Category: Pray with Spurgeon

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Are your dear children poor, or are they sick in body, or are they losing those they love, or is there yet a newly dug grave over which they could shed floods of tears?

Oh, sweet love of God, comfort them. Cover all the rocks, O mighty tide of everlasting love, till not a rock is seen; and on that glassy sea may our spirits float above the rocks, which else had wrecked our lives. We do pray, give us comfort, but also give us strength as well as consolation.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)

The way to rise in the kingdom is to sink in ourselves. These men are grieved by sin, and tried by the evils of the times; but for them a future of rest and rejoicing is provided. Those who laugh shall lament, but those who sorrow shall sing.

How great a blessing is sorrow, since it gives room for the Lord to administer comfort! Our griefs are blessed, for they are our points of contact with the divine Comforter. The beatitude reads like a paradox, but it is true, as some of us know full well. Our mourning hours have brought us more comfort than our days of mirth.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Christ-centered hope for sin-stained sufferers

Many people don’t realize that Charles Spurgeon lived a life of great suffering. He was plagued with depression and illness throughout his life and eventually died very young. Yet, throughout his suffering, he found a deep, unshakeable hope in Christ.

Over the years, I have learned a lot from Spurgeon about trusting God in the midst of suffering. I want to share his wisdom with you as well, which is why I’ve created Spurgeon on Suffering, a collection of 12 classic sermons from Spurgeon on trials, pain, and sorrow to help you find hope in Christ.

Buy Spurgeon on Suffering on Amazon in paperback or Kindle editions.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Now we do, with all our hearts, pray for you to gather in the rest of your family who, as yet, are far off from you. O mighty grace, seek out the prodigal! O mighty love, receive the prodigals when they come back! O mighty grace, change their hearts and make them to love the great Father.

We do pray for all who are out of the way, for those who remain unsaved. Lord, let them not die in their sins. Have mercy upon some that have had a godly training, but remain ungodly. Oh, condemn them not, we pray, with such a mass of guilt upon them; but save them yet.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

Editor’s note: we’re starting a new series through the Beatitudes in this section today.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” (Matthew 5:3)

Spiritual poverty is both commanded and commended. It is the basis of Christian experience. No one begins aright who has not felt poverty of spirit. Yet even to this first sign of grace is the kingdom given in present possession.

The question in heaven’s kingdom is not, “Are you a peer?” but, “Are you poor in spirit?” Those who are of no account in their own eyes are of the blood royal of the universe. These alone have the principles and the qualifications for a heavenly kingdom. May I be such!

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Worshipping God the Holy Spirit

God the Holy Spirit is absolutely crucial to our lives as Christians. We cannot trust God without the Spirit, we cannot remain in the faith without the Spirit, we cannot grow in holiness without the Spirit.

Yet despite his importance, God the Holy Spirit is often neglected (or grossly misunderstood!) by Christians.

I was so blessed to read The Holy Spirit — a new book by Gregg Allison and Andreas J. Köstenberger. This book covers all of the Bible’s teaching on the Holy Spirit from the perspective of biblical theology (what does the whole Bible teach about the Spirit?) and systematic theology (how do those teachings fit together?).

This new book is a valuable resource to have in your library. It will be a faithful source to reference whenever you have questions about the Holy Spirit.

Buy The Holy Spirit on Amazon in hardback or Kindle editions.

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Let your song be with us at this moment. Up from the shades may we ascend into the eternal light. Oh, that the sun of your love might shine full on our brows, until our faces shall be bright like the face of Moses!

Oh, that we might have such fellowship with God this morning, that we might defy Satan, defy unbelief, defy the flesh, defy the world, with a holy joy which comes not of the creature, and which the creature cannot mar—a “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8), a deep drink out of the eternal fountains, which well up from the deep which lies under, in the immutable and everlasting love and decree of God. Oh, let it be so with every child of Thine at this good hour.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Peter 1:8)

Why does the apostle say that we rejoice with joy inexpressible? Is it not, first, because this joy is too great to be told? He is indeed rich who cannot count his wealth; he has so much that he does not know how much he has. He is indeed full of joy who has so much joy that he cannot tell anyone how much he has.

You cannot explain to a person who has never tasted honey how sweet it is. Neither can you explain to a man who does not know the joy of the Lord how joyous a thing it is. He could not comprehend what your words meant; you would be talking to him in an altogether unknown tongue.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

The God of hope hears our hopeful prayers

Yesterday I recommended A Praying Life by Paul Miller. Today’s prayer reminded me of one section of the book that was particularly helpful to me. Here’s a brief excerpt:

“Hope begins with the heart of God. As you grasp what the Father’s heart is like, how he loves to give, then prayer will begin to feel completely natural to you.

