Only a Prayer Meeting

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Spurgeon used to address his church at midweek meetings as well as the powerful sermons on Sundays. These addresses were generally more informal in tone and were designed to supply motivation for the church to pray. They are classic Spurgeon in a shorter format. This volume is divided into 4 sections and concludes with a hymn Spurgeon composed himself for morning prayer meetings.
Section 1 - Addresses on prayer and prayer meetings
Section 2 - Expositions of scripture
Section 3 - Incidents and illustrations
Section 4 - Addresses on practical matters in the church
Together this collection is charming, challenging and cheering! If you wanted to find out how Spurgeon fuelled his church for everyday Christian living and a life of prayer then there is no better starting place.

Genres: Prayer, Christian, Theology, Church, Devotional

252 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London's famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian, John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues, Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861, the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.

Reviews

[Aardvark · Rating 4 out of 5]

not what i expected. i was expecting a "how-to" on running a prayer meeting, or a coherent explanation on the nature and practice of prayer meetings. this was not that. rather it was a compilation of spurgeon's prayer meeting addresses. i tend to not like these kinds of books, where each chapter is kind of random and where you can pick up wherever you want in the book and just start reading. but, it's spurgeon. the writing is characteristically beautiful, rousing, and memorable.
i don't really have too many specific takeaways other than to pray, and to aim for brevity in public prayer ("length is a deathblow to earnestness, and brevity is an assistant to zeal"). overall, pretty good. would recommend for more devotional-type reading, especially after the first 6 chapters of the book.

"how could we expect a blessing if we were too idle to ask for it?"

"we need gracious minds trained to a high form of spiritual life by much converse with God in solitude. these are the standard-bearers of the army: each one is a king's son. there is an air about them, humble as they are, as of men who breathe a purer atmosphere."

"the slumber is with us, and not with Him. we must not think that the Lord has set a barrier in the way of our efforts, but we must be encouraged to feel that, if we love the souls of men, the Lord must love them more; and that, if we would do anything and everything in our power to secure their salvation, we may depend upon it that the Lord is not slack in grace." (jonah theology)

"i believe that the strength of the church lies in that inner circle of champions which is composed of the thoroughly consecrated, the men who are favoured of the Lord... we ought each one of us to seek to be saints in the highest sense of the word. we must aim at being the holiest of men and women."

[Karson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a “how to” book on prayer meetings, although he does have a few thoughts on those things in the opening 6 chapters.

Rather, this book is filled with the short devotional addresses that Spurgeon gave at his church’s prayer meetings, and it’s super encouraging. This would be a great book to read with a friend, or you could even read it devotionally. Here’s a quote from the last chapter:

“When evening draws nigh, home is the fit place for each one of us, and we instinctively turn to it… ‘Where is your home?’ Said one to a little girl. The reply was, ‘my home is where my mother is’. Even so, our home is where Jesus is; and if he wills for us to tarry out of heaven for awhile, we will feel at home in the desert in his sweet company.”

[Ben Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first experience with Spurgeon in this kind of format, outside of the numerous quotations that are everywhere in general reformed Christian writings. This book is unique in that it is a collection of Spurgeon's more "casual" and brief addresses to his congregation prior to each weekly prayer meeting. I really enjoy the little glimpses of day-to-day life within Spurgeon's ministry, as he will comment on current world events, or mention contemporaries like Jonathan Edwards...etc.

[Christian Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect illustration as to why Spurgeon remains relevant to pastors today. The examples of prayer and the exhortations to pray are an encouragement for pastors and the laity alike as he calls readers and listeners to run to their closets and cry out to the Lord.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Section 1 of this tremendously edifying simply to read Spurgeon's thoughts on how a church ought to pray, the need for a church to pray, how to keep prayer meetings engaging, the evils to avoid in corporate prayer, and the methods to promote Holy corporate prayer.

The following is a slew of quotes that stood out to me:


Evil flaws of Public Prayer
- Excessive length, the ruin of fervency
- Epithets and ridiculous metaphors, all perversions of scripture
- Mistaking preaching for prayer, speaking for man's benefit instead of God's, failing to offer petition and forgetting to address God who cares not for your criticism and knowledge
- Monotonous repetitions, reciting prayers known by heart

Efficient Methods to Promote Holy Prayer
- Pastor to set a high value upon corporate prayer in word (promotion) and deed (participation) with complete vigor, offering a brief welcome address and a few lively words between prayers.
- Labor for fervent brevity so all may share the burdens laid upon their hearts by the Holy Spirit. Multiple voices prevent weariness and variety of subjects excites attention.
- Pray aloud unto God, not man, and let man hear groans and utterances and choking tears of humble timid prayers
- Encourage submission of prayer requests, which may be used as kindling to ignite the prayer time
- Meet for prayer, and let prayer not hymns, nor reading, nor public address, nor pompous formality supplant prayer
- Sing only one verse of a hymn that aligns with the subject of the meeting
- Sincerely desire, confidently expect, go straight to God and ask for His Holy Spirit to pour upon our midst
- Clearly tell the lord directly what we crave at His hand in the simplest and most direct manner


Brethren, 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.

