As the Christian life does not begin without means, neither can it grow without them.

The Christian life can be daunting, especially in a world hostile to the ways of God. But the good news is that the God who calls us to be holy has also appointed helpful means so that we can grow in godliness. In Holy Helps for a Godly Life, Richard Rogers shows what the means of godliness are, describes their nature, and explains how they should be used. God has promised to give grace to those who use these means in a right and reverent way, and those who use these means in faith will discover their value for themselves.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Means to Living a Godly Life

1. The Ministry of the Word

2. The Sacraments

3. Public Prayers

4. The Necessity of Private Helps

5. Watchfulness

6. Meditation

7. The Armor of the Christian

8. The Benefit of This Armor

9. Spiritual Experience and Company in Family Exercises

10. Private Prayer and Its Parts

11. Reading

12. Solemn Thanksgiving and Fasting

Conclusion: Several Cautions for Rightly Using the Helps

Appendix: Helps for Meditation

About the Author

Richard Rogers (1551–1618) was an English Puritan minister in Wethersfield who advocated presbyterian church government and encouraged practical piety.

Endorsement

“Reformation Heritage Books has done the church a great service by making Richard Rogers’s classic available again, and editor Brian Hedges has made it much more accessible by his faithful modernization of the language when needed. The counsel in this book is helpful to Christians young and old—whether new in the faith or spiritually mature. It demonstrates not only Rogers’s gift for teaching the Bible clearly but also his pastoral concern to provide practical guidance for daily Christian living. What he said in Holy Helps to a Godly Life is as valuable today as it was when it first appeared in 1603. Now, thanks to RHB and Brian Hedges, the godly Richard Rogers, ‘being dead still speaks’ (Heb. 11:4).”

—Donald S. Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality and associate dean at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, and author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life