Welcome to the online home of Tim Challies, blogger, author, and book reviewer.
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While most people know that few have ever preached like Spurgeon, not nearly so many know that few have ever prayed like Spurgeon. Believe it or not, many who attended his church spoke less of his preaching and more of his praying! The little book The Pastor in Prayer captures some of his pastoral prayers, and today I wanted to share just a brief excerpt of one that seems especially fitting as we prepare to worship on this Lord’s Day. …
Sometimes we all need a little bit of help praying. And when that’s true of me, one place I know to turn is Scotty Smith’s blog where he posts new prayers on a daily basis. One that caught my attention this week was titled Who Gets to Rule Our Hearts This Week?. I thought I’d share it with you as we all begin a new week with its opportunities and temptations. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… Col. …
As a father, I try to make it a habit to pray for my children each day before they even crawl out of bed. Before they’ve begun their day, I want to have already asked the Lord to bless, keep, and prosper them. Praying for my children was on my mind as I read this sweet, poetic prayer by Amy Carmichael. She did not have biological children of her own, but was Amma (mommy) to hundreds who were delivered to …
A recent book titled Piercing Heaven shares favorite prayers from the Puritans. Many of them are amazing. As an example, here is Philip Doddridge with the prayer of a convicted sinner. Injured King and almighty Judge, what can I say to the charges against me? Should I pretend to be offended, and defend myself? I do not dare. You know my foolishness. None of my sins is hidden from you. My conscience tells me that denying my crimes would only increase …
Our Father, we are so thankful that you are a God who loves. In fact, you are not just a God who loves, but a God who is love. For you, love is not merely something you do, but it is who you are. To be God is to be love, to be the very source the very fountain of love. For all eternity, you have existed in a relationship of love with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loving one …
From time to time, probably every month or so, I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer that was prayed at Grace Fellowship Church. The pastoral prayer is a time for one of the pastors or elders to pray on behalf of the congregation and to intercede on their behalf. This particular prayer was prayed by me, for our online Easter service, during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020. *** Our Father in Heaven, In your Word you’ve told …
One key element of our worship at Grace Fellowship Church is a pastoral prayer, in which one of the elders prays for the church and on behalf of the church. Every now and again I like to share one of those prayers. This was my prayer last Sunday. Father, at various times each one of us is faced with the reality of our weakness. There may be times when we feel strong and capable and self-reliant. But then we get …
At times each of us is faced with destructive desires—the kind of desires that, were we to act on them, would necessarily harm ourselves or others, and necessarily distance ourselves from the God we love. In Douglas Kaine McKelvey’s quirky book Every Moment Holy, I found a prayer that expresses the sorrow of such desire and pleads with God to elevate our minds to far better ones. Jesus, here I am again, desiring a thing that were I to indulge …
I once met a prominent Christian—a Reformed Baptist theologian, even—who admitted something to me that sounded almost scandalous: He doesn’t care for The Pilgrim’s Progress. He read it as a student, he re-read it as an adult, and it just didn’t do much for him. And with that in view, here’s a confession of my own: I don’t really care for The Valley of Vision, that collection of Puritan prayers collected by Arthur Bennett. There are undoubtedly a few jewels …
I am very much enjoying Piercing Heaven, a wonderful collection of Puritan prayers. Here is one that seems especially suitable for a Sunday morning, before you listen to that sermon. Lord, I am now entering into your presence, to hear you speak from heaven to me, to receive your rain and spiritual dew, which never return in vain, but ripen a harvest either of corn or weeds, of grace or judgment. My heart is prepared, O Lord, my heart is …