Now that we have come together, how shall we pray? Let us not degenerate into formality, or we shall be dead while we think we live. Let us not waver through unbelief, or we shall pray in vain. The Lord saith to His Church, “Open thy mouth, wide, and I will fill it.”

We need a work of the Holy Ghost of a supernatural kind, putting power into the preaching of the Word, inspiring all believers with heavenly energy, and solemnly affecting the hearts of the careless, so that they may turn to God, and live.

There is plenty of preaching, in the present day, in which no mention is made of the depravity of human nature, the work of the Holy Ghost, the blood of atonement, or the punishment of sin. The Deity of Christ is not so often assailed, but the Gospel which He gave us, through His own teaching and that of the apostles, is questioned, criticized, and set aside.

I believe in business prayers,—I mean, prayers in which you take to God one of the many precious promises which He has given us in His Word, and expect it to be fulfilled as certainly as we look for the money to be given to us when we go to the bank to cash a cheque or a note.

I have known some persons who, with altogether wrong motives, have tried to use for very improper purposes the fact that God hears prayer. They have set their hearts on something which they fancy that they want; and although they cannot reasonably expect that God will do what they ask, because there is no real need that it should be done, they keep on praying, and are sorely disappointed because they are not heard.

God will attend to the cry of His children, but He will be their Father, and will only comply with their petitions if He sees that they are right and proper.

If a man really, in his inmost soul, does delight in the Lord, his mind and God's mind will be in harmony, and he will ask in prayer what God will be able and willing to grant. If his delight is in God Himself, and not merely in God's gifts, he will say, "Bless His dear Name, let Him do what He will with me, I will still be satisfied, and will praise Him both for what He bestows and what He withholds."

It would be wise for you to pray in this fashion, "Lord, do not take the least notice of any petition of mine if I ask for anything that is not for Thy glory and for my own and others' good!"

Our desires that souls may be saved, and that the church may prosper, are so much in accordance with the mind of God that they must be a sweet savour unto Him. Therefore, brethren, let us pray on as long as breath remains. If prayer pleaseth God, it should always please us.

I have learned to look very hopefully upon dissatisfaction and anguish when they are seen in Christian workers. It gives me no sorrow to see my brethren unhappy and miserable because others are not saved. It would be a far sadder thing to see them useless and yet contented.

It is a noble thing for a Christian man to act as a priest before the Lord, and, in a certain manner, to take upon himself the sins of the people, confessing them as though they were his own, and mourning over men's hardness of heart as though it were his own hardness of heart. We do well to take the sinner's place in prayer even as our Lord took that place in sacrifice.

Countries are labelled "Christian" to the dishonour of the sacred Name of our Divine Lord.

Do not let Christian people imagine that, in order to reach the heathen, they must travel thousands of miles; the heathen are all around us, perishing in their sins. The sooner we recognize that we are to be lights in the midst of darkness, and salt in the midst of putrefaction, the better for the accomplishment of our life-work.

Another greatly prevailing sin is the sad indifference concerning the souls of our fellow-men. Certain doctrines have been introduced which tend to make men feel easy as to the future of the impenitent; a condition which naturally leads to indifference as to whether they are led to faith in Jesus, or are allowed to remain in their sins. We are all sufficiently callous without these modern soporifics. I dread any form of teaching which would diminish my horror of a man's dying without God and without hope.

Your Lord's command is, "Take up thy cross, and follow Me." Stoop down to it, grasp it, and bear it. Let your hand embrace it for Christ's sake. Do not shun that which is the badge of true saints, and at once their burden and their blessing. Is it reproach? Count it greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. Is it loss for the sake of holiness? Espouse it, as your joyful bride. Is it any form of persecution? Rejoice and be exceeding glad that you are counted worthy to suffer for your Lord's sake. Is it any other form of sorrow which attaches to the life of the godly? Do not rebel against it, but "take it up," and bear cheerfully the sacred load. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions.

I wish some of my fellow-fishermen were a little more liberal with gathering bait, for one would like to see the creeks and bays of their pews and galleries swarming with life. Some of them appear rather to frighten the fish away than to attract them around their hooks, they are so dull, so monotonous, so long, and so sour. All spiritual fishermen should learn the art of attraction; Jesus drew men to Himself, and we must draw men in like manner. Not only in the pulpit, but in the Sunday-school class, you need gathering bait, to draw the little ones together, and maintain and increase their numbers.

