prayer

A Holy Strife

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer, promises 5 Comments

Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen,”-Romans 15:33

Paul once advised the Romans to strive. Three verses before our text he actually gives them an exhortation to strive, and yet he here utters a prayer that the God of peace might be with them all. Lest you should think him to be a man of strife, you must read the verse. He says: “Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” That is a holy strife, and such a strife as that we wish always to see in the church, a strife in prayer, a surrounding the throne together, besieging God’s mercy seat, a crying out before God, until it actually amounts to a striving together in our prayers. There is also another kind of striving which is allowed in the church, and that is striving earnestly after the best gifts: a sweet contention which of us shall excel all others in love, in duty, and in faith. May God send us more strife of that kind in our churches, a strife in prayer, a strife in duty; and when we have mentioned these strifes we find them of so peaceable a kind that we come back to the benediction of our text: “Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

Mars amongst the heathens was called the god of war; Janus was worshipped in periods of strife and bloodshed; but our God Jehovah styles Himself not the God of war, but the God of peace…Peace is His delight; “peace on earth and goodwill towards men.” Peace in heaven (for that purpose He expelled the angels): peace throughout His entire universe, is His highest wish and His greatest delight.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0049.cfm

Extra Time in Prayer

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. -1 Corinthians 2:9

Ordinary closet prayer will only make ordinary Christians of us. It is in extraordinary seasons, when we are led by God to devote, say an hour, to earnest prayer; when we feel an impulse, we scarce know why, to cut off a portion of our time during the day to go alone. Then, beloved, we kneel down, and begin to pray in earnest. It may be that we are attacked by the devil; for when the enemy knows we are going to have a great blessing, he always makes a great noise to drive us away; but if we keep at it, we shall soon get into a quiet frame of mind, and hear him roaring at a distance. Presently you get hold of the Angel, and say, “Lord, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.” He asks your name. You begin to tell him what your name was:

“Once a sinner, near despair,
Sought Thy mercy-seat by prayer;
Mercy heard and set him free;
Lord, that mercy came to me.”

You say, “What is Thy name, Lord?” He will not tell you. You hold Him fast still; at last He deigns to bless you. That is certainly some foretaste of heaven, when you feel alone with Jesus. Let no man know your prayers; they are between God and yourselves; but if you want to know much of heaven, spend some extra time in prayer; for God then reveals it to us by His Spirit. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0056.cfm

Jesus’ Prayer for Us

Sherry Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises, salvation 3 Comments

“I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”- John 17:15

This prayer of Christ is an ever precious portion to all true believers, from the fact that each of (us) has an inalienable interest in it. Every one of us, beloved, when we listen to the words of Christ should recollect that He is praying for us; that while it is for the great body of His elect He intercedes in this chapter and the one preceding it, yet it is also for each believer in particular that He offers intercession. However weak we are, however poor; however little our faith, or however small our grace may be, our names are still written on His heart; nor shall we lose our share in Jesus’ love.

Now, beloved, when we see persons converted to God, when men are turned from iniquity unto righteousness, from sinners into saints, the thought sometimes strikes us-would it not be good to take them at once to heaven, would it not be an excellent thing to translate them speedily from the realms of sin to the breast of the Lord who loved them with an everlasting love?..Not so, however, does Jesus pray. When the man had the devils cast out of him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, I would follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.” But Jesus said to him, “Go to thy friends and relations, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.” Some men when they are converted are all for going speedily to heaven; but they have not done with earth yet. They would like to wear the crown without bearing the cross, they desire to win without running, and conquer without a battle, but their whim has no countenance from Jesus, for He exclaims, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0047.cfm

 

 

At Home With God

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, promises 3 Comments

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. -Psalm 46:1

In this pulpit I must somewhat check my words; I deal with men of the world who watch my speech, and are ever on the catch, men who wish to have this or that to retail, I must be on my guard. So you men of business, when you are on the exchange, or in your shops, have to guard yourselves. What does the man do at home? He can lay bare his breast, and do and say as he pleases; it is his own house, his dwelling-place; and is he not master there? Shall he not do as he will with his own? Assuredly; for he feels himself at home. Ah! my beloved, do you ever find yourself in God to be at home? Have you been with Christ, and told your secrets in His ear, and found that you could do so without reserve? We do not generally tell secrets to other people, for if we do, and make them promise that they will never tell them, they will never tell them except to the first person they meet…You must not trust men of the world; but do you know what it is to tell all your secrets to God in prayer, to whisper all your thoughts to Him? You are not ashamed to confess your sins to Him with all their aggravations; you make no apologies to God, but you put in every aggravation, you describe all the depths of your baseness. Then, as for your little wants, you would be ashamed to tell them to another; before God you can tell them all. You can tell Him your grief that you would not whisper to your dearest friend. With God you can be always at home, you need be under no restraint. The Christian at once gives God the key of his heart, and lets Him turn every thing over. He says, “There is the key of every cabinet; it is my desire that Thou wouldst open them all. If there are jewels, they are Thine; and if there be things that should not be there, drive them out. Search me, and try my heart.” The more God lives in the Christian, the better the Christian loves Him; the oftener God comes to see him, the better he loves his God. And God loves His people all the more when they are familiar with Him. Can you say in this sense, “Lord, Thou hast been my dwelling place?”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0046.cfm

