The eleventh book in the Finney and Spurgeon Face-to-Face series is The Power of Persistent Prayer & The Story of a Relentless WidowThe Power of Persistent Prayer & The Story of a Relentless Widow, where the messages of Charles G. Finney and Charles H. Spurgeon come face-to-face. The Power of Persistent Prayer & The Story of a Relentless WidowThe Power of Persistent Prayer & The Story of a Relentless Widow reveals the open secret behind all of Charles Finney’s and Charles Spurgeon’s effective ministry and preaching. Finney wrote: “I have said many times that in revivals the most distinctive feature has been a prevailing spirit of prayer. Answers to prayers were so many that people were convinced that God answered prayers every day and moment.” In Finney’s sermon, with great depth and many personal applications, he explains Luke 18:1 — And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. His message serves as an excellent introduction on prayer. He wrote: “If I am to preach with only two hours for preparation, I give one hour to prayer.” In Luke 18:1-8, Spurgeon’s sermon below explains the meaning of Jesus’ story of a persistent or relentless widow and teaches why we should pray persistently.

Charles Spurgeon preached most of his sermons in the Metropolitan Tabernacle that was built so he could preach to huge crowds in England, and like Finney he taught in a Bible College he helped found. Spurgeon preached before and after Finney’s death, but I have no knowledge that Spurgeon ever read any sermons of Finney’s or that Finney ever read any of Spurgeon’s sermons, but we do have evidence that Spurgeon commended Finney’s preaching for its effectiveness in leading people to saving faith in Jesus Christ., which is included in this book.

Without question among Nineteenth Century preachers and revivalists, Finney was America’s greatest revivalist and Spurgeon was England’s greatest preacher. Both men led thousands to faith in Jesus Christ during their lifetimes, and both men influence students of the Bible, and Christian preachers, revivalists, and theologians today. These two great Bible expositors can be studied together by reading their sermons on the same Biblical themes. Often contrasted in secondary sources, with the books in the Finney and Spurgeon Face-to-Face series readers can compare as well as contrast these men by reading what they actually taught. In addition, they can glean rich resources for their own preaching or teaching.