Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! To whom, you might be asking. To our blog! Can you believe that our blog is now one year old?! We hope that you have enjoyed our year together as much as we have. We love the fact that God has joined us in a common calling, to bring glory to God in every detail of our lives, which happens to also include the calling as a pastor’s wife. We have the utmost respect for you and the task set before you to love God, your husband, your family, the family of God you are currently serving, and the dying world our Savior came to save. We desire to do whatever we can to encourage and equip you in this calling. We invite you to write to us here at the blog and tell us how we can serve you? We know you are busy with a myriad of things, but we would love ALL the help we can get to make this tool more effective.

What has served you the most?

What topics do you want to hear more about?

What areas would you like practical tools specifically related to your role as a pastor’s wife?

What are some areas of temptation related to this role and how can we help?

Who would you like to hear from?

Do you have any other creative ideas?

Is there anything that has not been helpful?

In closing, we pray the following: 2 Thessalonians1:11-12 “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It is our joy to serve you and thank you for taking the time to read this blog! We look forward to hearing from each of you!

Prayer: The Greatest Kindness, Part 2

by Betsy Ricucci

I regularly begin my times of prayer with Scripture. And I often pray using Scripture as the foundation and content of my prayers. I often find my own soul strengthened and refreshed even as I pray for God to strengthen and refresh the minds, hearts and bodies of those I am praying for! I am finding prayer more and more a blessed labor and sweet service for others.

“For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.” Daniel 9:18b-19

I often pray this very prayer and personalize it for me and those I am praying for.

“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them.” Matthew 4:23-24

I often pray through these verses as well. I do, in prayer, just what these folks did for those they loved when they knew Jesus was near. I too bring before Him all the sick I know, by name, and pray that He heal, comfort, strengthen, and sustain them in their trials. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) I know I am not praying to a reluctant Savior, but One “who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34) even as I pray.

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:4

This verse is a chest of treasure! We are praying, not to some distant, aloof, monarch too busy running the universe to hear our concerns. We are praying to our Everlasting Father, Who sees every tear we shed, hears every word we pray and understands every groan or sigh we utter. Not only that, but we are promised a reward, an answer, a response from God, our Father, “who knows what we need before we ask him” (Matt. 6:8). When I am praying I will appeal to God…I will pray: “Lord, here I am in secret. You see and hear my every prayer. Would you please do as You have promised: reward…answer my prayers on behalf of those I bring before You now”.

Prayer: what a priceless privilege, what a blessed labor, what a sweet service. And let’s remember this, dear ladies, as we pray:

“Prayer is never out of season: in summer and in winter its merchandise is precious. Prayer gains audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the midst of business, in the heat of noonday, in the shades of evening. In every condition, whether of poverty, or sickness, or obscurity, or slander, or doubt, your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from His holy place. Nor is prayer ever futile. True prayer is evermore true power. You may not always get what you ask, but you shall always have your real wants supplied. When God does not answer His children according to the letter, He does so according to the spirit. If thou askest for coarse meal, wilt thou be angered because He gives thee the finest flour? If thou seekest bodily health, shouldst thou complain if instead thereof He make thy sickness turn to the healing of spiritual maladies?...This evening, my soul, forget not to offer thy petition and request, for the Lord is ready to grant thee thy desires.” November 3, Morning and Evening, C.H. Spurgeon

And

“We may be sure of this, and we must pray in the assurance of it, in a full assurance of this faith, that wherever God finds a praying heart, he will be found a prayer-hearing God: though the voice of prayer be a low voice, a weak voice, yet…it is a voice that God will hear, that he will hear with pleasure, it is his delight and that he will return a gracious answer to; he has heard thy prayers, he has seen thy tears…God does hear our voice, and will not turn away our prayer, or his mercy.” The Secret of Communion with God, Matthew Henry, pg. 12

Prayer: The Greatest Kindness, Part 1

by Betsy Ricucci

Has this ever happened to you? You arrive at church eager to worship God, eager to hear His Word preached, and eager to greet, meet and serve His people…and yet, a little while later, as you leave church you find yourself most aware of and burdened by the trials and difficulties being faced by the precious flock your husband has the privilege to pastor. Or perhaps you’ve had this experience: You have a conversation with someone you know who is facing a trial, difficulty or suffering and you end your conversation with these words, “I’ll be praying for you” and think to yourself as you walk away, “O I wish I could do something more than just pray.” These scenarios are not theoretical to me. I have experienced both many times over the years. But, you know what? Something else has happened over the years as well. As prayer has become more of a practice in my life, my view of prayer has changed. No longer do I view prayer as a well-meaning but insufficient or meager token of care. I have come to see prayer as Mr. Spurgeon has famously written of it, as “the greatest kindness we can do for one another”. Prayer is becoming more and more a priceless privilege, a blessed labor and a sweet service.

Many days I will begin my prayer time with Hebrews 4:14-16. I am amazed at the invitation Jesus obtained for us by His life and death and resurrection. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 Ladies, we are invited, we are invited to draw near, we are invited to draw near to the throne of grace…and what will we find as we respond to that invitation?: His mercy and His grace to help in time of need. What a priceless invitation. What an amazing privilege. That I am invited to draw near, priceless! That I am promised mercy and grace to help and that I may ask for that mercy and grace and help on behalf of others, privilege!

