 HEN
God wishes anew to teach His Church a truth that is not being understood
or practised, He mostly does so by raising some man to be in word and deed
a living witness to its blessedness. And so God has raised up in this
nineteenth century, among others, George Muller to be His witness that He
is indeed the Hearer of prayer. I know of no way in which the principal
truths of God’s word in regard to prayer can be more effectually
illustrated and established than a short review of his life and of what he
tells of his prayer-experiences.
He was born in Prussia on 25th September 1805, and is thus now eighty
years of age. His early life, even after having entered the University of
Halle as a theological student, was wicked in the extreme. Led by a friend
one evening, when just twenty years of age, to a prayer meeting, he was
deeply impressed, and soon after brought to know the Saviour. Not long
after he began reading missionary papers, and in course of time offered
himself to the London Society for promoting Christianity to the Jews. He
was accepted as a student, but soon found that he could not in all things
submit to the rules of the Society, as leaving too little liberty for the
leading of the Holy Spirit. The connection was dissolved in 1830 by mutual
consent, and he became the pastor of a small congregation at Teignmouth.
In 1832 he was led to Bristol, and it was as pastor of Bethesda Chapel
that he was led to the Orphan Home and other work, in connection with
which God has so remarkably led him to trust His word and to experience
how God fulfils that word.
A few extracts in regard to his spiritual life will prepare the way for
what we specially wish to quote of his experiences in reference to prayer.
‘In connection with this I would mention, that the Lord very graciously
gave me, from the very commencement of my divine life, a measure of
simplicity and of childlike disposition in spiritual things, so that
whilst I was exceedingly ignorant of the Scriptures, and was still from
time to time overcome even by outward sins, yet I was enabled to carry
most minute matters to the Lord in prayer. And I have found “godliness
profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come.” Though very weak and ignorant, yet I had now, by
the grace of God, some desire to benefit others, and he who so faithfully
had once served Satan, sought now to win souls for Christ.’
It was at Teignmouth that he was led to know how to use God’s word , and
to trust the Holy Spirit as the Teacher given by God to make that word
clear. He writes:—
‘God then began to show me that the word of God alone is our standard of
judgment in spiritual things; that it can be explained only by the Holy
Spirit; and that in our day, as well as in former times. He is the Teacher
of His people. The office of the Holy Spirit I had not experimentally
understood before that time.
‘It was my beginning to understand this latter point in particular, which
had a great effect on me; for the Lord enabled me to put it to the test of
experience, by laying aside commentaries, and almost every other book and
simply reading the word of God and studying it.
‘The result of this was, that the first evening that I shut myself into my
room, to give myself to prayer and meditation over the Scriptures, I
learned more in a few hours than I had done during a period of several
months previously.
‘But the particular difference was that I received real strength for my
soul in so doing. I now began to try by the test of the Scriptures the
things which I had learned and seen, and found that only those principles
which stood the test were of real value.’
Of obedience to the word of God, he writes as follows, in connection with
his being baptized:—
‘It had pleased God, in His abundant mercy, to bring my mind into such a
state, that I was willing to carry out into my life whatever I should find
in the Scriptures. I could say, “I will do His will,” and it was on that
account, I believe, that I saw which “doctrine is of God.”—And I would
observe here, by the way, that the passage to which I have just alluded
(John vii. 17) has been a most remarkable comment to me on many doctrines
and precepts of our most holy faith. For instance: “Resist not evil; but
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him
have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with
him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of
thee, turn not thou away. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you,
and persecute you” (Matt. v. 39-44). “Sell that ye have, and give
alms”(Luke xii. 33). “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another”(Rom.
xii. 8). It may be said, “Surely these passages cannot be taken literally,
for how then would the people of God be able to pass through the world?”
The state of mind enjoined in John vii. 17 will cause such objections to
vanish. WHOSOEVER IS WILLING TO ACT OUT these commandments of the Lord
LITERALLY, will, I believe, be led with me to see that to take them
LITERALLY is the will of God.—Those who do so take them will doubtless
often be brought into difficulties, hard to the flesh to bear, but these
will have a tendency to make them constantly feel that they are strangers
and pilgrims here, that this world is not their home, and thus to throw
them more upon God, who will assuredly help us through any difficulty into
which we may be brought by seeking to act in obedience to His word.’
