"Spare time for the profitable journey to the heavenly city."
"Our congregations gather together to worship God."
"Reverently hearing the word exercises our humility, instructs our faith, irradiates us with joy, inflames us with love, inspires us with zeal, and lifts us up towards heaven."
"The preacher who neglects to pray much must be very careless about his ministry."
In preaching, aim for QUALITY of gospel truth, not QUANTITY of words or illustrations.
"The minister who does not earnestly pray over his work must surely be a vain and conceited man."
Spurgeon tells of a preacher whose success was not his own doing.
Elevated to excitement or depressed by a fear of failure — we must cry out to God in prayer.
"Most preachers who depend upon God’s Spirit will tell you that their freshest and best thoughts are not those which were premeditated, but ideas which come to them, flying as on the wings of angels"
"Prayer may not make you eloquent after the human mode, but it will make you truly so, for you will speak out of the heart; and is not that the meaning of the word eloquence?"
"Paul humbly ascribes whatever he had done or suffered entirely to his Lord."
"The commentators are good instructors, but the Author himself is far better, and prayer makes a direct appeal to him and enlists him in our cause."