Category: Pray with Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: Why doubt the mighty God?

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O dear Savior, there is room for the greatest faith to be exercised upon your blessed person and work.

O God, the Most High and all-sufficient, there is room for the greatest confidence in you.

O Divine Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, there is now sufficient room for the fullest faith in your operations. Grant us this faith. Oh, work it in us now, while, at the same time, we do confess that if we have it not, it is our shame and sin. We make no excuse for unbelief, but confess it with detestation of it, that we should ever have doubted the truthful, the mighty, the faithful God. Yet, Lord, we shall fall into the like sin again, unless the grace that makes us know it to be sin shall help us to avoid it.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this.” (Acts 3:15)

See how plainspoken Peter is—how boldly he presses home upon the crowd around him the murder of Christ, the rejection of the Messiah? It took no small amount of courage and faith to speak like that, especially to persons who were full of admiration of him before and who would soon be filled with indignation against him. A man can speak boldly against those who are his enemies, but when people begin to flatter you and admire you, a softness steals over the bravest heart, and he is inclined to be gentle. I admire Peter that he puts it thus so plainly.

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.*

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Teach kids that sin separates, God restores

The story of the Bible begins with God’s people living in close fellowship with him in the Garden, but quickly being thrown out as a direct consequence to sin. The rest of the Bible tells the stunning story of God doing the work to save his people and bring them back to himself.

The Garden, The Curtain, and the Cross by Carl Laferton is a book to help kid’s understand this important aspect of the Bible’s big story: “Because of your sin, you can’t come in, But Jesus died to take our sin, so now we all can be with him!”

This is a must-have for any family’s library, a great resource for pointing your kids to their great need for Christ.

Buy The Garden, The Curtain, and the Cross:

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Pray with Spurgeon: We need more childlike faith

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We would have never looked with these bleary eyes of ours to that dear cross, unless the heavenly light had first shone, and the heavenly finger had taken the thick scales away.

We trace our faith to that same God who gave us life, and we ask now that we may have more of it. Lord, maintain the faith you have created; strengthen it, let it be more and more simple. Deliver us from any sort of reliance upon ourselves, whatever shape that reliance might take, and let our faith in you become more childlike every day that we live; for, O dear Savior, there is room for the greatest faith to be exercised upon your blessed person and work.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“My foot stands on level ground; I will bless the Lord in the assemblies.” (Psalm 26:12)

The song began in the minor, but it has now reached the major key. Saints often sing themselves into happiness. The level ground upon which our foot stands is the sure, covenant faithfulness, eternal promise and immutable oath of the Lord of Hosts; there is no fear of falling from this solid basis, or of its being removed from under us.

Established in Christ Jesus, by being vitally united to him, we have nothing left to occupy our thoughts but the praises of our God. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and when assembled, let us not be slow to contribute our portion of thanksgiving. Each saint is a witness to divine faithfulness, and should be ready with his testimony. As for the slanderers, let them howl outside the door while the children sing within.

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Study the Bible with Spurgeon himself

Spurgeon had an incredible clarity to read, understand, and apply Scripture. Even today, hundreds of years after his death, Spurgeon’s preaching and writing still has tremendous power — because it’s rooted in Scripture.

The Spurgeon Study Bible is an incredible resource to benefit from Spurgeon’s insight during your daily Bible reading. It really does feel like sitting down one-on-one to study the Bible with Spurgeon himself.

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.

For this month only, the Spurgeon Study Bible is 50% off for “Pray with Spurgeon” subscribers. Just use promo code SPURGEONBOOKS when you check out.

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

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Pray with Spurgeon: Jesus will heal our hearts

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Help me to make an acceptable confession of sin, with much mourning, with much deep regret, with much self-loathing, and with the absence of anything like a pretense to merit or to excuse. Here we stand, Lord, a company of tax-collectors and sinners, with whom Jesus deigns to sit down.

Heal us, Emanuel! Here we are, needing that healing. Good Physician, here is work for you; come and manifest your healing power! There are many of us who have looked unto Jesus and are lightened, but we do confess that our faith was the gift of God. We would have never looked with these bleary eyes of ours to that dear cross, unless first the heavenly light had shone, and the heavenly finger had taken the thick scales away.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“But I live with integrity; redeem me and be gracious to me.” (Psalm 26:11)

Here is the lover of godliness entering his personal protest against unrighteous gain. He is a Nonconformist, and is ready to stand alone in his Nonconformity. Trusting in God, the Psalmist resolves that the plain way of righteousness shall be his choice.