This implicit surrender to God’s word led him to certain views and conduct
in regard to money, which mightily influenced his future life. They had
their root in the conviction that money was a Divine stewardship, and that
all money had therefore to be received and dispensed in direct fellowship
with God Himself. This led him to the adoption of the following four great
rules: 1. Not to receive any fixed salary, both because in the collecting
of it there was often much that was at variance with the freewill offering
with which God’s service is to be maintained, and in the receiving of it a
danger of placing more dependence on human sources of income than in the
living God Himself. 2. Never to ask any human being for help, however
great the need might be, but to make his wants known to the God who has
promised to care for His servants and to hear their prayer. 3. To take
this command (Luke xii. 33) literally, ‘Sell that thou hast and give
alms,’ and never to save up money, but to spend all God entrusted to him
on God’s poor, on the work of His kingdom. 4. Also to take Rom. xiii. 8,
‘Owe no man anything,’ literally, and never to buy on credit, or be in
debt for anything, but to trust God to provide.
This mode of living was not easy at first. But Muller testifies it was
most blessed in bringing the soul to rest in God, and drawing it into
closer union with Himself when inclined to backslide. ‘For it will not do,
it is not possible, to live in sin, and at the same time, by communion
with God, to draw down from heaven everything one needs for the life that
now is.’
Not long after his settlement at Bristol, ‘THE SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE
INSTITUTION FOR HOME AND ABROAD’ was established for aiding in Day, Sunday
School, Mission and Bible work. Of this Institution the Orphan Home work,
by which Mr. Muller is best known, became a branch. It was in 1834 that
his heart was touched by the case of an orphan brought to Christ in one of
the schools, but who had to go to a poorhouse where its spiritual wants
would not be cared for. Meeting shortly after with a life of Franke, he
writes (Nov, 20, 1835): ‘Today I have had it very much laid on my heart no
longer merely to think about the establishment of an Orphan Home, but
actually to set about it, and I have been very much in prayer respecting
it, in order to ascertain the Lord’s mind. May God make it plain.’ And
again, Nov. 25: ‘I have been again much in prayer yesterday and today
about the Orphan Home, and am more and more convinced that it is of God.
May He in mercy guide me. The three chief reasons are—1. That God may be
glorified, should He be pleased to furnish me with the means, in its being
seen that it is not a vain thing to trust Him; and that thus the faith of
His children may be strengthened. 2. The spiritual welfare of fatherless
and motherless children. 3. Their temporal welfare.’
After some months of prayer and waiting on God, a house was rented, with
room for thirty children , and in course of time three more, containing in
all 120 children. The work was carried on it this way for ten years, the
supplies for the needs of the orphans being asked and received of God
alone. It was often a time of sore need and much prayer, but a trial of
faith more precious than of gold was found unto praise and honour and
glory of God. The Lord was preparing His servant for greater things. By
His providence and His Holy Spirit, Mr. Muller was led to desire, and to
wait upon God till he received from Him, the sure promise of £15,000 for a
Home to contain 300 children. This first Home was opened in 1849. In 1858,
a second and third Home, for 950 more orphans, was opened, costing
£35,000. And in 1869 and 1870, a fourth and a fifth Home, for 850 more, at
an expense of £50,000, making the total number of the orphans 2100.
In addition to this work, God has given him almost as much as for the
building of the Orphan Homes, and the maintenance of the orphans, for
other work, the support of schools and missions, Bible and tract
circulation. In all he has received from God, to be spent in His work,
during these fifty years, more than one million pounds sterling. How
little he knew, let us carefully notice, that when he gave up his little
salary of £35 a year in obedience to the leading of God’s word and the
Holy Spirit, what God was preparing to give him as the reward of obedience
and faith; and how wonderfully the word was to be fulfilled to him: ‘Thou
hast been faithful over few things; I will set thee over many things.’
