Fasting Day 9: A Promise to Plead
George Mueller’s life example demonstrates to us the key to answered prayer.
God gave the apostle Paul and his prayer life as an example for Christians of all time. Similarly, He has given modern-day Christians the example of George Mueller as proof to His church that He still hears and answers prayer.
Mr. Mueller started 117 schools, raised thousands of children, gave away 250,000 Bibles, and in today’s currency, raised the equivalent of millions of dollars without ever expressing a need to a human being or ever being in debt. It was all accomplished through prayer.
Mueller also believed that more than thirty thousand souls came to know Christ in answer to prayer. These didn’t include only orphans but also many others for whom he prayed faithfully every day, in some cases for more than 50 years.
There is much that we can learn and apply from George Mueller’s prayer life! He prayed with confident expectation. Why? Because when he prayed, he prayed with His finger on a promise from God to plead. He prayed knowing he was asking God to do what He had already said He would do.
In The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power R.A. Torrey said of Mueller:
When it was laid upon George Mueller’s heart to pray for anything, he would search the Scriptures to find if there was some promise that covered the case. Sometimes he would search the scriptures for days before he presented his petition to God. And then when he found the promise, with his open Bible before him, and his finger upon that promise, he would plead that promise, and so he received what he asked. He always prayed with an open Bible before him.
Do What You Said You Would Do
Mueller’s prayers echoed David’s and the psalmist’s prayers. In Psalm 119, the psalmist prays, “Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope” (Ps 119:49, ESV).
In 2 Samuel 7, David asks God to do what He said He would do.
“Now, Lord God, fulfill the promise forever that You have made to Your servant…
Do as You have promised” (2 Samuel 7:25, HCSB). (See also 1 Chronicles 17:23)
By searching the scriptures, waiting for God to show him His promise for the specific need, and then praying the promises, when Mueller prayed, he was essentially saying, “God, do what you promised you would do.”
That’s the secret to praying with confident expectation. Praying this way—claiming God’s promises—is not wishing … or hoping … or attempting to twist God’s arm. It’s reminding Him of what He said He would do.
Question: Do you pray like George Mueller—with an open Bible and your finger upon a promise to plead?
FROM THE ARCHIVES:
- In Good Company (Part Three): The Examples of Historical Church Leaders
- Praying with Heaven and Earth at Your Disposal
- Fasting Day 9: God Answers Prayer
- Fasting Day 9: Brokenness, Part Two
- Fasting Day 9: Feeding Faith, Part Three
- Fasting Day 9: More Than Food
- First Fruits of the New Year by Jentezen Franklin
RELATED ARTICLES
- Waging War With Your Promise
- God Promised: Do I Still Pray About It?
- Prayer Is a Two-Way Conversation
- Get Alone With God: The Religion of the Closet
- Don’t Get in a Hurry in the Prayer Closet
- Praying With Heaven and Earth at Your Disposal
- Prayer Is an Invitation to Experience God’s Boundlessness
- Reigning Through Prayer, Part One: Jesus, the Interceding Ruler
- Reigning Through Prayer, Part Two: Joining Jesus at the Throne of Intercession
- Kings and Priests—Praying with Authority
- God Answers Prayer
- The Power of Prayer
- Training to Pray With Great Power
- Bite-Size Encouragements to Being a Person of Prayer
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