Bad News and Good News Plus Spurgeon On Prayer

I’ve got some bad news and some good news.

First, the bad news.

My favorite preacher is dead.

On January 31, 1892 Charles H. Spurgeon passed away.

Perhaps you’ve heard of him? Known as the “Prince of Preachers,” he was the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, a Baptist church in London, for 38 years.

Now the good news.

He was a prolific author and is arguably the most widely read and published author in the history of the Christian church. Most of his sermons were transcribed and are available in print to this day.

More good news . . . Virtually all his sermons and books, since they are in the public domain, can be found online for free.

His best known book is a brilliantly written work entitled The Treasury of David. (See below for info on how to get a free copy.) It’s a commentary on the book of Psalms. I’ve been reading it lately and I’m here to tell you, it is delightful.

No one writes like Spurgeon. No one explains Scripture like Spurgeon. I’d like to introduce you to his writing with some quotes.

Spurgeon on Prayer

Psalm 4:1 – Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God.
“It is not to be imagined than he who has helped us in six troubles will leave us in the seventh. God does nothing by halves, and he will never cease to help us until we cease to need. The manna shall fall every morning until we cross the Jordan.”

Psalm 4:3 — The Lord will hear when I call to him.
“Since God chose to love us he cannot but choose to hear us.”

Psalm 4:6-7 – Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.
“The true believer drinks not from the muddy pools of Mammon, but from the fountain of life above. The light of God’s countenance is enough for him. This is his riches, his honor, his health, his ambition, his ease. Give him this, and he will ask no more. Christ in the heart is better than corn in the barn or wine in the vat. Corn and wine are but the fruits of the world, but the light of God’s countenance is the ripe fruit of heaven. Let my granary be empty, I am yet full of blessings if Jesus Christ smiles upon me; but if I have all the world, I am poor without him.”

Psalm 4:8 – I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
“They slumber sweetly whom faith rocks to sleep. No pillow so soft as a promise; no coverlet so warm as an assured interest in Christ.”

Psalm 5:1 — Give ear to my words, O Lord.
“Words are not the essence but the garments of prayer.”

Psalm 5:1 —  Consider my sighing.
“Let us cultivate the spirit of prayer which is even better than the habit of prayer. We should begin to pray before we kneel down, and we should not cease when we rise up.”

Psalm 5:2 —  Listen to my cry for help.
“To a loving father his children’s cries are music, and they have a magic influence which his heart cannot resist.”

Psalm 5:3 — Morning by morning, O Lord, you hear my voice
“We can sooner die than live without prayer.”

“Prayer without fervency is like hunting with a dead dog, and prayer without preparation is hawking with a blind falcon.”

“Let not our prayers and praises be the flashes of a hot and hasty brain, but the steady burning of a well-kindled fire.”

For More of Spurgeon 

You can access Spurgeon’s The Treasury of David for free here:
http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/treasury/treasury.htm

You can get the Kindle version here for $0.99 (yes that is not a typo – 99 cents!)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YLU5WM6/