And these things have happened for an ensample to us. God calls us to be
followers of George Muller, even as he is of Christ. His God is our God;
the same promises are for us; the same service of love and faith in which
he laboured is calling for us on every side. Let us in connection with our
lessons in the school of prayer study the way in which God gave George
Muller such power as a man of prayer: we shall find in it the most
remarkable illustration of some of the lessons which we have been studying
with the bl word. We shall specially have impressed upon us His first
great lesson, that if we will come to Him in the way He has pointed out,
with definite petitions, made known to us by the Spirit through the word
as being according to the will of God, we may most confidently believe
that whatsoever we ask it shall be done.PRAYER AND
THE WORD OF GOD.
We have more than once seen that God’s listening to our voice depends
upon our listening to His voice. (See Lessons 22 and 23.) We must not only
have a special promise to plead, when we make a special request, but our
whole life must be under the supremacy of the word: the word must be
dwelling in us. The testimony of George Muller on this point is most
instructive. He tells us how the discovery of the true place of the word
of God, and the teaching of the Spirit with it, was the commencement of a
new era in his spiritual life. Of it he writes:—
‘Now the scriptural way of reasoning would have been: God Himself has
condescended to become an author, and I am ignorant about that precious
book which His Holy Spirit has caused to be written through the
instrumentality of His servants, and it contains that which I ought to
know, and the knowledge of which will lead me to true happiness; therefore
I ought to read again and again this most precious book, this book of
books, most earnestly, most prayerfully, and with much meditation; and in
this practice I ought to continue all the days of my life. For I was
aware, though I read it but little, that I knew scarcely anything of it.
But instead of acting thus and being led by my ignorance of the word of
God to study it more, my difficulty in understanding it, and the little
enjoyment I had in it, made me careless of reading it (for much prayerful
reading of the word gives not merely more knowledge, but increases the
delight we have in reading it); and thus, like many believers, I
practically preferred, for the first four years of my divine life, the
works of uninspired men to the oracles of the living God. The consequence
was that I remained a babe, both in knowledge and grace. In knowledge, I
say; for all true knowledge must be derived, by the Spirit, from the word.
And as I neglected the word, I was for nearly four years so ignorant, that
I did not clearly know even the fundamental points of our holy faith. And
this lack of knowledge most sadly kept me back from walking steadily in
the ways of God. For when it pleased the Lord in August 1829 to bring me
really to the Scriptures, my life and walk became very different. And
though ever since that I have very much fallen short of what I might and
ought to be, yet by the grace of God I have been enabled to live much
nearer to Him than before. If any believers read this who practically
prefer other books to the Holy Scriptures, and who enjoy the writings of
men much more than the word of God, may they be warned by my loss. I shall
consider this book to have been the means of doing much good, should it
please the Lord, through its instrumentality, to lead some of His people
no longer to neglect the Holy Scriptures, but to give them that preference
which they have hitherto bestowed on the writings of men.
‘Before I leave this subject, I would only add: If the reader understands
very little of the word of God, he ought to read it very much; for the
Spirit explains the word by the word. And if he enjoys the reading of the
word little, that is just the reason why he should read it much; for the
frequent reading of the Scriptures creates a delight in them, so that the
more we read them, the more we desire to do so.
‘Above all, he should seek to have it settled in his own mind that God
alone by His Spirit can teach him, and that therefore, as God will be
inquired of for blessings, it becomes him to seek God’s blessing previous
to reading, and also whilst reading.
‘He should have it, moreover, settled in his mind that although the Holy
Spirit is the best and sufficient Teacher, yet that this Teacher does not
always teach immediately when we desire it, and that therefore we may have
to entreat Him again and again for the explanation of certain passages;
but that He will surely teach us at last, if indeed we are seeking for
light prayerfully, patiently, and with a view to the glory of God.’ 4
We find in his journal frequent mention made of his spending two and three
hours in prayer over the word for the feeding of his spiritual life. As
the fruit of this, when he had need of strength and encouragement in
prayer, the individual promises were not to him so many arguments from a
book to be used with God, but living words which he had heard the Father’s
living voice speak to him, and which he could now bring to the Father in
living faith.
PRAYER AND THE WILL OF GOD.