Sinner, Come Now to Christ

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, prayer, promises, salvation 4 Comments

Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28

Some of you are speeding your way to hell blindfolded…I do not deceive you, you are going to perdition as fast as time can carry you. Some of you are deceiving yourselves with the thought that you are righteous, and you are not so. Many of you have had solemn warnings, and have never been moved by them…Hundreds of you are without God, and without Christ, …and may I not plead with you?…Why, poor hearts, do you know your sad condition? Do you know that “God is angry with the wicked every day;” that “the way of transgressors is hard;” that “he that believeth not is condemned already?” Has it never been told you that “he that believeth not shall be damned? “and can you stand damnation? My hearers could you make your bed in hell? Could you lie down in the pit? Do you think it would be an easy portion for your souls to be rocked on waves of flames for ever, and to be tossed about with demons in the place where hope cannot come? You may smile now, but you will not smile soon. God sends me as an ambassador now; but if ye listen not to me, He will not send an ambassador next time, but an executioner. There will be no wooing words of mercy soon: the only exhortation thou wilt hear will be the dull cold voice of death, that shall say, “Come with me.” Then thou wilt not be in the place where we sing God’s praises, and where righteous prayers are daily offered. The only music thou wilt hear will be the sighs of the damned, the shrieks of fiends, and the yellings of the tormented. O may God in His mercy snatch you as brands from the fire, to be trophies of His grace throughout eternity. The way to be saved is to “renounce thy works and ways with grief,” and fly to Jesus…If thou will confess that thou art a sinner, that is all God requires of thee, and even that He gives thee. Jesus Christ says “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Do you hear His wooing words? Will ye turn from His sweet looks of mercy? Has His cross no influence? have His wounds no power to bring you to His feet?

…If thou wilt with thine heart believe, and with thy mouth confess the Lord Jesus, thou shalt be saved, for “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0045.cfm

Imitate Jesus in Your Prayer Time

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, prayer, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. -Luke 6:12

When no eye seeth you except the eye of God, when darkness covers you, when you are shut up from the observation of mortals, even then be ye like Jesus Christ. Remember His ardent piety, His secret devotion-how, after laboriously preaching the whole day, He stole away in the midnight shades to cry for help from His God. Recollect how His entire life was constantly sustained by fresh inspirations of the Holy Spirit, derived by prayer. Take care of your secret life; let it be such that you will not be ashamed to read at the last great day. Your inner life is written in the book of God, and it shall one day be open before you. If the entire life of some of you were known, it would be no life at all; it would be a death. Yea, even of some true Christians we may say it is scarce a life. It is a dragging on of an existence-one hasty prayer a day-one breathing, just enough to save their souls alive, but no more. O, my brethren, strive to be more like Jesus Christ. These are times when we want more secret prayer…

Ye who love God, of every place and every denomination, wrestle for your ministers; pray for them; for why should not God even now put out His Spirit? What is the reason why we are to be denied Pentecostal seasons? Why not this hour, as one mighty band, fall down before Him and entreat Him, for His Son’s sake, to revive His drooping church? Then would all men discern that we are verily the disciples of Christ.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0021.cfm

Proof and Place of True Piety

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, prayer 5 Comments

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. -Ephesians 5:25

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. -Colossians 3:18

A religious house is the best proof of true piety. It is not my chapel, it is my house-it is not my minister, it is my home companion who can best judge me; it is the servant, the child, the wife, the friend, that can discern most of my real character. A good man will improve his household. Rowland Hill once said, he would not believe a man to be a true Christian if his wife, his children, the servants, and even the dog and cat, were not the better for it. That is being religious. If your household is not the better for your Christianity-if men cannot say, “This is a better house than others,” then be not deceived-ye have nothing of the grace of God. Let not your servant, on leaving your employ, say, “Well, this is a queer sort of a religious family; there was no prayer in the morning, I began the day with my drudgery; there was no prayer at night, I was kept at home all the Sabbath-day. Once a fortnight, perhaps, I was allowed to go out in the afternoon, when there was nowhere to go where I could hear a gospel sermon. My master and mistress went to a place where of course they heard the blessed gospel of God-that was all for them; as for me, I might have the dregs and leavings of some overworked curate in the afternoon.” Surely, Christian men will not act in that way. No! Carry out your godliness in your family. Let everyone say that you have practical religion. Let it be known and read in the house, as well as in the world. Take care of your character there; for what we are there, we really are. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/0021.cfm