Pray with Spurgeon: We live for Jesus, not ourselves

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

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

O God, you have thrown a heavy blow at our proud self; you have made us lie broken in pieces before you. You have set up another in the place of the false god that ruled us. We do not live for self, nor even for self-salvation. Jesus Christ has become the Lord and Master of our spirit, and he has delivered us from the dominion of self and sin, and helped us to be obedient to you.

Now the strongest portion of our will is towards holiness. Oh, that we could be perfectly holy! We sigh after it and cry after it. We think we could bear all trials, we feel persuaded we could give up all pleasures, if we might but win the pleasure of complete obedience to God. This, indeed, is the target towards which, like arrows shot from an archer’s bow, our lives are speeding. Though rough winds turn us aside, yet shall we strike the target by your grace.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:1)

Christ has grace without measure in himself, but he has not retained it for himself. As the reservoir empties itself into the pipes, so has Christ emptied out his grace for his people. He seems only to have in order to dispense to us. He stands like the fountain, always flowing, but only running in order to supply the empty pitchers and the thirsty lips which draw near unto it.

Grace, whether its work be to pardon, to cleanse, to preserve, to strengthen, to enlighten, to quicken, or to restore, is ever to be had from him freely and without price; nor is there one form of the work of grace which he has not bestowed upon his people.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A Straight-Forward Guide to Gospel-Centered Ministry*

With so many different cultural issues and hot topics vying for our attention, it can be easy to get distracted from ministry. That’s why books like Seven Key Principles for Biblical Ministry by David Harrell are so important. We need constant reminders of God’s foundational, unchaining design for ministry.

Seven Key Principles outlines a simple, practical vision for a Bible-based, Bible-preaching ministry — this is a call to do God’s work in God’s ways.

Pastors and church leaders, this book will encourage you, reorient you, and motivate you to fulfill your ministry.

The new audiobook of Seven Key Principles is available now. Grabbing this audiobook is a great way to redeem the time while mowing the lawn, raking the leaves, doing the dishes, or driving. I know the book will encourage you — I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

Listen a sample of Seven Key Principles for Biblical Ministry on Audible.