Recommended Reading

My goal for each list is to promote spiritual writings that are primarily devotional. By devotional, I mean writings aimed to help our minds meditate on God's truth, help our hearts desire God's presence, and help our spirits bow before God in worship.

I will contain myself (reluctantly!) to ten recommendations in each category. Each list will shift and grow as I continue to discover new material.

May God use these writings to bless you as He has used them to bless me!

Prayer

This is the most basic and essential area of spiritual growth in our lives.

  1. Prayer by Ole Hallesby
  2. The Hidden Life of Prayer by David McIntyre
  3. If You Will Ask by Oswald Chambers
  4. With Christ In The School of Prayer by Andrew Murray
  5. The Practice of Prayer by G. Campbell Morgan
  6. Let us Pray by Watchman Nee
  7. Prayer Secrets by Guy King
  8. Prayer by John Bunyan
  9. A Call to Prayer by J.C. Ryle
  10. How to Pray by R.A. Torrey

Walking With God

Exhortations to personal communion with God.

  1. Practicing His Presence by Brother Lawrence & Frank Laubach
  2. Talking With God by Francois Fenelon
  3. The Hidden Life by Adolph Saphir
  4. The Seeking Heart by Francois Fenelon
  5. Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith by Charles Spurgeon
  6. The Confessions by Augustine
  7. The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee

Discipleship

Various instructions for active followers of Christ.

  1. A Serious Call to A Devout and Holy Life by William Law
  2. The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
  3. Discipleship by G. Campbell Morgan
  4. The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes
  5. Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
  6. The Mark of the Christian by Francis Schaeffer
  7. Victorious Living by E. Stanley Jones
  8. True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer
  9. The Master Plan of Evangelism by Dr. Robert E. Coleman

A.W. Tozer

All of Tozer's works fit into the catagories of Prayer, Walking with God, and Discipleship. They are well worth the time of anyone seeking to grow spiritually and worthy of their own special list. These are my personal favorites:

  1. The Pursuit of God
  2. The Divine Conquest
  3. Keys to the Deeper Life
  4. The Root of the Righteous
  5. Of God and Men
  6. Born After Midnight
  7. That Incredible Christian
  8. Paths to Power
  9. This World: Playground or Battleground?
  10. Man: The Dwelling Place of God

God the Father

There is no higher thought than the thought of God.

  1. The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer
  2. Delighting in God by A.W. Tozer
  3. The Thoughts of God by John Ross MacDuff
  4. Knowing God by J.I. Packer
  5. The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock
    --(These volumes are not an easy read, but they can be a labor of love. Take your time—years even—and it will be worth your investment.)
  6. The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink

God the Son

For when you feel the deep desire to take a fresh look at Jesus

  1. The Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ by J.G. Bellett
  2. The Mind and Words of Jesus by John Ross MacDuff
  3. The Incomparable Christ by J. Oswald Sanders
  4. The Master by Frederick Tatford
  5. The Heart of Christ by Thomas Goodwin
  6. The Son of God by J.G. Bellett
  7. The Great Physician by G. Campbell Morgan
  8. Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
  9. On the Incarnation by Athanasius
  10. The Faces Of Jesus by Frederick Buechner

God the Holy Spirit

We cannot neglect the communion of the Holy Spirit.

  1. When He Is Come by A.W. Tozer
  2. How to be Filled with the Spirit by A.W. Tozer
  3. The Power of the Spirit by William Law
  4. The Baptism With the Holy Spirit by R.A. Torrey
  5. Through the Eternal Spirit by James Elder Cumming
  6. They Found the Secret by V. Raymond Edman
  7. Living Water by Chuck Smith
  8. The Ministry of the Spirit by A.J. Gordon

Pastoral Ministry

  1. The Work of the Pastor by William Still
  2. Heralds of God by James Stewart
  3. Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon
  4. The Ministry of the Word by G. Campbell Morgan
  5. The Stain That Stays by John Armstrong
  6. Meditations On Preaching by Francis James Grimke
  7. Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper
  8. Theology as a Way of Life by Adam Neder
    (This book is really focused toward teachers of theology but the principles apply to pastoral life.)
  9. Pastor and Prayer by E.M. Bounds

Pastoral Biography

  1. Harold St. John by Patricia St. John
  2. My Pilgrimage by F.W. Boreham
  3. Robert Murray M'Cheyne by J.C. Smith
  4. The Life of A.W. Tozer by James L. Snyder
  5. Dying to Live by William Still
  6. Spurgeon by Arnold A. Dallimore
  7. The Faithful Preacher by Thabiti M. Anyabwile

Heaven

We desperately need to set our minds on things above!

  1. Heaven: A Place, A City, A Home by E.M. Bounds
  2. Heaven: A World of Love by Jonathan Edwards
  3. The New Jerusalem by Robert Govett
  4. Heaven by Randy Alcorn
  5. What About Heaven? by W. Graham Scroggie
  6. The Other Side of Death by J. Sidlow Baxter
  7. The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis (The entitled address is only one of many in the book but it is worth the price of the whole book!)
  8. The World to Come by Isaac Watts
  9. Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Heaven by Peter Kreeft
  10. The Glory of Heaven by John MacArthur

The Other Side of Things

Satan, Sin, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, Suffering, and Hell. We cannot have a well-rounded spiritual life without a healthy understanding of these Biblical topics.

  1. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
  2. The Strategy of Satan by Warren Wiersbe
  3. Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen
  4. The Voice of the Devil by G. Campbell Morgan
  5. NOT the Way It's Supposed to Be; A Breviary of Sin by Cornelius Plantinga Jr.
  6. Creation and Fall & Temptation by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
  7. I Talk Back To The Devil by A.W. Tozer
  8. The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
  9. Satan: His Motives and Methods by Lewis Sperry Chafer
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