If faith cometh by hearing, we should first endeavour to gain interested listeners, for how shall they believe if they will not hear? Common sense teaches us that the people must be drawn together first, and must be induced to attend to what we have to put before them; and, therefore, we must lay ourselves out to this end, because it is essential to our highest aim. A pleasant manner, an interesting style, and even a touch of wit, may be useful.

We must have sinners saved. Nothing else will content us: the fisherman must take fish, or lose his toil; and we must bring souls to Jesus, or we shall break our hearts with disappointment.

Satan, who is said to tremble at the sight of a single praying man, might laugh in the presence of some of our churches, for there is no fear of their doing any harm to his kingdom. We must have the steam up if we are to crush the granite, and prepare a highway for our God. The weight of our numbers, and the excellence of our machinery, will go for nothing unless the inward fires are glowing, turning lukewarmness into heat, and impelling every wheel to strong, all-subduing motion.

It is my longing desire that we may ever be filled with the Divine energy. I see in our congregations, and in our societies, the altar and the wood; but what sacrifice can we offer to the Lord if we lack fire? One of the great uses of a prayer-meeting is to keep the fires burning. By earnest pleadings, we heap on the fuel; and the Holy Spirit comes to us as a heavenly wind, and makes the fire burn vehemently.

As a church, we need sound doctrine; or else our ministries will be mere sound, and nothing more. We need to be taught by God ourselves, that we may be able to teach others. Go ahead, my young and fervent brethren; but, as you run, mind that you have a message to carry, or to what end will you run? You must have something to tell the people, and real instruction to impart to them, or your zeal will be "much ado about nothing." If you gather the people together, or call at their houses, or talk to them individually, you must have precious truth to impart.

Often, when I get letters concerning our evangelists, I meet with the remark, "Your brethren preach the truth as fully as if they were pastors, and yet they exhort the people with all the freeness of evangelists."

Let us all be anxious to know more and more of Christ personally, and to be filled more and more with the Divine Spirit, without whose aid all our teaching will be in vain. Unless we are made partakers of the fiery energy of the Holy Ghost, the best instruction we can give will be cold, and lifeless, and powerless to affect the hearts of men.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a tremendously uplifting and challenging book by Pastor Spurgeon. I received this book at Together for the Gospel and found myself forgetting that Spurgeon was a pastor in 19th century London. Read this book and find your heart and mind ready to serve Jesus by Word and by prayer.

[Andrew Picha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the ability to listen to one of the greatest preachers spur his congregation on in prayer and maturity in Christ. I believe it is good for Christians to listen to voices outside of their generation and hear the similar and well as unique situations each generation encounters. I am inspired by Spurgeon’s pastoral heart and desire to reach the lost. His ability to find analogies to the gospel in the most mundane experiences in life encouraged me to keep my eyes open and foster an awareness of how Hod might be revealing Himself in any given day. While not ever address was impactful, the bite-size nature of this book makes it a wonderful companion to a daily devotional.

[Jay King]

Note that this book is not much about prayer or prayer meetings. It is a selection of extemporaneous addresses that Spurgeon delivered at Monday night prayer meetings. They are for that reason shorter and less organized. If you want Spurgeon, I recommend reading elsewhere first, but there is a great address to Sunday School teachers that I will be regularly referring to and quoting as I serve in Children’s Ministry.

[Michael Abraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spurgeon exhorts the reader to reconsider the prayer meeting—the engine of the church. It's sad that most churches have abandoned it. One of the many gifts of Spurgeon's preaching is also on display in this volume, where a few of his extemporaneous prayer meeting sermons are included. I was surprised by his use of illustrations and with the simplicity of his extemporaneous preaching.

[Ethan McCreary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. This is a captivating look at the essential nature of prayer and the prayer gathering within the local church.

“If any believer should chance to live where the prayer-meeting is neglected, let him now resolve to revive it.” - Spurgeon

[Eli Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this felt like I was being pastored by Spurgeon himself. The messages contained in this book are so insightful for pastoral leadership on the whole, all stemming from the starting point of prayer and the prayer gathering. Foundational.

[Michael Locklear]

per Clint Adam (1.24.22) “Fellowship of Encouragement”

[Adam Kareus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great series of addresses on prayer and about prayer meetings all compiled into one book. Worth the read and it is motivating for personal as well as corporate prayers.

[Luiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Como uma coletânea de breves sermões de Spurgeon, não poderia ser ruim. Mas mais do que isso, é sempre belo, persuasivo, confrontador e animador.

[Ademi Mirabal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short chapters, keen insights, and strong convictions bleeding through each page make this a hard book to put down!

[Todd Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short addresses that Spurgeon delivered to his congregation at the beginning of the prayer meetings. This collection shows a heart of a pastor for his people and for the lost.