Yet he is by no means a boaster, or a self-righteous vaunter of his own strength, for he cries for redemption and pleads for mercy. Our integrity is not absolute nor inherent, it is a work of grace in us, and is marred by human infirmity; we must, therefore, resort to the redeeming blood and the throne of mercy, confessing that though we are saints among men, we must still bow as sinners before God.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A gospel-saturated approach to racial reconciliation (for kids!)

All of the biggest issues in our day can only be healed by the power of the risen Christ. The current racial tension in our country is no exception. That’s why I love Trillia Newbell’s approach in God’s Very Good Idea.

This simple kid’s book tells the great story of the whole Bible, focusing on how God made all people in his image and saved different kinds of people (“Some with darker skin, some with lighter skin; some with straight hair, some with curly hair”).

With simple words, big theology, and delightful pictures, this book is a must-have for any child’s library.

Buy God’s Very Good Idea by Trillia Newbell:

Pray with Spurgeon: God, soften my heart

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We come humbly, first of all acknowledging our many sins. How many they are we cannot calculate, how black they are, how deep their ill-desert; yet we do confess that we have sinned ourselves into hopeless misery, unless your free undeserved grace rescues us from it.

Lord, we thank you for any signs of repentance—give us more of it. Lay us low before you under a consciousness of our undeserving state. Let us feel and mourn the atrocity of our guilt. O God, we know a tender heart must come from you. By nature our hearts are stony, and we are proud and self-righteous.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Do not destroy me along with sinners, or my life along with men of bloodshed.” (Psalm 26:9)

Lord, when, like fruit, I must be gathered, put me not in the same basket with the best of sinners, much less with the worst of them. The company of sinners is so distasteful to us here, that we cannot endure the thought of being bound up in the same bundle with them to all eternity. Our comfort is, that the Great Husbandman discerns the tares from the wheat, and will find a separate place for distinct characters.

In the former verses we see that the Psalmist kept himself clear of profane persons, and this is to be understood as a reason why he should not be thrust into their company at the last. Let us think of the doom of the wicked, and the prayer of the text will forcibly rise to our lips; meanwhile, as we see the rule of judgment by which like is gathered to its like, we who have passed from death unto life have nothing to fear.

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Gospel-centered hope for your trials

Did you know that Spurgeon faced intense suffering throughout his life? He was beaten down with depression, physical illness, and more until he died at the early age of 57.

But whenever God’s people suffer, they learn. Spurgeon said, “In heaven we shall see that we had not one trial too many.” In the fire of suffering, Spurgeon was purified and given an incredible amount of wisdom on a Christian approach to weakness, pain, and suffering.

Recently, I collected some of Spurgeon’s best sermons on trials and suffering into a book, Spurgeon on Suffering: Reflections on Our Pain and God’s Grace. Reading these sermons has helped me view my suffering in a more biblical (and hopeful!) way. I know that they will encourage you as well.

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

Pray with Spurgeon: All good comes from Jesus

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We owe everything to God. Especially do we own this dependence when we come to deal with spiritual things. O God, we are less than nothing in the spiritual world. We do feel this growingly, and yet even to feel this is beyond our power. Your grace must give us even to know our need of grace. We are not willing to confess our own sinfulness until you show it to us. Though it stares us in the face, our pride denies it, and our own inability is unperceived by us.

We steal your power and call it our own till you compel us to say that we have no strength in ourselves. Now, Lord, would we acknowledge that all good must come of you, through Jesus Christ by your Spirit, if ever we are to receive it.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Lord, I love the house where you dwell, the place where your glory resides.” (Psalm 26:8)

In his church where God is had in honor at all times, where he reveals himself in the glory of his grace, and is proclaimed by his people as the Lord of all. We come not together as the Lord’s people to honor the preacher, but to give glory to God; such an occupation is most pleasant to the saints of the Most High.

What are those gatherings where God is not honored? Are they not an offense to his pure and holy eyes, and are they not a sad stumbling-block to the people of God? It brings the scalding-tear upon our cheek to hear sermons in which the honor of God is so far from being the preacher’s object, that one might almost imagine that the preacher worshipped the dignity of manhood, and thought more of it than of the Infinite Majesty of God.

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The biblical solution to arguing children

Earlier this week I recommended Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp. Today, I wanted to share one of my favorite excerpts from this book to show how paradigm-altering it can be for our parenting:

“Let’s take a familiar example from any home where there are two or more children. The children are playing and a fight breaks out over a particular toy. The classic response is ‘Who had it first?’ This response misses heart issues.’ Who had it first?’ is an issue of justice. Justice operates in the favor of the child who was the quicker draw in getting the toy. If we look at this situation in terms of the heart, the issues change.

