SELECTIONS FROM

SPURGEON’S LIBRARY

PRAYER

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Selections from Spurgeon’s Library on Prayer

Copyright © 2018 by B&H Academic

Published by B&H Academic

Nashville, Tennessee

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5359-3759-7

Dewey Decimal Classification: 248.3

Subject Heading: PRAYER / Christian life

Passages are selected from books found in Charles Spurgeon’s library in cooperation with the Spurgeon Center and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. All sources are public domain. Every effort was made to retain the original text for each work. However, when needed, changes were made to correct errors or for matters of clarity.

Cover photo © KGPA Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

CONTENTS

Series Introduction by B&H Academic

Introduction by Jason Allen

1. Selections from James Hamilton

The Privilege of Prayer

The Intercessor Above: The Prompter Within

2. Selection from William Paley

Prayer in Imitation of Christ

3. Selections from Thomas Boston

The Case of Petitioners at the Court of Heaven Considered; or, the Necessity of Praying Always, and Not Fainting

Petitioners at the Court of Heaven Encouraged; or, the Happy Issue of Praying Always, and Not Fainting

4. Selections from William Jay

May 30—Morning

May 30—Evening

June 7—Morning

5. Selections from Isaac Barrow

Of the Duty of Prayer (Sermon 8)

Of the Duty of Prayer (Sermon 9)

6. Selections from Robert Hawker

Five Minutes’ Advice to Prayerless Persons and Families

Morning Prayer for a Family

Evening Prayer

Fragment

Scripture Index

Name and Subject Index

SERIES INTRODUCTION

B&H Academic

According to some surveys most CEOs read fifty-two books each year. That is a staggering number, but it’s not even close to the number of books C. H. Spurgeon read. According to W. Y. Fullerton in his book C. H. Spurgeon: A Biography, Spurgeon read six books each week. That equals 312 books each year! By the end of his life, Spurgeon had added more than 12,000 volumes to his library, and he read every one of them.

What is even more impressive is that Spurgeon read deeply. The term “deep reading” appears to have been coined by Sven Birkerts in The Gutenberg Elegies (1994). Deep reading refers to thoughtful and deliberate processes that filter out distractions and include deductive reasoning, reflection, and critical analysis. Most of Spurgeon’s books were weighty Puritan works. Clearly this type of reading was instrumental in the development of his excellent writing skills and greatly influenced his preaching. Perhaps the “secret” to Spurgeon’s influence and popularity is directly related to the quantity and quality of the books he read.

What if we could add selections from Spurgeon’s personal library to our own? Through a partnership with Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Spurgeon Center, B&H Academic is making this a reality. Using modern technology and a team of editors, we are taking selections from his personal library to create individual volumes that each focus on a specific topic or theme. There ...