One of the greatest difficulties with young believers is to know how
they can find out whether what they desire is according to God’s will. I
count it one of the most precious lessons God wants to teach through the
experience of George Muller, that He is willing to make know, of things of
which His word says nothing directly, that they are His will for us, and
that we may ask them. The teaching of the Spirit, not without or against
the word, but as something above and beyond it, in addition to it, without
which we cannot see God’s will, is the heritage of every believer. It is
through THE WORD, AND THE WORD ALONE, that the Spirit teaches, applying
the general principles or promises to our special need. And it is THE
SPIRIT, AND THE SPIRIT ALONE, who can really make the word a light on our
path, whether the path of duty in our daily walk, or the path of faith in
our approach to God. Let us try and notice in what childlike simplicity
and teachableness it was that the discovery of God’s will was so surely
and so clearly made known to His servant.
With regard to the building of the first Home and the assurance he had of
its being God’s will, he writes in May 1850, just after it had been
opened, speaking of the great difficulties there were, and how little
likely it appeared to nature that they would be removed: ‘But while the
prospect before me would have been overwhelming had I looked at it
naturally, I was never even for once permitted to question how it would
end. For as from the beginning I was sure it was the will of God that I
should go to the work of building for Him this large Orphan Home, so also
from the beginning I was as certain that the whole would be finished as if
the Home had been already filled.’
The way in which he found out what was God’s will, comes out with special
clearness in his account of the building of the second Home; and I ask the
reader to study with care the lesson the narrative conveys:—
‘Dec. 5, 1850.—Under these circumstances I can only pray that the Lord in
His tender mercy would not allow Satan to gain an advantage over me. By
the grace of God my heart says: Lord, if I could be sure that it is Thy
will that I should go forward in this matter, I would do so cheerfully;
and, on the other hand, if I could be sure that these are vain, foolish,
proud thoughts, that they are not from Thee, I would, by Thy grace, hate
them, and entirely put them aside.
‘My hope is in God: He will help and teach me. Judging, however, from His
former dealings with me, it would not be a strange thing to me, nor
surprising, if He called me to labour yet still more largely in this way.
‘The thoughts about enlarging the Orphan work have not yet arisen on
account of an abundance of money having lately come in; for I have had of
late to wait for about seven weeks upon God, whilst little, very little
comparatively, came in, i.e. about four times as much was going out as
came in; and, had not the Lord previously sent me large sums, we should
have been distressed indeed.
‘Lord! how can Thy servant know Thy will in this matter? Wilt Thou be
pleased to teach him!
December 11.—During the last six days, since writing the above, I have
been, day after day, waiting upon God concerning this matter. It has
generally been more or less all the day on my heart. When I have been
awake at night, it has not been far from my thoughts. Yet all this without
the least excitement. I am perfectly calm and quiet respecting it. My soul
would be rejoiced to go forward in this service, could I be sure that the
Lord would have me to do so; for then, notwithstanding the numberless
difficulties, all would be well; and His Name would be magnified.
‘On the other hand, were I assured that the Lord would have me to be
satisfied with my present sphere of service, and that I should not pray
about enlarging the work, by His grace I could, without an effort,
cheerfully yield to it; for He has brought me into such a state of heart,
that I only desire to please Him in this matter. Moreover, hitherto I have
not spoken about this thing even to my beloved wife, the sharer of my
joys, sorrows, and labours for more than twenty years; nor is it likely
that I shall do so for some time to come: for I prefer quietly to wait on
the Lord, without conversing on this subject, in order that thus I may be
kept the more easily, by His blessing, from being influenced by things
from without. The burden of my prayer concerning this matter is, that the
Lord would not allow me to make a mistake, and that He would teach me to
do His will.
‘December 26.—Fifteen days have elapsed since I wrote the preceding
paragraph. Every day since then I have continued to pray about this
matter, and that with a goodly measure of earnestness, by the help of God.
