George Muller on the secret of prayer.

George Muller (or Mueller) was a pastor and caretaker of thousands of orphans. He is my hero of the faith, and one of the mightiest men of prayer that ever lived. In his journals, he recorded more then 50,000 answered prayers, 30,000 of which were answered on the same day! For ten years of his life, he struggled with prayer, but finally found that meditating on the Word of God was the thing that breathed life and fire into his prayer times. PLEASE read this article below, in which Muller recounts his “discover” of the secret of having a powerful prayer life:

George Mueller on Meditation and Prayer.

While I was staying at Nailsworth, it pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, irrespective of human instrumentality, as far as I know, the benefit of which I have not lost, though now…more than forty years have since passed away.

The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit.

Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed in the morning. Now I saw, that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, whilst meditating, my heart might be brought into experimental, communion with the Lord. I began therefore, to meditate on the New Testament, from the beginning, early in the morning.

The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord’s blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God; searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word; not for the sake or preaching on what I had meditated upon; but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer.

When thus I have been for awhile making confession, or intercession, or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the Word may lead to it; but still continually keeping before me, that food for my own soul is the object of my meditation. The result of this is, that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, or intercession mingled with my meditation, and that my inner man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened and that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not happy state of heart. Thus also the Lord is pleased to communicate unto me that which, very soon after, I have found to become food for other believers, though it was not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word that I gave myself to meditation, but for the profit of my own inner man.

The difference between my former practice and my present one is this. Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible, and generally spent all my time till breakfast in prayer, or almost all the time. At all events I almost invariably began with prayer…. But what was the result? I often spent a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, or even an hour on my knees, before being conscious to myself of having derived comfort, encouragement, humbling of soul, etc.; and often after having suffered much from wandering of mind for the first ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, or even half an hour, I only then began really to pray.

I scarcely ever suffer now in this way. For my heart being nourished by the truth, being brought into experimental fellowship with God, I speak to my Father, and to my Friend (vile though I am, and unworthy of it!) about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word.

It often now astonished me that I did not sooner see this. In no book did I ever read about it. No public ministry ever brought the matter before me. No private intercourse with a brother stirred me up to this matter. And yet now, since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man.

As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man. We should take food for that, as every one must allow. Now what is the food for the inner man: not prayer, but the Word of God: and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts….

I dwell so particularly on this point because of the immense spiritual profit and refreshment I am conscious of having derived from it myself, and I affectionately and solemnly beseech all my fellow-believers to ponder this matter. By the blessing of God I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace through deeper trials in various ways than I had ever had before; and after having now above forty years tried this way, I can most fully, in the fear of God, commend it. How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials and the temptations of the day come upon one! From: Autobiography of George Müller.

Thanks for reading!

Chase

This Sunday @Agape - EPIC youth retreat information, and more. Keyword=Delight.

Hello all,

I am preparing to depart Friday and go meet with our EPIC youth group as they retreat in the mountains and woods of Pisgah, Alabama. In planning this retreat, David has packed their time with a focus on seeking God, maturing in God, and becoming intimate with Him and His word. Though I am sure the retreat will be fun, David has emphasized to me and the youth several times that the point of this time away will be to grow in God - not goof off. Having seen the schedule, I believe he means it! Please pray for the group this week, pray for spiritual depth to arise, pray for transformation and fire, pray for safety and joy, and pray for true, God-honoring fellowship.

The World in Our Backyard

If current trends prove true, over 2 million people from foreign countries will come to the shores of the United States this year. By those same trends, the vast majority of them will not leave but will make this country their permanent home. It is a statistical fact that immigration is at an all time high, counting for 37% of the population growth of our land in recent years. The topic has become a political hot button among so many Americans, and it brings out passionate feelings on all ends of the spectrum. Today the call for immigration reform has increased. Anti-immigration rhetoric, that used to be found only in obscure circles, has become much more prevalent. The New York Times recently ran an article reviewing an anti-immigration book in which the author asserted: “There is no precedent for a sovereign country undergoing such a rapid and radical transformation of its ethnic character in the entire history of the world.” The author goes on to assert that the possible result will be the ‘snuffing out of the American nation – like a candle in a gale.”