“Now you have two offenders. Both children are displaying a hardness of heart toward the other. Both are being selfish. Both children are saying, ‘I don’t care about you or your happiness. I am only concerned about myself. I want this toy. My happiness depends on possessing it. I will have it and be happy regardless of what that means to you.’

“In terms of issues of the heart, you have two sinning children. Two children are preferring themselves before the other. Two children are breaking God’s law. Sure, the circumstances are different. One is taking the toy that the other has. The other is keeping the advantage. The circumstances are different, but the heart issue is the same—’I want my happiness, even at your expense.'”

Buy Shepherding a Child’s Heart:

Pray with Spurgeon: Every breath is God’s gift

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O Lord God, the great I AM, we do confess and cheerfully acknowledge that all comes from you. You have made us and not we ourselves, and the breath in our nostrils is kept there by your continued power.

We owe our sustenance, our happiness, our advancement, our ripening, our very existence entirely to you. We would bless you for all the mercies with which you surround us, for all things which our eyes see that are pleasant, which our ears hear that are agreeable, and for everything that makes existence to be life.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Lord, I love the house where you dwell, the place where your glory resides.” (Psalm 26:8)

Into the abodes of sin the psalmist would not enter, but the house of God he had long loved, and loved it still. We would be sad children if we did not love our Father’s dwelling-place. Though we own no sacred buildings, yet the church of the living God is the house of God, and true Christians delight in her ordinances, services, and assemblies. O that all our days were Sabbaths!

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A Beautiful Set for Spurgeon Lovers

Time spent reading Charles Spurgeon’s sermons is always time well spent. I always walk away rooted in God’s Word, encouraged by God’s gospel, and eager to walk in God’s ways.

If you want to read Spurgeon’s sermons for yourself, a great place to start is with the Spurgeon Sermon’s collection. This five book collection contains the original ten volumes of Spurgeon’s published sermons. The set looks beautiful on the shelf, but the content is even more beautiful.

Buy Spurgeon’s Sermons 5 book set

Pray with Spurgeon: God’s people should not be tongue-tied

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

As you read this prayer for conversions, think about 1–2 specific non-Christians you know.

Bid those who don’t know you to come to Christ and live. O divine love, sweetly draw them. Cast the bands of love about them, and the cords of a man, and draw them to yourself. Young men and young women, yes, and old men and old women—draw them to yourself, most divine Lord; and may there be many trophies to the power of the gospel. All our prayer is now before you. We wish everybody we know to be saved. The Lord grant it, for Christ’s sake.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“…raising my voice in thanksgiving and telling about your wondrous works.” (Psalm 26:7)

God’s people should not be tongue-tied. The wonders of divine grace are enough to make the tongue of the dumb sing. God’s works of love are wondrous if we consider the unworthiness of their objects, the costliness of their method, and the glory of their result. And as men find great pleasure in discoursing upon things remarkable and astonishing, so the saints rejoice to tell of the great things which the Lord has done for them.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A biblical foundation for parenting

Whenever a new parent asks me for recommended resources, Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp is always one of the first that comes to mind. This book lays a crucial biblical foundation for parenting from a Christian perspective. What are the parents’ responsibilities to their children, and to God?

Shepherding a Child’s Heart focuses on discipline (correcting negative behavior in your child) in a way that is biblical, practical, and encouraging. This is an empowering and valuable book for any Christian parent to read (no matter the age of your children).

Buy Shepherding a Child’s Heart:

Pray with Spurgeon: See Jesus and live

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Editor’s note: Spurgeon prayed this prayer for conversions before preaching. What non-believer can you pray this for today? Will you share with them or invite them to church with you this weekend?

Lord, there are some here that have heard us many times, and yet you have not spoken to their hearts effectually. Oh, speak to them. Take them in hand, great Lord. They shall be made willing in the day of your power. Oh, that this might be the day of your power!

There are others who are quite strangers to this house, and perhaps to the gospel. May the new note strike them. From the silver cornet of the gospel may there come to them a sound unknown before, which shall reach their very soul; and may they answer to it. Bid them come to Christ and live. O divine love, sweetly draw them.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“…raising my voice in thanksgiving and telling about your wondrous works.” (Psalm 26:7)

David was so far instructed that he does not mention the typical offering, but discerns the spiritual offering which was intended thereby, not the groans of bullocks, but songs of gratitude the spiritual worshipper presents. To sound abroad the worthy praises of the God of all grace should be the every-day business of a pardoned sinner. Let men slander us as they will, let us not defraud the Lord of his praises; let dogs bark, but let us like the moon shine on.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

What does “my yoke is easy and my burden is light” mean?