There has passed scarcely an hour during these days, in which, whilst
awake, this matter has not been more or less before me. But all without
even a shadow of excitement. I converse with no one about it. Hitherto
have I not even done so with my dear wife. For this I refrain still, and
deal with God alone about the matter, in order that no outward influence
and no outward excitement may keep me from attaining unto a clear
discovery of His will. I have the fullest and most peaceful assurance that
He will clearly show me His will. This evening I have had again an
especial solemn season for prayer, to seek to know the will of God. But
whilst I continue to entreat and beseech the Lord, that He would not allow
me to be deluded in this business, I may say I have scarcely any doubt
remaining on my mind as to what will be the issue, even that I should go
forward in this matter. As this, however, is one of the most momentous
steps that I have ever taken, I judge that I cannot go about this matter
with too much caution, prayerfulness, and deliberation. I am in no hurry
about it. I could wait for years, by God’s grace, were this His will,
before even taking one single step toward this thing, or even speaking to
anyone about it; and, on the other hand, I would set to work tomorrow,
were the Lord to bid me do so. This calmness of mind, this having no will
of my own in the matter, this only wishing to please my Heavenly Father in
it, this only seeking His and not my honour in it; this state of heart, I
say, is the fullest assurance to me that my heart is not under a fleshly
excitement, and that, if I am helped thus to go on, I shall know the will
of God to the full. But, while I write this, I cannot but add at the same
time, that I do crave the honour and the glorious privilege to be more and
more used by the Lord.
‘I desire to be allowed to provide scriptural instruction for a thousand
orphans, instead of doing so for 300. I desire to expound the Holy
Scriptures regularly to a thousand orphans, instead of doing so to 300. I
desire that it may be yet more abundantly manifest that God is still the
Hearer and Answerer of prayer, and that He is the living God now as He
ever was and ever will be, when He shall simply, in answer to prayer, have
condescended to provide me with a house for 700 orphans and with means to
support them. This last consideration is the most important point in my
mind. The Lord’s honour is the principal point with me in this whole
matter; and just because this is the case, if He would be more glorified
by not going forward in this business, I should by His grace be perfectly
content to give up all thoughts about another Orphan House. Surely in such
a state of mind, obtained by the Holy Spirit, Thou, O my Heavenly Father,
wilt not suffer Thy child to be mistaken, much less deluded. By the help
of God I shall continue further day by day to wait upon Him in prayer,
concerning this thing, till He shall bid me act.
‘Jan. 2, 1851.—A week ago I wrote the preceding paragraph. During this
week I have still been helped day by day, and more than once every day, to
seek the guidance of the Lord about another Orphan House. The burden of my
prayer has still been, that He in His great mercy would keep me from
making a mistake. During the last week the book of Proverbs has come in
the course of my Scripture reading, and my heart has been refreshed in
reference to this subject by the following passages: “Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all
thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Prov. iii. 5,
6). By the grace of God I do acknowledge the Lord in all my ways, and in
this thing in particular; I have therefore the comfortable assurance that
He will direct my paths concerning this part of my service, as to whether
I shall be occupied in it our not. Further: “The integrity of the upright
shall preserve them” (Prov. xi. 3). By the grace of God I am upright in
this business. My honest purpose is to get glory to God. Therefore I
expect to be guided aright. Further: “Commit thy works unto the Lord, and
thy thoughts shall be established” (Prov. xvi. 3). I do commit my works
unto the Lord, and therefore expect that my thoughts will be established.
My heart is more and more coming to a calm, quiet, and settled assurance,
that the Lord will condescend to use me still further in the orphan work.
Here Lord is Thy servant.’
When later he decided to build two additional houses, Nos. 4 and 5, he
writes thus again:—
‘Twelve days have passed away since I wrote the last paragraph. I have
still day by day been enabled to wait upon the Lord with reference to
enlarging the Orphan work, and have been during the whole of this period
also in perfect peace, which is the result of seeking in this thing only
the Lord’s honour and the temporal and spiritual benefit of my fellow-men.
Without an effort could I by His grace put aside all thoughts about this
whole affair, if only assured that it is the will of God that I should do
so; and, on the other hand, would at once go forward, if He would have it
be so. I have still kept this matter entirely to myself. Though it be now
about seven weeks, since day by day, more or less, my mind has been
exercised about it, and since I have been daily praying about it, yet not
one human being knows of it. As yet I have not even mentioned it to my
dear wife in order that thus, by quietly waiting upon God, I might not be
influenced by what might be said to me on the subject. This evening has
been particularly set apart for prayer, beseeching the Lord once more not
to allow me to be mistaken in this thing, and much less to be deluded by
the devil. I have also sought to let all the reasons against building
another Orphan House, and all the reasons for doing so pass before my
mind: and now for the clearness and definiteness, write them down. . .
