Longing for undistracted prayer?

🛐 Daily Prayer: "May our eyes be really shut to everything else now but that which is spiritual and divine."

Author

SpurgeonBooks
December 08, 2025

Pray with Spurgeon

Daily Newsletter from SpurgeonBooks

This week, our prayers and Scripture readings each day will focus on distractions in prayer. Invite a friend to pray with you by sending them this link.

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our God and Father, draw us to yourself by your Spirit. May the few minutes that we spend in prayer be full of the true spirit of supplication. May none of us with closed eyes still be looking abroad over the fields of vanity, but may our eyes be really shut to everything else now but that which is spiritual and divine. May we have communion with God in the secret of our hearts, and find him to be to us as a little sanctuary.

Lord, we do not find it easy to get rid of distracting thoughts, but we pray that you would help us to draw the sword against them and drive them away, and as when the birds came down upon his sacrifice Abraham drove them away, so may we chase away all worries, all thoughts of pleasure, everything else, whether it be pleasing or painful, that would keep us away from real fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“In return for my love they accuse me, but I continue to pray.” (Psalm 109:4)

The common fault with most of us is our readiness to yield to distractions. Our thoughts go roving here and there and we make little progress towards our desired end. How great an evil this is! It injures us, and what is worse, it insults our God. What should we think of a petitioner, if, while having an audience with a prince, he should be playing with a feather or catching a fly?

Continuance and perseverance are intended in the expression of our text. David did not cry once, and then relapse into silence; he continued his holy clamor until it brought down the blessing. Prayer must not be our chance work, but our daily business, our habit and vocation.

PRAY FOR THE NATIONS

This week, we’re praying for the Manga Kanuri of Nigeria.

This ethnic group in northern Nigeria has a population of 447,000 and is almost entirely Muslim. This year, Nigerian Christians shared the gospel with them for the first time and a few have professed faith in Jesus!

Pray that God would send missionaries to the Manga Kanuri of Nigeria.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Have a less distracted, more prayerful 2026

It’s probably the biggest obstacle to a more vibrant prayer life: we’re too easily distracted.

This doesn’t just impact our prayer life — it affects our ability to serve others, hear and apply the sermon on Sunday, listen to the people around us, and more. If we’re going to grow as Christians, we have to grow our ability to focus.

Recently, I’ve been reading Indistractable by Nir Eyal. Nir was a technology entrepreneur that spent years making apps more addictive. Now, he’s turning those same insights on their head to help set us free from the addictions and distractions around us. This is a super practical book to help you understand why we’re so distracted (it’s not your phone’s fault) and how to actually resist distractions and stay focused.

This is not a Christian book, so I don’t agree with everything inside of it, but it’s a really great resource that will only help us follow Christ if he sees fit to use it by grace.

Grow your focus in 2026 — grab a copy of Indistractable today.

LAST WORD FROM SPURGEON

“We are distracted and worried, but in heaven God’s servants shall serve him.” — Charles Spurgeon