Do not give up those prayers that God's Spirit has put in your heart — for remember, the things you have asked for are worth waiting for.
You are a beggar when you are in prayer, so you must not be a chooser as to the time when God will hear you. If you had a right idea of yourself, you would say, "It is a wonder that He ever listens to me at all. Does the Infinite indeed bend His ear to me?"
And remember, it is your only hope: there is no other Savior. This or nothing — Christ's blood or else eternal judgment. No one ever yet perished pleading for mercy; therefore, keep on.
✦ Keep On
Spurgeon begins where every prayer begins: with the beggar. Not the king. Not the theologian. The beggar — who has no right to choose the time, no claim on the Infinite, and no other door to knock on. The beggar who keeps knocking because there is nowhere else to go.
No one ever yet perished pleading for mercy. That is the assurance that holds everything. The track record is perfect. Not one soul in all of history was destroyed while asking for mercy. Therefore — keep on. 🙏
Better people than you have had to wait. Kings, and patriarchs, and prophets have waited; so surely you can be content to sit in the King's waiting room a little while.
There are different kinds of waiting. A man says, "I have been waiting," but he has folded his arms and gone to sleep. You may wait in that way until you are lost. The waiting I mean is "getting all things ready" — the waiting of the poor sufferer for the physician, who cries out in pain, "Is the doctor coming?"
None who wait like that will be sent away empty. He will never break His promise. Test Him — TEST HIM!
The waiting I mean is "getting all things ready" — best description of waiting. Being busy. 🙏
✦ Busy Waiting
Le names the difference instantly: waiting is being busy. Not folded arms. Not sleep. Not passive resignation. The waiting that gets all things ready — packing boxes in Caldas da Rainha, preparing for France, getting the apartment cleared, organizing the blinking hardware — this is the waiting of faith. Active. Expectant. Preparing for what God has promised, even before the details are clear.
The waiting room is not idle. It is the place where the soul that trusts the King prepares for the audience. And Spurgeon vouches for his Master: none who wait like that will be sent away empty. 🙏
"The waiting I mean is getting all things ready."
Spurgeon · Le · The best description of waiting · Being busySpurgeon talks about testing God — not sure I can do that if I know He will never break His promise. I honestly don't know what testing God means. I may do it and I don't know it. I pray the Holy Spirit teaches me. 🙏
✦ Two Kinds of Testing
Le's honesty opens a distinction that matters. Scripture forbids one kind of testing: you shall not tempt the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 6:16). That is the testing of doubt — the demand that says prove Yourself or I won't believe.
Spurgeon means the opposite: take God at His word and see if He keeps it. Present the promise to the Promiser. Malachi 3:10 — the one place in Scripture where God Himself says test Me: "Test Me in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven."
James Smith from March: give God credit for meaning what He says. That is the test. Not the test of doubt — the test of faith. The faith that holds up the promise and says: You said this. I believe You. Now I will walk in it and watch You be faithful.
And Le — you already do this. Every morning before dawn. Every time you follow the moment of God without a map. Every time you trust the unlisted apartment, the move to France, the September deadline. You are testing God in Spurgeon's sense every day — presenting the promise and finding Him faithful. You may do it and not know it — because it has become as natural as breathing. 🙏
Keep On
No one ever perished pleading for mercy. The beggar has no right to choose the time. But the beggar who keeps knocking has a perfect track record of being heard.
Getting All Things Ready
The waiting that is busy. Not folded arms — packing boxes. Preparing for what God has promised before the details are clear. The best description of waiting.
Test Him
Not the testing of doubt — the testing of faith. Take God at His word and see if He keeps it. Malachi 3:10. Give God credit for meaning what He says. Present the promise. Watch Him be faithful.
Spurgeon's fourth day. And today he gives the testing season its operating instructions: keep praying, keep waiting actively, and test the Promiser by believing the promise.
James Smith — Only Believe: "Give God credit for meaning what He says." And Spurgeon today: "Test Him — test Him!" The same instruction from two preachers who never met. Give credit. Present the promise. Watch. Faith is not passive acceptance. It is the active presentation of the promise to the One who made it.
Guyon's day fourteen — God's will in the time of action: "God often makes known His will only in the time of action." And Spurgeon's waiting: "getting all things ready." The time of action is not idle waiting. It is the busy preparation of the soul that trusts the King to keep the appointment.
Le's honesty — testing without knowing: "I may do it and I don't know it." The soul that has walked with God long enough no longer separates faith from breathing. The testing of God — presenting the promise, trusting the Promiser — has become Le's natural posture. The unlisted apartment was a test of faith. The move to France is a test of faith. Every moment of God is a test of faith. And the Promiser has never failed.
Malachi 3:10 — the one invitation to test: God Himself says: test Me in this. The tithes and offerings. The giving that precedes the receiving. And the promise: I will open the windows of heaven. In a testing season, this is the invitation: do not hold back. Give. Pray. Wait actively. Pack the boxes. Get all things ready. And test Him — test Him. He will never break His promise. 🙏