Small Beginnings...

Bristol had very poor sanitation, and soon after Muller arrived, the city was devastated by an epidemic of cholera, and many hundreds of people died.  George and Henry (Craik) visited the sick people, trusting God to keep them from catching the disease.

   

So many people had died that there were hundreds of orphans with no-one to care for them; many were reduced to begging in the streets. George Müller wanted to do something to help, and it was this that started his life's work for God.

After George, Mary and Henry had prayed about this great need for some weeks, they shared their concern with other Christians. Müller also saw this as an opportunity to prove to the people of Bristol the reality of faith in God, who answers the prayers of those who trust him.

In December 1835, George Müller wrote in his diary, "If I, a poor man, simply by prayer and faith, obtained without asking any individual the means for establishing and carrying on an Orphan-House then this would provide visible proof that God is FAITHFUL STILL and HEARS PRAYER STILL."
 

George Müller's diary tells the story of what happened next: (December 7) "Today I received the first shilling for the Orphan House"; (December 9) "This afternoon the first piece of furniture was given - a large wardrobe".

Who's Who In Christian History

A.B. Simpson: A Desperate Situation

Andrew Murray: An Impacted Life

Aurelius Augustine: A Sinful Life

Charles Finney: A Proud Heart

Charles Spurgeon: A Seeking Heart

George Muller: Indifference towards God

George Whitefield: A Religious Life

Hannah W. Smith: A Discovery of God

J. Hudson Taylor: Ignorance of the Gospel

John Calvin: An Arrested Life

John Bunyan: Mental Conflict

John Wesley: A Defeated Life

Jonathan Edwards: Miserable Seeking

Madame Guyon: A Searching Heart

Martin Luther: A Troubled Conscience

Watchman Nee: A Successful Life

Worldwide Interest

Each week I receive a report on how many visitors we get here at the Muller site. Of course I wish we could generate much more traffic but we do get 10-12 visits per day. Oh that it could be 100 or more!

It's interesting to note that of the last 75 visits to the Muller blog, we had visitors from the following countries:

United States
Trinidad & Tobago
England
New Zealand
Switzerland
Canada
Australia
Norway
Hong Kong
France
Kuwait
South Africa
Taiwan
Germany

Truly there is a worldwide interest in the life of this man who simply trusted God!

Summarizing a Life of Faith

The following summary appeared on a web site which I found today. This gives a good overview of a life well-lived. Oh that we might live for His glory as George Muller did. This summary was found here.

The Life and Ministry of George Muller:

George Mueller was a man of faith. George Mueller was a prayer warrior.

His ministry was blessed because he trusted God completely.

His 63 year ministry included: the supported missionaries, the establishment of the Scriptural Knowledge Institute in England, teaching Sunday school and day school, distributing Bibles and Christian tracts, and caring for England's orphans.

He financially supported missionary operations in 26 different countries.

He was directly involved in the Christian instruction of 121,683 pupils.

He distributed: 281,652 Bibles:

1,448,662 New Testaments; 21,343 copies of the Book of Psalms; 222,196 other portions of the Holy Scriptures.

He distributed 111,489,067 Christian tracts, booklets and pamphlets.

He was directly involved in the conversion of 2,813 orphans.

He mastered 6 languages: French, German, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and English.

Mr. Mueller was a native of Prussia, born in Kroppenstaedt, on September 27, 1805.

After his conversion, he saw beyond the present to a greater goal. He realized that God alone was able to supply his every need by faith. He took God at His Word and boldly came before the throne of grace to receive.

Mr. Mueller never found the throne vacant nor the supplies exhausted. He asked, knowing that God was able.

Near the end of his life he admitted to reading the entire Bible about 200 times; 100 times on his knees. He found God's promises, believed them, and acted accordingly.

Mr. Mueller mastered the lesson of outlooks: living by the heavenly uplook rather than the earthly outlook.

"The Lord pours in, while we seek to pour out."

He asked God to pour in the supplies, so that they might be distributed to others.

As Mr. Mueller faithfully distributed God's abundance of money and supplies; God poured in more needed materials.

Mr. Mueller testimony includes the specific answers of 50,000 prayers; 5,000 prayers had been answered on the day of asking!