‘Much, however, as the nine previous reasons weigh with me, yet they would
not decide me were there not one more. It is this. After having for months
pondered the matter, and having looked at it in all its bearings and with
all its difficulties, and then having been finally led, after much prayer,
to decide on this enlargement, my mind is at peace. The child who has
again and again besought His Heavenly Father not to allow him to be
deluded, nor even to make a mistake, is at peace, perfectly at peace
concerning this decision; and has thus the assurance that the decision
come to, after much prayer during weeks and months, is the leading of the
Holy Spirit; and therefore purposes to go forward, assuredly believing
that he will not be confounded, for he trusts in God. Many and great may
be his difficulties; thousands and ten thousands of prayers may have
ascended to God, before the full answer may be obtained; much exercise of
faith and patience may be required; but in the end it will again be seen,
that His servant, who trusts in Him, has not been confounded.’
PRAYER AND THE GLORY OF GOD.
We have sought more than once to enforce the truth, that while we
ordinarily seek the reasons of our prayers not being heard in the thing we
ask not being according to the will of God, Scripture warns us to find the
cause in ourselves, in our not being in the right state or not asking in
the right spirit. The thing may be in full accordance with His will, but
the asking, the spirit of the supplicant, not; then we are not heard. As
the great root of all sin is self and self-seeking, so there is nothing
that even in our more spiritual desires so effectually hinders God in
answering as this: we pray for our own pleasure or glory. Prayer to have
power and prevail must ask for the glory of God; and he can only do this
as he is living for God’s glory.
In George Muller we have one of the most remarkable instances on record of
God’s Holy Spirit leading a man deliberately and systematically, at the
outset of a course of prayer, to make the glorifying of God his first and
only object. Let us ponder well what he says, and learn the lesson God
would teach us through him:—
‘I had constantly cases brought before me, which proved that one of the
especial things which the children of God needed in our day, was to have
their faith strengthened.
‘I longed, therefore, to have something to point my brethren to, as a
visible proof that our God and Father is the same faithful God as ever He
was; as willing as ever to PROVE Himself to be the LIVING GOD in our day
as formerly, to all who put their trust in Him.
‘My spirit longed to be instrumental in strengthening their faith, by
giving them not only instances from the word of God, of His willingness
and ability to help all who rely upon Him, but to show them by proofs that
He is the same in our day. I knew that the word of God ought to be enough,
and it was by grace enough for me; but still I considered I ought to lend
a helping hand to my brethren.
‘I therefore judged myself bound to be the servant of the Church of
Christ, in the particular point in which I had obtained mercy; namely, in
being able to take God at His word and rely upon it. The first object of
the work was, and is still: that God might be magnified by the fact that
the orphans under my care are provided with all they need, only by prayer
and faith, without any one being asked; thereby it may be seen that God is
FAITHFUL STILL, AND HEARS PRAYER STILL.
‘I have again these last days prayed much about the Orphan House, and have
frequently examined my heart; that if it were at all my desire to
establish it for the sake of gratifying myself, I might find it out. For
as I desire only the Lord’s glory, I shall be glad to be instructed by the
instrumentality of my brother, if the matter be not of Him.
‘When I began the Orphan work in 1835, my chief object was the glory of
God, by giving a practical demonstration as to what could be accomplished
simply through the instrumentality of prayer and faith, in order thus to
benefit the Church at large, and to lead a careless world to see the
reality of the things of God, by showing them in this work, that the
living God is still, as 4000 years ago, the living God. This my aim has
been abundantly honoured. Multitudes of sinners have been thus converted,
multitudes of the children of God in all parts of the world have been
benefited by this work, even as I had anticipated. But the larger the work
as grown, the greater has been the blessing, bestowed in the very way in
which I looked for blessing: for the attention of hundreds of thousands
has been drawn to the work; and many tens of thousands have come to see
it. All this leads me to desire further and further to labour on in this
way, in order to bring yet greater glory to the Name of the Lord. That He
may be looked at, magnified, admired, trusted in, relied on at all times,
is my aim in this service; and so particularly in this intended
enlargement. That it may be seen how much one poor man, simply by trusting
in God, can bring about by prayer; and that thus other children of God may
be led to carry on the work of God in dependence upon Him; and that
children of God may be led increasingly to trust in Him in their
individual positions and circumstances, therefore I am led to this further
enlargement.’
