Power in PrayerSample

Practical Applications

The double commandment is that we believe in the name of Jesus Christ and that we love one another. Do we love one another? Are we walking in love? None of us are perfect in it. I will begin to confess by acknowledging I am not what I should be in that respect. Will you let the confession go round, and each one thinks how often we have done unloving things and thought unloving things and said unloving things and listened to unloving gossip and held back our hand unlovingly when we ought to have rendered help and put forth our hand unlovingly to push down a man who was falling? If in the church of God there is a lack of love, we cannot expect prayer to be heard. Do you expect God to save sinners whom you do not love, and to convert souls whom you do not care a bit about? We must love souls into Christ, for, under God’s Holy Spirit, the great instrument for the conquest of the world is love.

Next, are we doing that which is pleasing in God’s sight? We cannot expect answers to prayer if we are not. Put the inquiry to yourselves all round. Let each church member answer that question. Have you been doing lately that which you would like Jesus Christ to see? Correct yourself. Unless the members of God’s church do that which is pleasing in His sight, they bar the door against prosperity; they prevent the prayers of the church from succeeding.

The next question is, do we dwell in God? I mean, during the day, do we think of God? A Christian is not to run unto God in the morning, and again at night, and use Him as a shelter and a makeshift, as people do of an arch or a portico, which they run under in a shower of rain, but we are to dwell in God and live in Him, from the rising of the sun until the going down thereof, making Him our daily meditation and walking as in His sight.

Last, does the Spirit of God actuate us, or is it another spirit? Do we wait upon God and say, “Lord, let your Spirit tell me what to say in this case, and what to do; rule my judgment, subdue my passions, keep down my baser impulses, and let your Spirit guide me”? Let us pray to God to make the wheat be stronger. One of two things always happens in a church. Either the wheat chokes the weeds, or the weeds choke the wheat. God grant that the wheat may overtop the weeds in our case. God grants grace to His servants to be strong enough to overcome the evil that surrounds them, and, having done all, to stand to the praise of the glory of His grace, who also has made us accepted in the Beloved. The Lord bless you and be with you evermore. Amen and amen.

We hope you have enjoyed this plan from Charles Spurgeon. At the time of his death, he had preached the Gospel to over 10 million people, pastored the largest independent congregation in the world, and sold 25,000 copies of his sermon every week. His writings are a treasure trove of wisdom and conviction. These have been compiled by Jason Allen, President of Spurgeon College, and are available at moodypublishers.com.