God said, “LIVE!”

🛐 Daily Prayer: "We know that in Christ we are lovely and beautiful, and you see no sin in your people."

Pray with Spurgeon

Daily Newsletter from SpurgeonBooks

This week, our prayers and Scripture readings each day will focus on praising God that we have been born again. Invite a friend to pray with you by sending them this link.

LISTEN TO TODAY’S NEWSLETTER

Pray with Spurgeon Plus subscribers receive an audio edition of the newsletter every weekday. If you prefer to listen instead of read, subscribe to Pray with Spurgeon Plus. Thanks for your support!

DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We were nothing when you began with us, when we lay wallowing in the blood, cast out in death in the open field to perish. Then you said “Live,” and we were raised to life by virtue of that word. By that word of God shall men live and that is how we live. Lord, you are emptying us. You are letting us see the dregs of our depravity and the violence of our nature; and we loathe ourselves until we are ready to cry, “Bury my dead out of my sight! Remove my old, sinful self!” Yet we know that in Christ we are lovely and beautiful and you see no sin in your people. You delight yourself in your people; you have loved them with an everlasting love, therefore you have drawn them to yourself; therefore you are still drawing them; and therefore you will draw them until you have drawn them to perfection in you, to dwell with you forever.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.” (John 3:6–7)

Flesh, and nothing more; and it never can be anything more than flesh. The first birth brings no one any further than that. The children of the most godly parents, so far as their sinful nature is concerned, are in precisely the same condition as the offspring of the most ungodly. If they are ever to be numbered amongst the children of God, they must be born again.

PRAY FOR THE NATIONS

This week, we’re praying for the Idaksahak in Mali.

The Idaksahak are a tribal group who, as far as we know, have never heard the gospel. They do not have the Bible in their language, there are no Christians among them, and there are no churches they can attend. They will never hear the gospel unless someone brings it from the outside.

Pray that God would send missionaries to the Idaksahak.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

What does it mean to be born again?

When I was a new Christian, someone asked me if I was “born again.” I didn’t know what that meant (I thought it was a denomination), so I said no.

You might not be as confused as I was (or maybe you are, and that’s okay!), but I know that a lot of Christians don’t grasp the full wonder of our new birth. We need to work hard to understand that God has made us new.

A great resource to help you understand why we needed to be born again and what this miracle means is Finally Alive: What Happens When We Are Born Again by John Piper.

This biblically faithful book will help you thank God for the glorious gift of being born again. Each chapter describes one aspect of what it means to be born again. It will leave you overwhelmed with gratitude.

You can download a free ebook from Desiring God or purchase physical copies for yourself and others.

LAST WORD FROM SPURGEON

Being born again makes us something more than God's creation; we are God's children.” — Charles Spurgeon