PRAYER AND TRUST IN GOD.
There are other points on which I would be glad to point out what is to
be found in Mr. Muller’s narrative, but one more must suffice. It is the
lesson of firm and unwavering trust in God’s promise as the secret of
persevering prayer. If once we have, in submission to the teaching of the
Spirit in the word, taken hold of God’s promise, and believed that the
Father has heard us, we must not allow ourselves by any delay or
unfavourable appearances be shaken in our faith.
‘The full answer to my daily prayers was far from being realized; yet
there was abundant encouragement granted by the Lord, to continue in
prayer. But suppose, even, that far less had come in than was received,
still, after having come to the conclusion, upon scriptural grounds, after
much prayer and self-examination, I ought to have gone on without
wavering, in the exercise of faith and patience concerning this object;
and thus all the children of God, when once satisfied that anything which
they bring before God in prayer, is according to His will, ought to
continue in believing, expecting, persevering prayer until the blessing is
granted. Thus am I myself now waiting upon God for certain blessings, for
which I have daily besought Him for ten years and six months without one
day’s intermission. Still the full answer is not yet given concerning the
conversion of certain individuals, though in the meantime I have received
many thousands of answers to prayer. I have also prayed daily without
intermission for the conversion of other individuals about ten years, for
others six or seven years, for others from three or two years; and still
the answer is not yet granted concerning those persons, while in the
meantime many thousands of my prayers have been answered, and also souls
converted, for whom I had been praying. I lay particular stress on this
for the benefit of those who may suppose that I need only to ask of God,
and receive at once; or that I might pray concerning anything, and the
answer would surely come. One can only expect to obtain answers to prayers
which are according to the mind of God; and even then, patience and faith
may be exercised for many years, even as mine are exercised, in the matter
to which I have referred; and yet am I daily continuing in prayer, and
expecting the answer, and so surely expecting the answer, that I have
often thanked God that He will surely give it, though now for nineteen
years faith and patience have thus been exercised. Be encouraged, dear
Christians, with fresh earnestness to give yourselves to prayer, if you
can only be sure that you ask things which are for the glory of God.
‘But the most remarkable point is this, that £6, 6s. 6d. from Scotland
supplied me, as far as can be known now, with all the means necessary for
fitting up and promoting the New Orphan Houses. Six years and eight months
I have been day by day, and generally several times daily, asking the Lord
to give me the needed means for this enlargement of the Orphan work,
which, according to calculations made in the spring of 1861, appeared to
be about fifty thousand pounds: the total of this amount I had now
received. I praise and magnify the Lord for putting this enlargement of
the work into my heart, and for giving me courage and faith for it; and
above all, for sustaining my faith day by day without wavering. When the
last portion of the money was received, I was no more assured concerning
the whole, that I was at the time I had not received one single donation
towards this large sum. I was at the beginning, after once having
ascertained His mind, through most patient and heart-searching waiting
upon God, as fully assured that He would bring it about, as if the two
houses, with their hundreds of orphans occupying them, had been already
before me. I make a few remarks here for the sake of young believers in
connection with this subject: 1. Be slow to take new steps in the Lord’s
service, or in your business, or in your families: weigh everything well;
weigh all in the light of the Holy Scriptures and in the fear of God. 2.
Seek to have no will of your own, in order to ascertain the mind of God,
regarding any steps you propose taking, so that you can honestly say you
are willing to do the will of God, if He will only please to instruct you.
3. But when you have found out what the will of God is, seek for His help,
and seek it earnestly, perseveringly, patiently, believingly, expectantly;
and you will surely in His own time and way obtain it.
‘To suppose that we have difficulty about money only would be a mistake:
there occur hundreds of other wants and of other difficulties. It is a
rare thing that a day occurs without some difficulty or some want; but
often there are many difficulties and many wants to be met and overcome
the same day. All these are met by prayer and faith, our universal remedy;
and we have never been confounded. Patient, persevering, believing prayer,
offered up to God, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, has always, sooner or
later, brought the blessing. I do not despair, by God’s grace, of
obtaining any blessing, provided I can be sure it would be for any real
good, and for the glory of God.
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