Book Review: C.H. Spurgeon on Prayer

More than 125 years after his death, Charles H. Spurgeon lives on to encourage Christians in their walk with Christ. A well known preacher in the 1850’s until his death in 1892, Sprugeon often spoke of prayer in his sermons, because he knew how valuable and important it is in the Christian walk.

Throughout 2022, I realized that my prayer life wasn’t where I wanted it to be. I chose to read through some prayers by various preachers. I read through the Psalms. I tried prayer journals. But I was still struggling with the application of it. I came across a book on Hoopla called C.H. Spurgeon on Prayer: 31 Biblical Insights for Prayers that Avail Much and decided it was worth the read.

I always enjoyed listening to Spurgeon sermons on my podcast apps, so I figured this might jive well with me. And while this wasn’t straight Spurgeon, but an abridged collection of his lectures into bite-sized daily reading, this was a great addition to my morning readings that really challenged me.

Every morning after my daily Bible reading, I would take a little time to read the short chapter for the day–usually about 3 pages on my Kindle–and then go through the reflection questions at the end–usually about 3-5 questions about the topic discussed. It was eye opening to me to see where I was missing the mark on my prayer life.

This book wasn’t just a how-to-pray book, but pulled from scripture and explained why we should pray, the power of prayer, and the things in our lives that prevent us from praying successfully. Additionally, it covered unanswered prayers, praying in the Holy Spirit, intercessory prayer, and The Amen.

Each day covered a different topic, rooted in scripture. The daily reading broke down the scripture according to the topic, challenging readers to really reflect on what the Word of God says and consider how to apply it to their own prayer life. Each day challenged me and I would reflect on the topic and questions and I moved about my day.

A few topics that really resonated with me were Unanswered Prayer and The Amen.

When speaking about unanswered prayers, Spurge0n quotes Psalm 22:2, which says, “O my, God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.” This verse is referred to by Jesus during His crucifixion. Spurgeon points out that, while David wrote this, it does not seem to be about his own life.

This is such a great reminder to me. Even Jesus, in the flesh, cried out to the Father asking for something else to happen. BUT, he also accepted that the Father’s plan was bigger, and craved the Father’s will, and not his own.

I try to approach prayer in the same way, even if I am not always successful. Knowing that God’s will is bigger, that His plan is better, that His ways are much more clear gives me comfort, because this life is hard.

The second topic he discussed that I’ll speak on here is The Amen. If you, like me, understood “amen” to be “let it be so,” you may be surprised to know that there is more to it than just that. The Amen is Jesus–he paid the final price and will never leave or abandon us. “Amen,” is not just a word–it is Jesus’s name. Spurgeon uses Revelation 3:14 here, in which Jesus refers to himself as such: “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.”

We can end our prayers with Amen because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We can have confidence in God hearing our prayers because of the blood shed for us. We can trust that God will do what is best for us in His big picture because he did the same for Jesus.

Prayer isn’t always easy, and even after these 31 days, I still find myself struggling sometimes. But this book was handy for me because it gave me more insight into prayer. If you are interested in leveling up your prayer life, check this one out!

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