Private Prayer: A Christian Duty

Book Cover: Private Prayer: A Christian Duty
Editions:eBook: $ 4.99
ISBN: 9781312707023
Pages: 129
Paperback: $ 14.99
ISBN: 9781499524345
Size: 5.25 x 8.00 in
Pages: 129

Many Christians find private prayer a difficult duty, and thus they either totally neglect it, or are negligent in their performance of it. In Private Prayer: A Christian Duty, pastor Oliver Heywood illustrates the necessity of spending time in private prayer each day. Using Matthew 6:6 as his text, Heywood teaches how to cultivate a habit of daily prayer which is both refreshing and delightful. He reviews the time, place, and content appropriate for our private prayers, and answers several objections that are commonly used to excuse ourselves from praying regularly—including lack of time, cold-heartedness, wandering thoughts, and not knowing what to say. Several Scriptural instances of private prayer are explored, including the Lord’s Prayer and the mighty wrestling of Jacob in prayer (Genesis 32). Through this teaching, the believer will find resources and encouragement to help fulfill this beneficial obligation.

Oliver Heywood (1630–1702) was an English Puritan pastor who was deprived of his pulpit for his Protestant beliefs. He cheerfully endured imprisonment and the confiscation of his worldly possessions so that he might bring the truth of the Gospel to his countrymen. Heywood published this book in 1671 while travelling from town to town preaching, in an itinerant ministry that spanned most of his career.

Out-of-print for nearly two hundred years, this classic treatise has been carefully prepared for the benefit of a new generation of Christian readers. Even those not accustomed to Puritan works will find Heywood’s warm and engaging style both eminently useful and Christ-exalting.

Not sure whether to buy it in print or digitally? This title is enrolled in Amazon's MatchBook program: If you purchase a paperback through the "Available at Amazon" link above, the Kindle e-Book of the same title is free.

Editors:
Gerald Mick

Tags:
Devotions, Prayer

The Pleasantness of a Religious Life

Book Cover: The Pleasantness of a Religious Life
Editions:eBook: $ 3.99
ISBN: 9781304288028
Pages: 192

The Pleasantness of a Religious Life was Matthew Henry’s final literary work; it was in the process of being printed when he died in 1714. In it he examines the great joys of the Christian life by expounding upon Proverbs 3:17, “[Wisdom’s] ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”

Rather than being a bleak and burdensome business, Matthew Henry’s clear teaching shows how “religion brings both pleasure with it, and profit after it,” and argues that the difficulties met with on the journey of faith are not worthy of being compared to the joyful recompense which our God and King rewards us with along the way and at our final resting place in his kingdom. Thus “the practice of serious godliness not only tends to our happiness in the next life, but is also greatly conducive to our comfort in this life,” for we learn that, “the more we live with an eye to Christ and another world, the more comfort we are likely to have in our hearts.”

Pastor Henry also unmasks the counterfeit pleasures this world attempts to use to cheat us out of pleasures that are both satisfying indeed and eternally durable—for the world’s sensual pleasures are bland to those who have tasted the sweetness of the Lord, and felt the lightness and rest which is to be found under his yoke.

Far from a copy-paste-publish e-book, this edition has been painstakingly edited into an entirely new text which has been gently modernized for today’s reader, while still retaining the flavor and character of the original manuscript. To aid the reader, over four hundred Scripture references (in the ESV) have been embedded into the text as hyperlinked end-notes (no internet connection is required).

Tags:
Devotions, Salvation

Daily Communion With God

Book Cover: Daily Communion With God
Editions:eBook: $ 2.99
ISBN: 9781105292019
Pages: 105
Paperback: $ 8.99
ISBN: 9781463666088
Size: 5.25 x 8.00 in
Pages: 105

In Daily Communion with God, pastor Matthew Henry shows, with his inimitably graceful style, how a Christian should begin every day with God in quiet prayer and meditation upon Scripture. He then shows how to take that same spirit into the day’s events while still reflecting upon his duty to honor God in thought, word, and deed. Finally, the author shows how believers are to close the day with God by prayerful consideration of the day’s successes and failures, with an eye toward our continual dependence upon him for strength and mercy.

Originally delivered as a series of sermons at Bednal Green in 1712, this material was so positively received that many of the hearers insisted that it be put into print. This classic treatise has been carefully prepared for the benefit and enjoyment of a new generation of Christian readers. It includes the moving, comprehensive biographical preface written by James Hamilton in 1847.

The electronic edition contains embedded Scripture references in the ESV®; the print edition includes a Scripture index and glossary.

Not sure whether to buy it in print or digitally? This title is enrolled in Amazon's MatchBook program: If you purchase a paperback through the "Available at Amazon" link above, the Kindle e-Book of the same title is free.

Editors:
Gerald Mick

Tags:
Devotions, Prayer, Sanctification, The Bible

The Necessity of Self-Examination

Book Cover: The Necessity of Self-Examination
Editions:eBook: $ 2.99
ISBN: 9781105608247
Pages: 78

In The Necessity of Self-Examination, Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) guides the reader in a thorough search of his thoughts, intentions, words, and deeds. Edwards begins by convincing the reader of the necessity of self-examination, proceeds to show why many living in sin are unaware of it, and finally giving specific directions on how to go about examining oneself. He illustrates this with chapters on self-examination concerning one’s behavior at church, whether any secret sins are permitted, how one thinks of and treats his fellow man, and how one conducts himself in his household.

This Digital Puritan edition includes a biographical preface by Gerald Mick and an appendix of seventy-five questions drawn from the text of the book, suitable for quick review or for use in an accountability group setting. Scripture references (in the English Standard Version) are hyperlinked and embedded into the book. No internet connection is required.

Editors:
Gerald Mick

Tags:
Devotions, Sanctification