This post contains Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening thoughts for Feb. 19. You will find it in narrative and video; so you can either read or listen or do both.
I read the morning thoughts yesterday and today I repeated Spurgeon’s Feb. 19 devotional because I really need to believe it; I’ve apparently not yet done so, based upon my own observation of my daily life.
The morning verse is from Ezekiel, I think it is the most explicit verse in the Bible about God requiring His children to pray if their needs will be met by Him….
The evening thoughts are about Andrew first telling Peter when he had found the Messiah; Spurgeon applied that to witnessing the gospel to those nearest first….
C H Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening February 19:
Morning
“Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.” — Eze_36:37
Prayer is the forerunner of mercy.
Turn to sacred history, and you will find that scarcely ever did a great mercy come to this world unheralded by supplication. You have found this true in your own personal experience. God has given you many an unsolicited favour, but still great prayer has always been the prelude of great mercy with you.
When you first found peace through the blood of the cross, you had been praying much, and earnestly interceding with God that he would remove your doubts, and deliver you from your distresses.
Your assurance was the result of prayer.
When at any time you have had high and rapturous joys, you have been obliged to look upon them as answers to your prayers. When you have had great deliverances out of sore troubles, and mighty helps in great dangers, you have been able to say, “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
Prayer is always the preface to blessing. It goes before the blessing as the blessing’s shadow. When the sunlight of God’s mercies rises upon our necessities, it casts the shadow of prayer far down upon the plain. Or, to use another illustration, when God piles up a hill of mercies, he himself shines behind them, and he casts on our spirits the shadow of prayer, so that we may rest certain, if we are much in prayer, our pleadings are the shadows of mercy.
Prayer is thus connected with the blessing to show us the value of it.
If we had the blessings without asking for them, we should think them common things; but prayer makes our mercies more precious than diamonds. The things we ask for are precious, but we do not realize their preciousness until we have sought for them earnestly.
“Prayer makes the darken’d cloud withdraw;
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
Gives exercise to faith and love;
Brings every blessing from above.”
Evening
“He first findeth his own brother Simon.” — Joh_1:41
This case is an excellent pattern of all cases where spiritual life is vigorous.
As soon as a man has found Christ, he begins to find others. I will not believe that thou hast tasted of the honey of the gospel if thou canst eat it all thyself.
True grace puts an end to all spiritual monopoly. Andrew first found his own brother Simon, and then others. Relationship has a very strong demand upon our first individual efforts.
Andrew, thou didst well to begin with Simon.
I doubt whether there are not some Christians giving away tracts at other people’s houses who would do well to give away a tract at their own-whether there are not some engaged in works of usefulness abroad who are neglecting their special sphere of usefulness at home.
Thou mayst or thou mayst not be called to evangelize the people in any particular locality, but certainly thou art called to see after thine own servants, thine own kinsfolk and acquaintance. Let thy religion begin at home.
Many tradesmen export their best commodities-the Christian should not. He should have all his conversation everywhere of the best savour; but let him have a care to put forth the sweetest fruit of spiritual life and testimony in his own family.
When Andrew went to find his brother, he little imagined how eminent Simon would become. Simon Peter was worth ten Andrews so far as we can gather from sacred history, and yet Andrew was instrumental in bringing him to Jesus.
You may be very deficient in talent yourself, and yet you may be the means of drawing to Christ one who shall become eminent in grace and service.
Ah! dear friend, you little know the possibilities which are in you. You may but speak a word to a child, and in that child there may be slumbering a noble heart which shall stir the Christian church in years to come. Andrew has only two talents, but he finds Peter. Go thou and do likewise.
[To get Morning and Evening free, download free Bible software, e-Sword Bible software at, https://e-sword.net/
E-sword offers a dozen or more Bible versions; a half-dozen or so commentaries, such as Matthew Henry; and Strong’s comes with the KJV version of the Bible; devotionals; books of the Christian fathers… all free for PC. And e-Sword is available at the app store for $2.99]
The video and accompanying narrative and links:
From the YouTube site, Immeasurable Grace, linked below:
Feb 19, 2025
February 19th, according to Charles Spurgeon’s devotional, begins with a reflection on Ezekiel 36:37, emphasizing that prayer precedes God’s mercies, acting as a shadow cast by the blessings to come, and making them more precious. Spurgeon suggests that great prayer always precedes great mercy, citing personal experiences of finding peace, joy, and deliverance through earnest supplication, and that prayer is vital to recognizing the true value of God’s gifts.
The evening reading, based on John 1:41, highlights Andrew’s immediate action of sharing his discovery of the Messiah with his brother Simon, illustrating the natural outflow of a vibrant spiritual life which seeks to bring others to Christ, beginning with those closest to us, and that even those with seemingly few talents can lead others to greatness in God’s service, urging readers to see the potential within themselves to influence others for Christ.
For Spurgeon’s book, “Morning and Evening,” click below: • Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
For Spurgeon’s book, “Christ In The Old Testament,” click below: • Christ In The Old Testament by Charle…
[He had a dozen or so, more of Spurgeon’s books linked. Check the site for those.]
Link to the above video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YC5GWUYmZk
Video-page link: https://www.youtube.com/@MrJeffwinnrn/videos