He diligently kept records and his prayer request records indicate a 2-page entry format. On one page he wrote the petition and date; on the opposite page he recorded the answer date. He recommended this form to believers who desired specific results to their prayers.

"…I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down and when I rise up. And the answers are always coming. Thousands and tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. When once I am persuaded that a thing is right and for the glory of God, I go on praying for it until the answer comes. George Mueller never gives up!"

"Let not Satan deceive you, in making you think you could not have the same faith, but that is only for persons situated as I am. When I lose such a thing as a key, I ask the Lord to direct me to it, and I look for an answer to my prayer; when a person with whom I have an appointment does not come…I ask the Lord to be pleased to hasten him to me, and I look for an answer…Thus in all my temporal and spiritual concerns I pray to the Lord and expect an answer to my request; and may not you do the same dear believing reader?"

His Christian advice and rules to strengthen faith were simple:

1. Read the Bible and meditate upon it. God has become known to us through prayer and meditation upon His Word.

2. Seek to maintain an upright heart and a good conscience.

3. If we desire our faith to be strengthened, we should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried, and therefore, through trial, be strengthened.

4. Give God time to work.

Mr. Mueller believed that nothing was too insignificant to take to the Lord in prayer. He believed the scriptures to be literal.

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

…the Mueller's set off for the United States in August 1877 aboard the Sardian…Off Newfoundland the weather turned cold and the ship's progress was seriously retarded by fog. The captain had been on the bridge for 24 hours when something happened which was to revolutionize his life. George Mueller appeared on the bridge.

"Captain, I have come to tell you I must be in Quebec by Saturday afternoon."

"It is impossible," said the captain.

"Very well, " said Mueller, "if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way--I have never broken an engagement for 52 years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray."

The Captain wondered which lunatic asylum Mueller had come from.

"Mr. Mueller," he said, "do you know how dense this fog is?"

"No, my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God."

Mueller then knelt down and prayed. When he had finished the captain was about to pray, but Mueller put his hand on his shoulder, and told him:

"First, you do not believe He will and second, I believe He has, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it."

The captain looked at Mueller in amazement.

"Captain," he continued, I have known my Lord for 52 years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, captain, and open the door, and you will find the fog is gone."

The captain walked across to the door and opened it. The fog had lifted. It was the captain himself, who later told the story of this incident, and who was subsequently described by a well known evangelist as "one of the most devoted men I ever knew."

It was prayer that kept Mr. Mueller's soul free of doubt, worry, and fear. As a result, he could write such entries as on March 9, 1847, "The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith." And a later one, "The greater the trial, the sweeter the victory."

Mr. Mueller's victories came through prayer and his trust in the Lord's unfailing promises.

"It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly continue in prayer, until we obtain an answer; and further, we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained, and in not expecting the blessing."

During just the last year of Mr. Mueller's life are recorded these gifts to feed and care for thousands of England's orphans.

7, 203 loaves of bread

5,222 buns

20 boxes of soap

9 tons of coal

26 haunches of venison

112 rabbits

312 pheasants

5 bags of oatmeal

26 cases of oranges

5 boxes of dates

4,013 pounds of meat

...hundreds of other essentials

Mr. Mueller's faithful prayers brought into the orphan houses $2.5 million.

George Mueller was faithful.

Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

---

Answers to Prayer by George Mueller; Moody Press

George Muller Delighted in God by Roger Steer; Harold Shaw Publishers

George Muller, Man of Faith & Miracles by Basil Miller; Dimension Books

The Autobiography of George Muller by George Muller; Whitaker House

Real Heroes

Each week we receive a report which indicates the number of visitors we have had here at the George Muller site.

It's fascinating to see how many different countries these hits have been from. This morning I received notification of a "hit" from a web site entitled "Real Heroes".

The people at this site have a link to this blog for which I'm grateful. Check out their George Muller page here.

Stretching Our Faith

The following devotional from A. W. Tozer refers to the faith which George Muller exhibited. We can trust God the same way Muller did. God has NOT changed.