Many of us believe in the Christian hope of ultimate redemption, but we breathe the cynical spirit of our age and miss the heart of God. This was brought home to me when I discovered from a widow that her husband’s philosophy of life went like this: ‘Expect nothing. Then if something good happens, be thankful.’ He had been a dear friend and godly counselor to me, but I was so surprised that I blurted out to his wife a confused mix of Romans 15:13 and Hebrews 13:20 —’Sue, that sounds so different from “May the God of hope, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”‘ Paul and the writer of Hebrews were bursting with the goodness of God. It spilled out of their hearts.

When you pray, you are touching the hopeful heart of God. When you know that, prayer becomes an adventure.”

I hope A Praying Life will help you deepen your prayer life in 2021.

Buy A Praying Life on Amazon in paperback or Kindle editions.
(You could also get the audiobook for free with an Audible free trial!)

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Dear Savior, you know the peculiar trials and conditions of all your people; and, we do pray, now deal with each child of yours according to his special need. Great Physician, walk this hospital. Come and look on each special case; and may there be a masterpiece of your heavenly surgery in the case of each one of us.

Many of us need comfort; our heart is cast down within us. There are many of your saints, in whose soul deep calls unto deep at the noise of your waterspouts (Psalm 42:7). Command your loving-kindness this morning, and let your song be with us at this moment.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your billows have swept over me.” (Psalm 42:7)

David thought that every trouble in the world had met in him, but he exaggerated, for all the breaking waves of the Lord have passed over none but the Lord Jesus; there are griefs to which he makes his children strangers for his love’s sake. Sorrow naturally states its case forcibly; the mercy is that the Lord after all has not dealt with us according to our fears.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A book to inspire you to grow in prayer this year

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 in 2021.

Buy A Praying Life on Amazon in paperback or Kindle editions.
(You could also get the audiobook for free with an Audible free trial!)

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, will you deal with us according to your wisdom and prudence. Take out of us every evil and false way. Remove any wain which we have deceived ourselves. Anything which looks like growth in grace, which is mere puffing up, take away; anything which we prize, which is but counterfeit, utterly destroy.

Oh, bring us of your great love to know Christ in truth, that what we know we may know, and not think we know. And oh, that there might be a deep reality about our Christian experience, and knowledge; that the truth of God may be incarnate in the truth which lives in us.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:2)

Grace comes first, and then peace follows. Peace without grace is a very dangerous possession; but a peace that grows out of the possession of grace is a gracious peace, and will lead to the peace of glory before long.

This grace and peace are to come “from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” There is no grace for us apart from the Lord Jesus Christ; and though the Father is full of love, and will give grace and peace to his people, yet the Lord Jesus Christ must always be the channel through which these incomparable favours must flow to them.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A Sermon: God’s Good, Glorious, Gracious Plan for the World

Last month, I was able to preach at my church on Isaiah 42, which presents the Lord Jesus Christ as the good and glorious king of the world.

I wanted to share the sermon with you, in hopes that it would encourage you to think more globally and biblically this year.

You can listen here.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Now this day, be pleased, in infinite mercy by Christ Jesus, to visit your people. Give us first a sense of perfect pardon. May there be nothing between any child of yours and yourself, great Father, that could mar the perfection of communion. May we know that you have forgiven us for Jesus Christ’s sake.

And as for anything in us that would grieve your Spirit, take it away at once, and then let your Spirit bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16). Oh, now give us the spirit of adoption. If indeed we are yours, by your Fatherly love to us, we do beseech you, breathe into every child of yours a sense of love, a sense of your near presence.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Romans 8:15)

We did receive the spirit of bondage once. We felt that we were under the law, and that the law cursed us. We felt its rigorous taxation, and that we could not meet it. Now that spirit has gone, and we have the spirit of freedom, the spirit of children, the spirit of adoption.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE*

A little book to help you understand what it really means to be a Christian

One of the most rich books I’ve ever read is A Little Book on the Christian Lifeby John Calvin. This book is a beautiful (and short!) treatise on the Christian life of self-denial.

A Little Book on the Christian Life is short enough to read slowly, leaving ample time for reflection. This is valuable because the book is so packed with biblical truth and life-changing application — it’s worth reading slowly and carefully!

This is a great book to read for the new year, to remind you what it means to live as a Christian.

Buy A Little Book on the Christian Life on Amazon in paperback or Kindleformats.

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord God, you have made us see the vanity of the most substantial things on earth. Behold we walk as in a vain show, and we disquiet ourselves in vain. All things are but shadows but you, you are the eternal All.

