or will go through in the future), Deserted by God? will give you the kind of Bible-saturated firm faith you need to endure. I hope you will grab a copy today.

Buy Deserted by God?:

Pray with Spurgeon: Be humble like Jesus

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O God, deliver us we pray, from the invasion of sin, as well as from the dominion of it. Grant us to walk as Christ walked; in his newness of life may we live—may the life in the flesh be a life of faith upon the Son of God who loved us, and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20); and may it be a life of love, and consecration of burning zeal for God; a life of pure holiness; such a life as the incarnate God himself has lived among the sons of men.

We lament that in the body of this death there is much that we abhor. We are tempted to laziness at times, and though busy in the world we become spiritually idle. Also, we are tempted to envy others, because they excel us, and we mourn to confess the meanness of our spirit in this matter; and also we have to lament our pride. We have nothing to be proud of; the lowest place is ours; but Lord, we often conceive ourselves to be something when we are nothing. We pray, forgive all these vices of our nature; but at the same time kill them, for we hate ourselves to think we should fall into such evils. 

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Paul not only believed in Christ’s death, and trusted in it, but he actually felt its power in himself in causing the crucifixion of his old corrupt nature. When he saw the pleasures of sin, he said, “I cannot enjoy these: I am dead to them.” Such is the experience of every true Christian. Having received Christ, he is to this world as one who is utterly dead.

Yet, while conscious of death to the world, he can, at the same time, exclaim with the apostle, “Nevertheless I live.” He is fully alive unto God. The Christian’s life is a matchless riddle. No worldling can comprehend it; even the believer himself cannot understand it. Dead, yet alive! Crucified with Christ, and yet at the same time risen with Christ in newness of life! Union with the suffering, bleeding Savior, and death to the world and sin, are soul-cheering things. O for more enjoyment of them!

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The (not-so-surprising) cure for anxiety

Today’s prayer asked God to heal us of our pride, knowing that we have nothing worth boasting about in ourselves. When we forget that reality and try to boast in ourselves, we are filled with anxiety.

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

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

Buy Humble Roots:

Pray with Spurgeon: I am a child of God

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our Father, for that is the sweetest title by which we can address you, save us entirely from sin. There are many in your presence who are resting in the peace which comes with justification by faith. We know that we are righteous through the righteousness of another, even Jesus Christ; but we pant and pine for personal likeness to yourself.

If you are our Father, then upon every child of yours should be the Father’s image impressed: so let it be. We ask you, Lord, to enable us to recognize our death to sin; and when it tempts us may we be deaf to the voice of the charmer with the deafness of death; and when it would use our members as instruments of unrighteousness, may we be quite incapable thereof with the incapacity of death.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For I am the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:45)

Observe the reason for obedience to the command: “because I am holy.” Children should be like their fathers. There are many children who bear, in their very faces, evidences of their sonship. You know who their fathers were by the image that the children bear. Oh, that it were always so with all the children of God: “You will be holy, because I am holy.”

God shows us his law in his holy actions, he being himself the very mirror and paragon of everything that is absolutely pure and right. Above all, the Lord has been pleased to set us an example of mounting above the world in the person and life of his own dear Son.

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FINAL DAY: Save 50% on the Spurgeon Study Bible*

This month, the Spurgeon Study Bible is 50% off. That means today is the final day for this offer.

The Spurgeon Study Bible is an incredible resource for Bible study — I know that you will benefit from using it in your daily reading.

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

Today is the last day to save, so grab your Spurgeon Study Bible now!

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

Pray with Spurgeon: We worship our great, mighty, humble God

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Glorious Lord God, our inmost hearts worship you; for you are high above the heavens, and yet you humble yourself to behold the things that are in heaven and that are on earth. And in your condescension you have regard to the very lowest of mankind.

Many of us can sing “he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant” (Luke 1:48); for you do raise the poor out of the dust, and the needy out of the dunghill, that you may set them among princes, even the princes of the people. Who is a God like unto you: Hallelujah! our praises shall never cease: from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, and all through the night watches, the Lord’s name is to be praised.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I will pardon their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, for the LORD dwells in Zion.” (Joel 3:21)

A great truth of God lies at the foundation of the gospel system, that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, cleanses us from all sin. When someone is washed in the sacred laver that is filled with the blood of the atonement, he is not partially cleansed; he is thoroughly cleansed.

This verse and commentary were taken from the Spurgeon Study Bible. This month only, you can get the Spurgeon Study Bible for 50% off — use promo code SPURGEONBOOKS. Click here to learn more.*

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A book to inspire you to grow in prayer this summer

To be honest, consistency in prayer has always been a challenge for me. It’s easy for the demands of this life to keep me from my most important work — communicating with the Lord in prayer. But I’ve been so refreshed recently to read A Praying Life by Paul Miller.

A Praying Life is a great, encouraging book on Christian prayer. Reading this book has cultivated Scripture-saturated prayers of childlike faith in my life. Miller describes prayer in a way that is thoroughly biblical and incredible desirable.

I hope A Praying Life will help you deepen your prayer life this summer.

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