Friday, February 10

Spurgeon on Prayer


I know of no better thermometer to your spiritual temperature than this, the measure of the intensity of your prayer.

The ship of prayer may sail through all temptations, doubts and fears, straight up to the throne of God; and though she may be outward bound with only griefs, and groans, and sighs, she shall return freighted with a wealth of blessings!

It is a good rule never to look into the face of a man in the morning till you have looked into the face of God.

It is well said that neglected prayer is the birthplace of all evil.

Methinks every true Christian should be exceedingly earnest in prayer concerning the souls of the ungodly; and when they are so, how abundantly God blesses them and how the church prospers!

Oh, without prayer what are the church's agencies, but the stretching out of a dead man's arm, or the lifting up of the lid of a blind man's eye? Only when the Holy Spirit comes is there any life and force and power.

Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer can do.

Prayer meetings are the throbbing machinery of the church.

Remember, Christ's scholars must study upon their knees.

True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.

We shall never see much change for the better in our churches in general till the prayer meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of Christians.

2 comments:

Rebecca said...

I have been perusing your "What I've Been Reading" blog posts from times past and made several additions to my own to-be-read lists. I wanted to thank you for sharing those and wondered if you might be willing to share a more current one. If you need some inspiration for blog writing, consider that! Summer approaches. A lighter load, perhaps? More books?!

Also- I know you are both very accomplished and very busy (these things tend to go hand in hand) and I wondered how it is you make time for the many books you do read among all the other things you must do? Do you try to read a particular length of time each day? Are you just a very fast reader?

As my husband and I were wondering together at how much our modern day heroes of the faith accomplish and how knowledgeable they are, we made a few friendly wagers about TV usage. Do you watch TV on a daily basis? Watch only movies? Watch anything at all with regularity? I'd love to know for sure.

I think I may win the bet. ;-)

gileskirk said...

Rebecca:

I do have specific reading goals every week--though I only rarely get in all the reading I'd like. The real key is to make the time by saying no to lots of other things--including TV, movies, and the internet. So, I typically watch very, very little TV (just a bit of sports from time to time and an occasional movie), I never go to the theater to watch movies anymore, and I work hard to limit my time on the internet.

I do post some my current reading on Facebook--but, my busyness has inhibited my ability to keep that as up to date as I would like. I'll try to be better about that in the days ahead.

Standfast. George