Spurgeon is commonly known today as “The Prince of Preachers,” but he would just as rightly be called “The Prince of Prayer.”
D. L. Moody, the prolific 19th-century American evangelists, was asked after his first visit to England, “Did you hear Spurgeon preach?” He replied, “Yes, but better still I heard him pray.”
Spurgeon taught his students that “the preacher is above all others distinguished as a man of prayer. He prays as an ordinary Christian, else he were a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians, else he were disqualified for the office which he has undertaken.”1 Spurgeon modeled this counsel with legendary fervor as he spontaneous and reverent prayer punctuated his daily routine.
An American man, Dr. Wayland Hoyt, wrote,
I was once walking with him in the woods . . . and . . . we came upon a log lying [by] the path. ‘Come,’ he said, as naturally as one would say it if he were hungry and bread was put before him, ‘Come, let us pray.’ Kneeling beside the log he lifted his soul to God in the most loving and yet reverent prayer.2
One of his pastoral students would often attend family devotions at the Spurgeon home and he later recalled, “How full of tender pleading, of serene confidence in God, of world-embracing sympathy were his prayers. With what gracious familiarity he could talk with his Divine Master!”3 Another wrote, “His public prayers were an inspiration, but his prayers with the family were to me more wonderful still. Mr. Spurgeon, when bowed before God in family prayer, appeared a grander man even than when holding thousands spellbound by his oratory.”
PASTORING A PRAYING CHURCH
He was a man of prayer who led a praying people. When you spot a pastor in church history mightily used by God you can expect two things: 1) he was a man of prayer who 2) led a praying congregation. Spurgeon was once asked why his ministry was so effective and he replied, “My people pray for me.”
The prayers of his people was cause for deep gratitude as he later said, “I always give all the glory to God, but I do not forget that He gave me the privilege of ministering from the first to a praying people. We had prayer meetings that moved our very souls, each one appeared determined to storm the Celestial City by the might of intercession.” Seven hundred people could be found praying in the Tabernacle’s basement, its “boiler room” as Spurgeon called it, before the Sunday morning service and a few thousand would show up for Monday night prayer meeting. For Spurgeon, the prayer meeting was the best thermometer of the church’s spirituality.
WE WANT PRAYING PASTORS AND CHURCHES!
Spurgeon is a titan of the Christian ministry that is utterly impossible to replicate, but emulation is possible. In our age of fast paced self-confidence the reality of prayer seems to have vanished from pastors and churches. How many churches today have prayer meetings or have large portions of their worship gatherings devoted to prayer? If we are honest, a precious few.
Could this sad shortfall find a direct correlation to a decreasing number of men known as “praying pastors”? Sure, we have numerous pastors known for their preaching and personality – two things that distinguished Spurgeon as well – but what of pastors who are militant and reverent before the throne of grace?
I for one hope the surging popularity of Reformed theology will create a surge in that most basic practice of Reformed spirituality: prayer.
May God give us more praying pastors who lead praying churches.
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