Course: Prayer (1) The Importance of Effective Prayer
An example
of Effective Prayer
GEORGE
MULLER, AND THE SECRET OF HIS POWER IN PRAYER
by Andrew Murray
PRAYER AND
THE GLORY OF GOD.
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
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.
1. CAREFUL NOT TO BE LED BY THE DESIRE
OF SELF GRATIFICATION
`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.
2. OBJECTIVES
`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.
3. RESULTS
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.
4. NEW GOALS
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.'