As we read this, we too will undoubtedly have our own opinion of the wave of immigrants into our country. But, for my purposes today I want to ask one question as a follower of Jesus Christ: Does God have an opinion on immigration?

Now immediately we may be inclined to think God doesn’t care where people live. But I would take exception to that thought based on Scripture. First, I believe that the word of God teaches us that God is Sovereign – the absolute ruler over all creation - and has total control and determination over all that happens. Daniel 4:34-35 is one of many passages of scripture that teaches us about God’s ‘everlasting dominion’ over the earth. But someone may point out that He does give us free will. This is also a true statement, however, the free will granted to the human race can never trump God’s sovereignty (Proverbs 19:21) or God would cease to be sovereign. Even still, would we really choose to believe that God controls where people live or choose to move? Look at this most interesting verse from Acts 17:26-27: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him…”

My response is Wow. The Word is teaching us that it is God who chooses the place where people should live. Does God have an opinion on immigration? It appears that indeed He does; and what is His purpose? His purpose would be that those people would seek Him and find Him. Perhaps this assertion is ringing true or perhaps it seems quite radical. In case of the latter, let’s take a look at one more picture from the biblical book of Acts. Actually if we go back to the end of Luke we find that Jesus tells His disciples that the ‘promise of my Father’ is coming to them, but they are not to leave the city ‘until they are clothed with power from on high’. Now Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit who arrived at the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Why did God choose Pentecost to be the day he poured His Spirit out onto the disciples? Why did He choose this time to give the ‘promised gift?’ Well, the answer appears in Acts 2:5, which speaks of this particular feast and says: “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven”. God had gathered people from every nation in this one place and this one time, and He had done so for a Holy purpose. When He poured His spirit out on the disciples the result on that day was thousands of new believers in Christ. God, as one friend of mine has put it, is in the business of creating an audience for Himself that He might display His glory and bring people to His presence. And if He would choose to do this in the First Century AD, there is no reason to believe He is not still doing this today.

In His sovereignty, I believe God is bringing millions of people from all different backgrounds, cultures, and nations to the shores of the United States. Too many times our first response upon seeing immigrants of any nation may be questions like: ‘I wonder if they are legal or illegal, are they here to hurt us, or why can’t they stay home?’ We may react in anger based on economic concerns because after all, how fair is if for immigrants to take our jobs, right? I believe the Bible to be a book of justice and I am not in anyway promoting a disregard for our country’s laws or our patriotism. We must be careful, though, that our patriotism never trumps our dedication to Christ and His word. Let me say clearly, that our personal prejudices will put us at odds with our God. Why should our first thought not be: ‘I wonder if they know Jesus’? Do we not understand that God desires for people to worship Him and that He has chosen where everyone should live that they might seek him and find Him? Do we believe that He is bringing people of all cultures and countries to us, at least in part, to give us an opportunity to show them who Jesus really is and how they can be worshippers of the one and only living God? And if we do believe God is bringing immigrants here, are we willing to throw down the rags of politics and prejudice to take a hold of the riches of the call of God to bring Glory to His name and to make disciples of all people?

Let us not be blind to the reality that in this day, God is bringing the nations to our communities; the world to our neighborhoods. They are coming to live, work, and learn right beside of us. They may think they are motivated by a myriad of economic, social or circumstantial reasons, yet God purposes where people live so that they might seek Him and find Him. And we have an opening, should we decide to seize it, to help make disciples of all nations in our own backyard. I pray that on the day we stand before Him we will be found faithful not to our own ideals, politics, or patriotism, but to the call and to the opportunities that He so clearly gave us.

