D. L. Moody Books: A Reader's Guide and Where to Start

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D. L. Moody preached for nearly forty years, and his sermons and talks were printed in dozens of books during his life and right after his death. TheWay Library has more than twenty of them free to read, along with the biography by J. Wilbur Chapman and two short books about him by R. A. Torrey. That's a lot to choose from, so here is a guide.

The short answer: start with The Way to God and How to Find It if you want Moody's gospel, or with Secret Power if you are already a believer and want his teaching on the Holy Spirit for Christian life and work. Then read Prevailing Prayer and Pleasure and Profit in Bible Study. Those four give you the center of Moody's message.

One thing to know first: Moody was not a writer at a desk. He had little schooling and did his work in the pulpit and the inquiry room. Most of his books were put together from his sermons and addresses, often taken down by stenographers and edited by others. They read like a man talking, with stories, questions and Scripture on every page. That's their strength.

Where to start: four books

Secret Power (1881)

Secret Power; Or, The Secret of Success in Christian Life and Work is Moody's book on the Holy Spirit, signed at Northfield on May 1, 1881. In five chapters he teaches that the Spirit is a Person, that He dwells in every believer, and that believers should also seek the Spirit upon them in power for service. It also covers the fruit of the Spirit and what grieves and quenches Him. It is about three hours of reading. See the chapter-by-chapter summary.

The Way to God and How to Find It (1884)

The Way to God is the book to hand someone who is not yet a Christian, or a new believer. Its nine chapters cover the love of God, the new birth, the two classes of people, a divine Saviour, repentance and restitution, assurance of salvation, Christ all in all, and backsliding. Moody tells here of the church in Chicago where they spelled out "God is Love" in gas jets over the pulpit.

Prevailing Prayer: What Hinders It?

Prevailing Prayer walks through the parts of true prayer one by one: adoration, confession, restitution, thanksgiving, forgiveness, unity, faith, petition and submission, then answered prayers. It is full of examples from the Bible and from people Moody knew, including George Müller.

Pleasure and Profit in Bible Study (1895)

Pleasure and Profit in Bible Study is Moody's practical book on reading the Bible: why to read it, how to study a book at a time, types, topics and single words, and how he marked his own Bible. It ends with a short list of suggestions. If you have ever wanted to love the Bible more, read this one. The library also has a second copy, restored from a scan of the 1895 printing; the first one is the cleaner text, so read that unless you want to compare.

Next: teaching on the Christian life

• Weighed and Wanting (1898) has addresses on the Ten Commandments, one for each commandment, opening with Belshazzar weighed in the balances and closing with "The Handwriting Blotted Out," on how Christ meets the law we have broken.
• Sowing and Reaping (1896) takes Galatians 6:7 and works out its plain truth: a man reaps what he sows, the same kind he sows, and more than he sows. It ends with forgiveness and a warning.
• Heaven (1880) has six chapters on heaven's hope, inhabitants, happiness, certainty, riches and rewards.
• Sovereign Grace (1891) is on grace for salvation, for living and for service.
• To the Work! To the Work! (1884) is a call to Christians to serve, with chapters on love as the motive for service, faith and courage, enthusiasm and the power of little things.
• Men of the Bible (1898) covers Abraham, Moses, Naaman, Nehemiah, John the Baptist, the man born blind, Joseph of Arimathea and the penitent thief.
• Short Talks (1900) gathers brief messages, including several on the emblems of the Holy Spirit, a good companion to chapter V of Secret Power.
• The Way and the Word (1877) is a little book with two talks: one on regeneration and one on how to study the Bible.
• Notes from My Bible (1895) collects the short sayings and seed-thoughts Moody gathered in his reading and wrote in the margins of his Bible, arranged book by book through Scripture.

Sermons

If you want to hear Moody preach the gospel, go to the sermon collections. Twelve Select Sermons (1880) includes "Where Art Thou?", "What Think Ye of Christ?", "Excuses" and "The Blood." Moody's Great Sermons (1899) is the largest collection. Moody's Latest Sermons (1900) opens with the Ninety-First Psalm, given as the last address Moody delivered. Others are Wondrous Love, The Overcoming Life, and the short That Gospel Sermon on the Blessed Hope, on the return of Christ.

Stories and illustrations

Moody was famous for his stories. Moody's Stories (1884) and Moody's Anecdotes and Illustrations (1896) collect the illustrations from his preaching. They are good for preachers and teachers, and good bedtime reading too.

Books about Moody

• The Life and Work of Dwight Lyman Moody by J. Wilbur Chapman (1900) is a full biography published right after his death, from his Northfield boyhood and the Boston shoe store to the Chicago years, the British campaigns with Sankey, the Northfield schools and his funeral. It also includes his best illustrations and his way of studying the Bible.
• Why God Used D. L. Moody by R. A. Torrey (1923) gives seven reasons, beginning with "a fully surrendered man." It takes about an hour.
• Lessons from the Life and Death of D. L. Moody by Torrey (1900) is a short message on 1 Corinthians 15:10 from just after Moody died, drawing lessons from his life.
• Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians by J. Gilchrist Lawson (1911) has a chapter on Moody among its accounts of believers filled with the Spirit.

Torrey led Moody's Bible institute in Chicago for years; you can read who R. A. Torrey was too.

A simple reading plan

1. Read who D. L. Moody was, so you know the man behind the books.
2. Read The Way to God, one chapter a day for nine days.
3. Read Secret Power, one chapter a day for a week, with the summary beside you.
4. Read Prevailing Prayer and Pleasure and Profit in Bible Study, and put them into practice.
5. Then pick from the sermons, or read Torrey's Why God Used D. L. Moody in one sitting.

For favorite lines from these books, see D. L. Moody quotes, each with its book and chapter. All of Moody's books are listed on his author page.