When looking for a book on prayer, I came across a book with this subtitle, 'The Prayerful Life of George Muller.' Well, I'd recently seen a documentary that detailed some of his life, and that portrayed him as a man of vision and prayer, who trusted The Lord for the provision to house and educate the many orphans surviving the streets of Bristol. I'd heard his name before, and always assumed that he was an English man, so I was surprised to learn that he was German and that he came to England to be a missionary primarily to the Jews.
I ordered the book, Robber of the Cruel Streets, and had a truly blessed week as I read about the prayer life of George, and couldn't help but be encouraged by this man's testimony of Jehovah Jireh, The Lord my Provider.
I have a VERY condensed version of the book here, just to give you a brief insight to what the power of God can do with all of our lives. Though this is a quick outline about George, it's really about the faithfulness of a loving God, who sees the beginning from the end.......
It's also the anniversary of George's promotion to Glory! He was 92..
GEORGE MULLER 1805-1898
Georges transition from a thieving, lying drunkard, to a praying, preaching man of faith is, as you can imagine, extraordinary.
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| George, aged 90 |
What can change a selfish, greedy, pleasure seeking, consequence defying, independent cheat, into a man desiring to live completely for another, Jesus, what ever the cost? George, though intelligent and educated, well schooled with opportunity to progress, was a rogue through and through, and thought nothing of stealing and lying to satisfy his love of luxury. As a child as young as 10, he was already a convincing skilled liar, deceiving his father in money matters.
By the age of 14 he was stealing to fund his gambling and indulgent drinking sessions. All of this while he was studying and preparing to work as a minister in the Lutheran Church (his fathers plan, though George did not resist the idea to have a comfortable living as a hypocrite.....)
At 16, the law caught up with him as he found himself in Wolfenbuttle Jail after several weeks of going from village to village, running up huge tabs in hotels and Inns, eating and drinking as if he were a King though he had not a penny in his pocket. Remarkably, when caught and arrested, his father paid the monies owed to the hotels, including the Jail fee and Georges coach fare back home! This did nothing to change George's pleasure seeking heart, and he continued to lie and steal without remorse.
It's hard to imagine that this is the one who would choose to be financially dependent on an invisible God, who would swap his lifestyle to live hand to mouth each day while praying for the needs of orphans under his care. But that's exactly what did happen. God always has a plan......
When he was aged 20, an invitation was given to George by one of his former drinking pals, to a prayer meeting. Intrigued, he went. There, though he had been studying theology for years, he saw someone kneel to pray for the first time. He heard spontaneous prayer, something completely new to him, as prayer was usually very formal, read from the prayer book. The whole evening made a huge impression on him. People were gathered there because they wanted to be, and they were there to meet with God, not to hold a 'religious service.' He left the meeting with 'un-explainable joy.'
This prayer meeting was to change the whole direction that George thought he was set for, and it had been perfectly timed with people set in position to encourage and teach this professional rebel in the ways of Christ, which he gladly received. This new found joy far exceeded anything he had ever felt while living to sin.
After his conversion, George felt called to life as a missionary, with prayer becoming a main focus in his life. The revelation that a Christian life is one that's fully surrendered to God was a surprisingly welcomed concept for one who had continually lived only for his own self gratification.
God's calling on his life was to be in Bristol where he and his wife Mary would pioneer a work, caring the many orphans there, believing that God would provide. But as practice run for this life of faith, they first served at a church in Devon for a couple of years, not knowing that this was The Lord's training ground, preparing them to trust in God for greater things.
By the perfect planning of God, Mary's brother was to have a HUGE influence on them as a Christian couple. His name was Anthony Groves, an independent missionary who was serving in Baghdad, unsupported by the 'Church', and living 'by faith alone for daily provision.' He wrote this booklet to challene the mind sets of the time, subtitling it,
The Consideration of Our Saviour's Precept
"Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth."
....which I also bought, devoured, and loved. No wonder young Mr and Mrs Muller were moved and inspired to break off with convention and actually believe that God would give them their daily bread, when asked!
At a time when ministers financial needs were met by charging the congregation a pew fee (very common back then...), George was to go against this accepted tradition, insisting that the Gospel was not to be paid for.
Here's a page from the book, Robber of the Cruel Streets, showing their response as a couple to their need to find an alternative source of income besides charging for seats in the church....
The Lord was to prove faithful, on every account, because He is. George and Mary determined together that they would not utter to another regarding their needs, they would simply take to The Lord, commit it to His keeping, and wait expectantly for Him to move on someones heart to give to them. In the beginning, they considered this to be an experiment, a chance to see if Anthony Grove's method (and God's method!) of 'praying in the provision' really worked on a daily basis.
This was to be a very trying experiment. At times the Mullers were down to their last pence, and in need of food, but dared not tell others, as they believed that God would be glorified when He alone was depended on. If they couldn't trust Almighty God for their own daily bread, then the words of Jesus in The Lords prayer were full of false hope, and they would never trust Him for greater needs. They were tried to the hilt.
At one point, after many prayers had produced nothing, Muller's faith took a real dive when he said 'I began to say to myself I had gone too far in living in this way.' After some more time of wrestling with doubts, he rose from prayers to discover that a lady had been and left some money for them. It is not unusual to be tempted to rely on human help, as it is something that is done in the 'natural,' but here we've just seen a perfect example of God allowing someone He loves, to experience the temptation to doubt, for without it how can the man be an overcomer, and have his faith honoured?
God alone was praised when George returned to his study, with provision in hand, knowing that victory had been won. The Lord IS faithful, and this trial of faith (which became part of their every day life) was to be won time and time again as both George and Mary sought all provision from God alone.
Here's a peek inside the book again...........
(sorry it's a little blurred)
It is of no surprise, that in the years to come God abundantly blessed this prayerfully dependent couple with remarkable increase, though they lived in reliance daily. George had learned the skill of accurate book keeping, and he purposely recorded every transaction. Each coin that came in, by whom, and when and why it was spent. This was to prove necessary down the line, for people found it impossible to believe that George could afford to pay for and run an orphan house, when he had no income.
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| St Wilson Street, the first four Orphan houses |
When he prayed for another house, provision came, staff came, utensils, clothes, furniture all came, and all through prayer. Food was prayed in daily, and came daily. There was no back up plan. Either the Lord brought food, or the children had nothing to eat. They eventually had four orphan houses in a row, but they were soon to outgrow even this, as The Lord increased George Muller's vision.
As time went on, the Mullers were to buy land and build what is known as the Ashley Downs Orphanages. In 1845 he had a contract for the land, initially to rehouse 300 children. Four years later the first building was ready and the orphans moved from Wilson street to their new home. 37 years later there were five buildings and 2000 children in their care! All provided for through prayer, not one fundraising campaign.
All of this is a testimony to the power of prayer, asking God, believing it shall be given, trusting on His ability to provide for His own work. George Muller and his wife was moved to try this as a simple experiment, trusting God for their daily bread, little knowing that the Lord was preparing them to trust in Him for the daily bread of 2000 children, staff, and themselves, AND clothes, furniture, land, schooling, my goodness!!
In between the chapters of the book I am sifting from are prompters regarding the readers own prayer life. Here's a little paragraph that is worth considering and putting into practice....
Many find a close-kept notebook record of dated requests and answers to prayer an indespensible way not only of listing things to pray for,
but as a record of considerable encouragement.
We all easily forget, and to see something listed as 'prayed for' and then ticked off,
is a concrete reminder.
As Muller said "It is a cleaer testimonial of God's faithfulness." p117
So, why not consider creating your own prayer diary as a testimony to Gods faithfulness?
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