Last week, I recommended the book Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. This book is back in stock after being unavailable for several months. It really is one of the sweetest, most helpful books I’ve read, so I want to encourage you to grab a copy while you can.

Here’s another excerpt from the book, where Ortlund explains what Christ meant when he said “my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28):

“The word translated ‘easy’ in his statement, ‘My yoke is easy,’ needs to be carefully understood. Jesus is not saying life is free of pain or hardship. This is the same word elsewhere translated ‘kind…’

“Jesus is using a kind of irony, saying that the yoke laid on his disciples is a nonyoke. For it is a yoke of kindness. Who could resist this? It’s like telling a drowning man that he must put on the burden of a life preserver…

“His yoke is kind and his burden is light. That is, his yoke is a nonyoke, and his burden is a nonburden. What helium does to a balloon, Jesus’s yoke does to his followers. We are buoyed along in life by his endless gentleness and supremely accessible lowliness.”

Buy Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers:

Pray with Spurgeon: God makes his people happy

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, bless your people. O my Lord, bless and prosper my dear friends. Let those that fear your name be happy in you. May those who are truly yours, have a joyous and happy season. May they rejoice in the great love of God, and feel their souls overflow with delight at their remembrance of it.

But, oh, we beseech you, especially, save souls. May many, many, many be brought out of darkness into marvelous light, and delivered from the prison-house into the liberty of Christ.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, Lord,” (Psalm 26:6)

Priests unto God must take great care to be personally cleansed; the brazen laver was as needful as the golden altar; God’s worship requires us to be holy in life. He who is unjust to man cannot be acceptably religious towards God. We must not bring our thankofferings with hands defiled with guilt. To love justice and purity is far more acceptable to God than ten thousands of the fat of fed beasts.

We see from this verse that holy minds delight in the worship of the Lord, and find their sweetest solace at his altar; and that it is their deepest concern never to enter upon any course of action which would unfit them for the most sacred communion with God. Our eye must be upon the altar which sanctifies both the giver and the gift, yet we must never draw from the atoning sacrifice an excuse for sin, but rather find in it a most convincing argument for holiness.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Show your children Jesus: The light of the world

Earlier this week, I recommended The Bright Light and the Super Scary Darkness, a new children’s book by Dan DeWitt. This book isn’t just about being afraid of the dark — this book is about how Jesus came as the light, to fix all of the darkness that sin had stretched over the world.

DeWitt tells the story of Scripture, tracing the theme of light and darkness throughout. When it seems like the darkness had won, when the light of the world was crucified and buried, the light shone brighter than ever before:

“The darkness is afraid of the light. The darkness isn’t super scary, the darkness is a scaredy-cat!
After three days, the darkness started trembling with fear. Then it took off running as fast as it could go. The light of the world had risen. The darkness had lost. Jesus was alive!”

Buy The Bright Light and the Super Scary Darkness:

Pray with Spurgeon: God makes us white as snow

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

The Lord is a great sin-pardoning God. There is none like him, passing by transgression, iniquity, and sin; and, for Jesus’ sake, receiving the vilest of the vile to his bosom, and casting out none that come unto him; taking up even the blasphemer and the drunkard, yea, the very worst, and washing even these from their crimson sins, and making them whiter than newly-fallen snow.

O Lord, we sometimes wish that we could sing like cherubim and seraphim. Then would we praise you better. But as it is, human voices are all we have, but they shall be used to the praise of “free grace and dying love,” to which we owe all that we have, and all we ever hope to have.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, Lord,” (Psalm 26:6)

David would publicly avow himself to be altogether clear of the accusations laid against him, and if any fault in other matters could be truthfully alleged against him, he would for the future abstain from it. The washing of the hands is a significant action to set forth our having no connection with a deed, as we still say, “I wash my hands of the whole business.”

As to perfect innocence, David does not here claim it, but he avows his innocence of the crimes whereof he was slanderously accused; there is, however, a sense in which we may be washed in absolute innocence, for the atoning blood makes us clean everywhere. We ought never to rest satisfied short of a full persuasion of our complete cleansing by Jesus’ precious blood.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Who was Spurgeon anyway?

Whether you’re a lifetime fan of Spurgeon, or if you’ve just seen some neat quotes on Instagram, you will benefit from reading a good biography of Spurgeon. One of the best is Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold A. Dallimore.

As you read the story of Spurgeon’s life, you’ll be excited by the fruitfulness of his ministry, exhorted by his faithfulness, encouraged by his endurance under severe trials, and more.

Read the story of Spurgeon’s great life and be amazed at Spurgeon’s great God. I know it will encourage you.

Buy Spurgeon: A New Biography: