S. D. Gordon Books: A Guide to the Quiet Talks and Where to Start
PrayerChristian LifeDevotionalHoly Spirit
S. D. Gordon (1859–1936) was a YMCA worker turned traveling Bible speaker, and nearly all his books are called Quiet Talks. That's a good description of them. They're short, warm and plain, written the way he spoke, with stories on almost every page. TheWay Library has thirteen of them, all free to read. For his life story, see who was S. D. Gordon.
This guide sorts them by subject so you can find the one you need.
Where to start
If you're new to Gordon, start with Quiet Talks on Prayer. It's his best-known book and the key to the rest. Then choose by what you want:
- To learn the habit of prayer: Quiet Talks on How to Pray, then The Bent-Knee Time for a short reading each day.
- For power in the Christian life: Quiet Talks on Power.
- To know Jesus better: Quiet Talks about Jesus or Quiet Talks on John's Gospel.
- For hard questions about life: Quiet Talks on Personal Problems.
- In grief: A Quiet Talk with Those Who Weep.
Every quotation below is checked against the book it comes from. For many more, see our collection of S. D. Gordon quotes.
Books on prayer
Quiet Talks on Prayer (1904)
Gordon's classic, in four parts: what prayer means and does, what hinders it, how to pray, and Jesus' own habits of prayer. He pictures prayer as the deciding factor in a spiritual battle, with the earth as the battlefield and the praying Christian insisting on Jesus' victory over each heart and problem.
The greatest thing any one can do for God and for man is to pray.
Quiet Talks on Prayer, chapter 1
Quiet Talks on How to Pray (1929)
The practical sequel, written late in his life. He gives simple suggestions for daily praying, urges ending every request with thanks, describes five steps of growth in prayer, and explains God's will in prayer. It closes with three Bible portraits: David in a fog, Elijah on Carmel, and Paul on his knees in a Roman prison. Read Quiet Talks on How to Pray.
The Bent-Knee Time (1918)
A year of very short daily readings, one for each day, each tied to a Bible passage. Gordon meant them to start a quiet time, not replace the Bible. His opening word sets out the plan: an act of surrender, a steady purpose, and a daily habit of time alone with the Master, "with door shut, the Book open, the knee bent." Read The Bent-Knee Time.
Books on the Christian life
Quiet Talks on Power (1903)
The first Quiet Talks. Gordon asks why so many believers have so little power and finds the answer in "choked channels" and an unsurrendered self. Power comes from the unhindered presence of the Holy Spirit, a Person, received by full surrender and kept by daily trust. The chapter "The Price of Power" is the heart of the book. Read Quiet Talks on Power.
The Holy Spirit does in me what Jesus did for me.
Quiet Talks on Power, The Olivet Message
Quiet Talks on Service
Eight talks on being useful to God. He starts with the first disciples following Jesus home, then sets out the "triple life" of secret prayer, open purity and active service. Later talks deal with a passion for winning people, money as a channel of service, worry as a hindrance, and Gideon's band, sifted by God for His work. Read Quiet Talks on Service.
Quiet Talks on Following the Christ (1913)
The Christian life as a road Jesus walked first. Gordon maps it in stages: the main road of power, entered by full surrender to Jesus as Lord; the valleys of suffering; the hilltops of gladness; and the goal of seeing Him face to face. Read Quiet Talks on Following the Christ.
Quiet Talks on Personal Problems (1907)
Eight problems every Christian meets: sin, doubt, ambition, self-mastery, pain, guidance, the church, and "questioned things" such as doubtful amusements. Gordon treats life as a school and gives plain counsel from Scripture for each. The chapters on pain and on guidance are among the best things he wrote. Read Quiet Talks on Personal Problems.
Books about Jesus and the Bible
Quiet Talks about Jesus
Who Jesus is and why He came. Gordon traces God's plan for a King and a kingdom, the nation's rejection that put a cross where a crown should have been, the human and divine Jesus, and the great moments of His life from the Jordan to the Ascension. An outline with Scripture references at the end makes it useful for study groups. Read Quiet Talks about Jesus.
Quiet Talks on John's Gospel
A devotional walk through John, read as a love story: God wooing men through Jesus, from the first disciples to the upper room, the cross and the risen Lord keeping His appointments with His friends. It opens with Gordon's conviction that "everything depends on getting Jesus placed." Read Quiet Talks on John's Gospel.
Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation (1914)
Revelation as "the crown book" of the Bible, in eight talks: Christ crowned in heaven, John's vision, the letters to the seven churches, the throne room, the judgments as a "clearing-up storm," and Christ's reign. Gordon keeps it practical and asks readers to crown Christ in their own lives now. Read Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ.
No one ever had a sight of Christ's face and forgot. No one ever gets a sight of Him and gets over it.
Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation, chapter 3
A book on missions
Quiet Talks with World Winners
Gordon's call to world missions for ordinary Christians. The first half looks at God's "master passion" to win the world back home, His plan, the need, the open door, and the church's past failure. The second half looks at the forces that win: the church, each believer, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, prayer, money and sacrifice. Read Quiet Talks with World Winners.
Books for the grieving
A Quiet Talk with Those Who Weep (1915)
A short, tender booklet in seven chapters, written as if by the fire with a friend on a rainy day. Someone is here beside you; Christ's broken heart can mend yours; your loved ones are with the Lord. It ends with a frightened passenger who crept on deck in a storm and found the pilot still at his post. You can read it in an evening. Read A Quiet Talk with Those Who Weep.
Quiet Talks about Life After Death (1920)
Written after the First World War, when many grieving people were turning to séances. Gordon answers from Scripture: what we can know about believers who have died, and about others who have died, why the Bible forbids trying to reach the dead, what death is, and whether there's a second chance after death. Read Quiet Talks about Life After Death.
A note on these editions
Most of these books were restored from scans of the original printings. The Bent-Knee Time in particular still has scattered misread letters, and we're proofreading it.
Why read Gordon today
Gordon is easy to read and hard to forget. He takes prayer, surrender and the Holy Spirit seriously, and he makes them sound like things you could start doing this afternoon. Begin with Quiet Talks on Prayer, then Quiet Talks on Power. All thirteen books are on the S. D. Gordon author page.