Matthew Henry wrote, “We read of preaching the word out of season, but we do not read of praying out of season, for that is never out of season and the throne of grace is always open, and humble supplicants are always welcome, and cannot come unseasonably.” (The Secret of Communion with God, pg.11) Always open, always welcome! May we join David Brainerd who wrote, “Blessed be God that I may pray”! May we marvel that God who is “infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being: wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth” also says to us, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears.” 2 Kings 20:5b

From the pen of Mr. Spurgeon come these words which I have read and re-read over the years for inspiration to pray:

“Prayer is the forerunner of mercy…Prayer is always the preface to blessing. It goes before the blessing as the blessing’s shadow…” February 19, Morning and Evening, C.H. Spurgeon

“Prayer is in itself, apart from the answer which it brings, a great benefit to the Christian. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labour of prayer.” October 11, Morning and Evening, C.H. Spurgeon

“Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer cannot do! We thank thee, great God, for the mercy-seat, a choice proof of thy marvelous loving-kindness. Help us to use it aright throughout this day!” October 11, Morning and Evening, C.H. Spurgeon

“Prayer is the never-failing resort of the Christian in any case, in every plight. When you cannot use your sword you may take to the weapon of all-prayer. Your powder may be damp, your bow-string may be relaxed, but the weapon of all-prayer need never be out of order. Leviathan laughs at the javelin, but he trembles at prayer. Sword and spear need furbishing, but prayer never rusts, and when we think it most blunt it cuts the best. Prayer is an open door which none can shut.” November 3, Morning and Evening, C.H. Spurgeon

She Does Him Good: Susannah Spurgeon

by Janis Shank

Charles Spurgeon, a favorite of many and one who has shaped our husbands ministries, “devoted himself to the one overwhelming task, the declaration of the life transforming message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”* He was joined in this calling by his “wifey”, as he affectionately called her, who likewise devoted herself to his good. Proverbs 12:4 says “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband” and truly we see this crown in Susannah Spurgeon. Here are a few ways she crowned her husband and did him good which serve as reminders as we learn from this dear woman.

The crown of devoted love. In Susannah’s own words we have a record of her passion to love and serve Charles. “...my whole time and strength were given to advance my dear husband’s welfare and happiness. I deemed it my joy and privilege to be ever at his side, accompanying him on many of his preceding journeys, nurse his occasional illnesses, his delighted companion during his holiday trips, always watching over and tending him with the enthusiasm and sympathy which my great love for him inspired.” What precious “husband-loving”, as Titus 2 tells us, is here as an example to emulate!

The crown of suffering with joy. Every pastor’s wife (and every Christian), will be called to endure suffering as she grows in likeness to Jesus. Susannah, though blessed with a godly husband and in many other ways, suffered greatly yet with joy. Again, in her own words we have a glimpse of her heart toward her Savior and toward her husband: “Dark days those were for both husband and wife, for a serious disease had invaded my frame and little alleviation could be found from the constant wearying pain it caused. My beloved husband, always so fully engaged about his Master’s business, yet managed to secure many precious moments by my side, when he would tell me how the work of the Lord was prospering in his hands, and we would exchange sympathies, he comforting me in my suffering, and I cheering him on in his labors.”** No hint of self-pity here, just trust and rest in the Master and how He chose to ordain their lives. This is convicting to me to rest in God’s design for my circumstances. May I cheer my husband on in his labors despite any pain I may meet with!

The crown of faithful labors. Though Susannah was a semi-invalid for much of her adult life, she found ways to be fruitful and faithful in serving alongside her husband. Most important were her labors as a mother. “Mrs. Spurgeon was a faithful trainer of her twin sons in the Christian doctrine, and she had the joy of seeing them both brought to the Lord at an early age.” And in the words of her son, Thomas, “I trace my early conversion directly to her constant pleading and bright example. My dear brother...gladly owns that mother’s influence and teaching had their part in the matter of his conversion.”*** After loving and serving our husband, motherhood is our most significant labor as we serve the Lord. I love the picture of “her bright example”! Secondly, Susannah labored tirelessly and sacrificially through the Book Fund, a ministry she initiated to get her husband’s books in to the hands of poor preachers to aid them in the preaching of the gospel. “Mrs. Spurgeon’s name deserves to live forever in the annals of the Christian church in connection with her fund for supplying theological books to clergymen and ministers too poor to buy them. As a branch of Christian effort this work was, and is, quite unique, and it’s vast importance and necessity to the ministry of the church at large, cannot be overestimated.”**** In a world without computers and internet access, Susannah joined her husband’s passion for the gospel by sending these resources to pastor’s far and wide, 25,000 or more from various denominations and missionaries scattered throughout the world. This work involved daily hours of correspondence and administration, not to mention joyful financial sacrifices for years on end.

I am so inspired! Especially in a season of life when I have more time and resources, Susannah’s example provokes me to love my husband, to suffer with joy and to labor hard in the service of my King!

We hope that you have been encouraged and equipped through this “She Does Him Good” series. As our husband’s crown, may we all be freshly provoked to glorify God in this sacred calling!

*Spurgeon by Arnold Dalimore (Introduction, pg.xv)

**Mrs. C.H. Spurgeon by Charles Ray (pgs. 47-48)

***ibid (pgs.64-65)

****ibid (pgs. 66-67)