DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Grant to your dear children, who are by any means depressed because they feel the serpent at their heel, that they may bless the dear name of him whose heel was bruised before, but who in the very bruising broke the serpent’s head. Our souls with songs of inward joy extol the mighty Conqueror.
All honor and glory be unto him who stood foot to foot with the Arch-Enemy, but who was never wounded by him: the prince of this world came, but there was nothing in you, O Jesus, no tendency to sin, no turning aside; but you did win from the first, even to the last, a glorious victory over this dread adversary of mankind. We see you now arrayed in your vesture dipped with blood, victorious over all your foes. Our spirit triumphs in the anticipation of the time, when all your enemies shall be destroyed, and death and hell shall be cast into the lake of fire, and God shall be all in all.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.” (Ephesians 2:1–2)
This is what happened to us all in our unregenerate state, we were carried along by the world, loving what it loved, judging from its views, and acting according to its maxims. Nay, worse than that, the devil himself had dominion over us, as he had over the rest of the world; “the prince of the power of the air” was the spirit that worked in us as well as in the rest of “the children of disobedience.”
What a glorious deliverance it was to be saved from the power of death, and the dominion of Satan, and to be made partakers of everlasting life!
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Finding Scripture-saturated hope in the midst of doubt and suffering
Today’s prayer asked God to protect those who are depressed with the Serpent biting at their heels. When temptation feels strongest, our faith usually feels weakest. In seasons of intense temptation, it can feel like God has abandoned us.
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 and temptation, 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.