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In response Müller prayed; he reflected; he talked to his friends and invited them to probe his motives; and at last he gave Tholuck his reply.
and I came to regard the Scriptures alone as a sufficient source of spiritual growth.’
I came to regard the Scriptures alone as a sufficient source of spiritual growth.’
and I became a great lover of the Word of God. I found my all in God....
God. I found my all in God....
Müller drew a distinction between the ‘gift’ and the ‘grace’ of faith. He believed
when she was led to see herself a sinner.’
my only hope of trust is in the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for the remission of all my many sins.’
decided that they ought to ‘receive all whom Christ has received’ (Rom. 15:7) irrespective of their views on baptism. Chapman, well-known in the history of
On the Sunday, besides spending several hours in prayer, he spent two hours on his knees reading and ‘praying over’ Psalm 63. He wrote in his journal:
although once or twice he felt ashamed after spending time on his knees reading Whitefield’s Life instead of his Bible! On
George and Mary read Psalm 121 together, ‘The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore’, before going their separate ways –
During the following months, as his strength increased, Müller found that he preached with more enjoyment, more earnestness and more prayerfulness than before he was taken ill. He felt more ‘the solemnity of the work’.
but during his long life was never again as seriously ill as he had been in 1829 and 1837-8.
Müller was later to look back on the period from September 1838 to the end of 1846 as the time when he experienced the greatest trials of faith in the orphan work. They were not years of continuous difficulty: rather there tended to be a pattern of a few months of trial followed by some months of comparative
God supplied the need by the day, even by the hour. Enough was sent, but no more than enough.
I burst out into loud praises and thanks the first moment I was alone, after I had received the money. I met with my fellow-labourers again this evening for prayer and praise; their hearts were not a little cheered. That the money had been so near the Orphan-Houses for several days without being given is a plain proof that it was in the beginning in the heart of God to help us; but because he delights in the prayers of His children, he had allowed us to pray so long; also to try our faith, and to make the answer so much the sweeter.
‘Our funds are deposited in a bank which cannot break,’ replied the matron, avoiding breaking the rule never to reveal the state of the funds.
He did this knowing that there wasn’t enough money in hand to meet the expenses of New Year’s Day. However during the morning he received over ten pounds which more than met current needs.
that by the 1870s there were over one thousand members.
Müller decided to delay the meetings lest there should be criticism that they had been arranged in order to expose the need; the publication of the Annual Report was delayed for the same reason. Müller wrote:
Total expenditure at the Homes had been just over £1,337 and total income just over £1,339. Mr Micawber’s happiness would have been complete.
‘Our need is my comfort’. Today, as on so many other days, he would be fascinated to see how
God would send help.
that I could only sit before God, and admire Him, like David in 2 Samuel 7. At last I cast myself flat down upon my
‘the real joy I had in God when I received this sum. I was calm, not in the least excited, able to go on immediately with other work that came upon me...;
votes. In the case of Müller’s Home, nothing was necessary except application to Müller – no money, no subscribers, no votes were required. The very poorest people, without influence, without friends, without expense, wherever they lived in the United Kingdom, of whatever religious denomination or none, who applied on behalf of children who had lost both their parents could have the children admitted provided there were vacancies. Neither national nor local government made proper provision for orphans.
ask for two things. Would You please change the north wind into a south wind; and will You give the workmen a “mind to work” as You did when Nehemiah rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem in fifty-two days because “the people had a mind to work”?’
Müller remembered the second part of his prayer. God had certainly given the men ‘a mind to work’! In the
The power of fervent prayer
admissions policy highly selective.
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
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 increasingly to trust in Him, in their individual positions and circumstances, therefore I am led to this further enlargement.
combined ardent prayer with shrewd business sense – we see Müller, the tough negotiator. He knew well how much the land was worth to his Institution; but he took the view that its value to the Institution wasn’t the same as the market value.
Had an hour with Mr Müller. He spoke most preciously on the call and spirit of the missionary; on the consecutive reading of the Scriptures; on prayer and faith in God; on obstacles and thorn hedges.
honestly confess it, I couldn’t believe that you did obtain your funds simply in answer to prayer; I questioned the truth of it. However, the thing came up into my mind again and again.
The more I consider the matter, and the more I read your Report, the more I see how right and proper it is to come to God for all we need, and to trust Him for everything.
Thus Müller discovered that this was the individual on whose behalf the lawyer had written to him. An hour later this one time sceptic called at Müller’s lodgings with a cheque for one hundred
Two thousand children had to be fed and clothed; their clothes washed and mended; well over two thousand pairs of shoes had to be bought and repaired; each year hundreds of fresh children arrived who had to be fitted out with clothing and footwear; hundreds of boys and girls went out as apprentices and servants and had to be provided with suits of clothes at the expense of the Institution.
Müller’s personal assistants had their salaries paid out of money which was all prayed in.
‘we are able with as much ease, if not greater ease than very rich noblemen, to accomplish this simply by looking in our poverty to the infinitely rich One for everything’.
During the years of trial from 1838 to 1846, when Müller sometimes had to use their own money in meeting expenses in the Homes, Mary never found fault with him but joined him in prayer that God would send help. And when He did, as He always did, they often wept together for joy.
Müller believed that one of the greatest secrets of their marital bliss was that besides their times of private prayer, and family prayer, he and Mary frequently prayed together.
the boy turned to face Müller with eyes wide open. To his amazement, tears were rolling down Müller’s cheeks. There and then, according to the story, the boy was converted to Christ and
We cannot of course pretend that every child was happy on Ashley Down; some clearly weren’t. The experience was especially unhappy for children who had known for a while the love of their own parents and a normal life; for these children
teaching which was able to make them ‘wise unto salvation’ and which offered to those who would accept it, ‘life more abundant’.
‘though my heart was nigh to be broken, on account of the depth of my affection, I said to myself, “The Lord is good, and does good; all will be according to His own blessed character. Nothing but that which is good, like Himself, can proceed from Him. If He pleases to take my wife, it will be good, like Himself. What I have to do, as His child, is to be satisfied with what my Father does that I may glorify Him.”’
Psalm 119:75, ‘I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.’ Müller read the words again and again.
(Ps. 31:15).
‘You are good, and what You do is good’ (Ps. 119:68).
‘When the Lord is pleased to remove me from my post, He will prove that He was not dependent on me, and that He can easily raise up another servant of His to act on the same principles on which I have sought to carry on the work.’
