The sermon centers on God’s declaration concerning Saul: “Behold, he prayeth.” Spurgeon argues that true prayer is not religious performance but the Spirit-enabled cry of a repentant heart, showing that a person has been made spiritually alive. Prayer therefore provides evidence of sincere faith, strengthens assurance, and restores communion when believers have backslidden. The sermon also warns prayerless sinners of eternal judgment and directs them to seek salvation, forgiveness, and life through Jesus Christ.
Theological center: God’s sovereign grace converts sinners and grants spiritual life, while sincere prayer functions as visible evidence of regeneration and faith in Christ.
Applications: Pray sincerely to God · Persevere in prayer · Recover prayer in private devotion · Pray for conversion
Primary texts: Acts 9:11 · Luke 15:10 · Isaiah 65:24
“For, behold, he prayeth.” Acts 9:11 GOD has many methods of quenching persecution. He will not suffer His church to be injured by its enemies or overwhelmed by its foes. And He is not short of means for turning aside the way of the wicked or of turning it upside down. In two ways He usually accomplishes His end, sometimes by the confusion of the persecutor, and at others in a more blessed manner, by his conversion. Sometimes He confuses and confounds His enemies. He makes the diviner mad. He lets the man who comes against Him be utterly destroyed, allows him to drive on to his own destruction, and then at last, turns round in triumphant derision upon the man who hoped to have said aha! aha! to the church of God. But at other times, as in this case, He converts the persecutor. Thus, He tr…