...yet you do not have because you do not ask. - James 4:2

It was a saying of George Mueller that faith grows with use. If we would have great faith we must begin to use the little faith we already have. Put it to work by reverent and faithful praying, and it will grow and become stronger day by day. Dare today to trust God for something small and ordinary and next week or next year you may be able to trust Him for answers bordering on the miraculous. Everyone has some faith, said Mueller; the difference among us is one of degree only, and the man of small faith may be simply the one who has not dared to exercise the little faith he has.

According to the Bible, we have because we ask, or we have not because we ask not. It does not take much wisdom to discover our next move. Is it not to pray, and pray again and again till the answer comes? God waits to be invited to display His power in behalf of His people. The world situation is such that nothing less than God can straighten it out. Let us not fail the world and disappoint God by failing to pray. taken from The Set of the Sail, pp. 33-34

"Lord, I think I can do that! I know my faith needs to grow, but today I'll exercise what faith I have and anticipate that growth and stretching. Amen."

Scripture Texts That Moulded George Müller

CERTAIN marked Scripture precepts and promises had such a singular influence upon this man of God (George Muller), and so often proved the guides to his course, that they illustrate Psalm 119:105 - "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path."

Those texts which, at the parting of the way, became to him God's sign-boards, showing him the true direction, are here given, as nearly as may be in the order in which they became so helpful to him. The study of them will prove a kind of spiritual biography, outlining his career. Some texts, known to have been very conspicuous in their influence, we put in capitals. The italics are his own. 

The first verse I've listed is the principal text that guided Muller's life:

"open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. " (Psalm 81.10)

"GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE." (John iii.16.)

"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm." (Jeremiah xvii.5.)

"O, fear the Lord, ye His saints; for there is no want to them that fear Him." (Psa. xxxiv.9.)

"Owe no man anything, but to love one another." (Rom. xiii.8.)

"SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU." (Matt. vi.33.)

"The holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation." (2 Tim. iii.15.)

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Matt. vii.7,8.)

"WHATSOEVER YE SHALL ASK IN MY NAME, THAT WILL I DO, THAT THE FATHER MAY BE GLORIFIED IN THE SON: IF YE SHALL ASK ANYTHING IN MY NAME I WILL DO IT." (John xiv.13,14.)

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on... Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow." (Matt. vi. 25-34.)

"If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine." (John vii.17.)

"If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John viii.31,32.)

"And the eunuch said, See, here is water: what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him." (Acts viii.36-38.)

"Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death." (Rom. vi.3, 4.)

"Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread." (Acts xx.7.)

"My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a man in vile raiment; and ye have respect unto him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?" (James ii.1-6.)

"Having, then, gifts differing according to the grace that is given us." (Rom. xii.6.)

"All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." (1 Cor. xii.11.)

"Not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account." (Philip. iv.17.)

"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body what ye shall put on"... "Behold the fowls of the air... Consider the lilies of the field... For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things." (Matt. vi.25-32.)

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth." (Matt. vi.19.)

"SELL THAT YE HAVE AND GIVE ALMS." (Luke xii.33.)

"A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven." (John iii.27.)

More "Faith" Quotes

Note: This is our 100th post on this George Muller web site since we started this blog to help acquaint 21st century Christians with this faithful servant of God.

"Why should we limit either the goodness or the power of God by our own knowledge of what we call the laws of nature?"

"To learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings."

"If the Lord fails me at this time, it will be the first time."

"The province of faith begins where probabilities cease and sight and sense fail."

"If I, a poor man, simply by prayer and faith, obtained without asking any individual the means for establishing and carrying on an Orphan-House then this would provide visible proof that God is FAITHFUL STILL and HEARS PRAYER STILL."

"I hope in God, I pray on, and look yet for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they will be."

The Guardian of Bristol's Orphans

I'm always on the lookout for new books or new editions of books on the life of George Muller, Here's another one with the accompanying description. I found this one in a listing of OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) books. - David

“God has given me a mission field right here, and I will live and die in it.”

With scarcely enough food or money for his own family, George Müller opened his heart and home to orphans who had no other place to go. Sustained by God’s provision, the Müller house “Breakfast Club” of thirty orphans grew to five large houses that ultimately over ten thousand children would call home.

George Müller trusted God with a depth rarely seen. Let his faith and generosity challenge you to an unshakable commitment to share Christ's love, no matter the cost.