Casting our anchor upon you, we are steadfast, and fixed, and safe; but all things else are quicksands. We cannot—dare not—find comfort, nor make a hope of them. You, Lord, are all our expectation, all our salvation, and all our delight; and this morning, in the act of public devotion, we would cry, “Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from him” (Psalm 62:5).

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from him.” (Psalm 62:5)

The soul is apt to be dragged away from its anchorage, or is readily tempted to add a second confidence to the one sole and sure ground of reliance; we must, therefore, stir ourselves up to maintain the holy position which we were at first able to assume.

Be still silent, O my soul! Submit yourself completely, trust immovably, wait patiently. Let none of your enemies’ imaginings, consultings, flatteries, or maledictions cause you to break the King’s peace.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE*

Spurgeon’s battle with depression

Many people don’t realize that Spurgeon was plagued with crippling depression throughout his life and ministry.

A great book on Spurgeon’s struggle with depression is Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for Those Who Suffer from Depression by Zack Eswine. This book isn’t just a biography of Spurgeon — it describes lessons that we can learn from his real battle with depression.

Spurgeon’s Sorrows is a great resource for anyone who struggles with depression, and it’s a great Christ-centered Christmas gift that you can buy for someone else.

Buy Spurgeon’s Sorrows on Amazon in paperback or Kindle formats.

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*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Lord, we bless you for ever teaching us the way of faith; for enabling us to cast our guilty souls upon the Divine propitiation, made in Christ Jesus; for peace, like a river, has streamed into our spirit ever since. We bless you for the power to trust you with everything else; for time, as well as for eternity.

We are sure we never live except as we live by faith; that all else is but death and the counterfeit of life. Lord God, you have written death before our eyes on all the creature; you have made us see the vanity of the most substantial things on earth.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.” (Psalm 84:5)

The man, who throws his whole heart and soul into his worship of the Lord, and his service for the Lord, is the man who gets the greatest blessing out of the holy exercises in which he takes part. Half-hearted worshippers are an insult to God, but blessed is the man whose strength is in the Lord of hosts, and whose heart is in his ways.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE*

Read Spurgeon’s classic gospel-saturated book this month.

Start the year by rooting yourself in God’s grace with this new audiobook of Spurgeon’s classic All of Grace. This book will surely encourage you to trust God and rejoice in his abundant grace to you.

A portion of every sale of All of Grace will support the work of Hope Ithemba, a pro-life crisis pregnancy center in South Africa. When you purchase All of Grace, you’re getting gospel encouragement for yourself AND supporting an important ministry in South Africa. It’s a win-win!

Listen to a free sample of All of Grace on Audible.

Click here to listen to a free sample on Audible.

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*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Oh, that the time would come when war shall cease, when drunkenness shall be put away, when all cruelty shall be abolished, when every superstition shall come to an end, and all oppression of man by man.

When shall it be, save when he comes, whose right it is to reign? At the very thought of his coming our spirits begin to glow and burn with lofty hopes. Come quickly; even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“I call to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” (Psalm 57:2)

Do you pray like that, my brother, my sister? I hope you do “cry to God most high;” but do you pray to him as the One “that performs all things” for you — not merely who can perform all things for you, but who is actually doing it at the present moment working out your lasting good by everything that is transpiring around you?

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE*

Want to read more books in 2021? Start here.

I’ve heard a lot of people (Myself included!) who want to read more books in 2021. One tool to make reading more books an attainable goal is audiobooks.

One of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to recently is All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon. This book is a beautiful presentation of the gospel of grace. It’s a clear invitation to non-believers and an encouraging refreshment for believers.

Get the new audiobook edition of All of Grace on Audible.

Click here to listen to a free sample on Audible.

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*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Bless this our beloved church. Remember all other churches with an even greater blessing. Let all the churches of Jesus Christ on the continent, as well as in this island, and far away in America, and in all our distant colonies, all be revived and refreshed.

Yes, and those that speak not our tongue—those advanced posts among the heathen; remember them favorably and visit them graciously.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident. I will sing; I will sing praises.” (Psalm 57:7)

Let the lions open their cruel mouths, and roar; and let wicked men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword, do their worst against me; let my every footstep be among the nets and pits that they have set and dug to catch me; even in the midst of danger, “my heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.”

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE*

Start 2021 with a reminder of God’s glorious grace.

One of Spurgeon’s most-loved books is All of Grace, a glorious picture that our salvation comes, not by works, not by religious activity, but by grace and grace alone.

There’s a new audiobook edition of All of Grace available on Audible. With high-quality narration and beautiful musical interludes with classic hymns, this new audiobook will be a refreshing reminder of God’s grace in Christ.

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*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.