Grace and Peace

David 

and you shall call his name Jesus

‘And the angel said to her…you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great…and of his kingdom there will be no end’ – from Luke 1
 

The morning after the 2009 BCS National Championship game I was listening to a morning sports show here in Birmingham and one of the guys brought up the issue of Tim Tebow giving props to God during his victory interview on national TV. The broadcaster was adamant that football and ‘religion’ do not belong together and that Tim Tebow needed to leave his beliefs off the field. Now I could write an entire blog about that issue within itself. I would make the point that Tebow was just being who he is – a follower of Christ. When Christ lives in you, there is no leaving Him behind while you go to the work, school, the 7-11 or the BCS national championship game. But I have another point for today and it involves not what the radio guys said, but more of what they refused to say. Even though Tim Tebow’s exact words were something like ‘I want to give thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’, I noticed that this broadcaster would not say the name Jesus. And as time wore on and this issue continued to be discussed, it became glaringly obvious that they were going to say anything but Jesus. The rest of the radio team also gave their opinions on the subject, and they too apparently refused to say Jesus. I heard them say ‘God’ and ‘faith’ and ‘religion’ and ‘church’ and ‘your beliefs’ – but never did I hear the name Jesus. And then it was the callers turn. As they opened up the phone lines, I listened as one by one the participants on the phones did the same; they also avoided using the name of Jesus. Many of these men were people who identified themselves as people of faith or regular church attenders, but one by one they referred to all types of religious symbols or innuendo without mentioning Jesus. This discussion continued for several segments, until finally one of the broadcasters actually referred to Tebow’s direct quote that included the name ‘Jesus’, but even then  I noticed an obvious pause right before he said it. 

Now before I come under conviction for being hypocritical – let me point the finger toward myself for a moment. I was recently interviewing for a full time secular job and during the interview the discussion of my role as a pastor came up. I was attempting to discuss how I felt it was taught in the Bible for a worker to hold himself to a high degree of integrity and character and work as if he is working for the Lord. In the midst of this diatribe I found the perfect opportunity to say ‘Jesus teaches me’, but instead I paused….and then they came – the dreaded phrase ‘my faith teaches’. Now, I call it dreaded because whenever I say ‘my faith…’ it seems to conjure up thoughts of a private belief that may be different but equal in validity to another religion’s teaching. Yet, I found myself saying it. It reminded me of the movie A Christmas Story where Ralphie is sitting on Santa’s lap but instead of saying he wants a Red Ryder BB gun he cops out and agrees to a football, and as he is going down the big red slide, he is beside himself at what he had just done. I felt that way, almost immediately screaming at myself: ‘what are you doing – why didn’t you say Jesus, you wimp?’

So assuming I am not the only one who has experienced this, what is it about the name of Jesus that so polarizes people? People, even Christians, are comfortable mentioning God, Faith, or Church; and as one of my closer friends pointed out recently, we might even say ‘Christ’. But when it comes to the name Jesus it is as if we are hesitant – as if we stumble. Then again, isn’t that what the bible says would happen?: 

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” – Romans 9:33

A rock of offense. Is it not true that so many are offended today by the name Jesus? So many religions claim a ‘faith’, a ‘God’, or even a ‘church’ – but there is only one Jesus. When we call out His name, in private or public, we leave no doubt as to where our allegiance lies. We speak a name of power, glory, holiness and love. We speak the name of our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Lord. We might comfortably say ‘God’ but we cannot come to know Him without Jesus. We might comfortably say ‘faith’ but Jesus is the author and finisher of that faith. We might comfortably mention church, but Jesus is the one who purifies the church and will present her to God as holy and blameless. Without the name of Jesus, we have nothing: no hope, no faith, no redemption, and no future. 

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:11 

I speak to myself more than anyone else when I say that we must not be shy to embrace the name of Jesus. Whether in private or public conversation, we must not shrink back. It is because of His name we have authority and power to withstand the work of God’s enemy. It is because of His name that people can experience a transformed life. It is because of His name that shattered relationships can be brought to restoration, sinners brought to repentance, and the weary brought to a new found strength. It is because of His name that we can say “anything is possible” for those who will believe. It is because of His name that our past has no control over our future, that anxiety does not have to rule our life, and that peace can consume our minds no matter how deep the valley. It is because of His name that those who are hurting and sick can be healed. It is because of His name that those held captive by drugs, alcohol, pornography, lust or greed can be set free to a new life.  It is by His name that death and disease will never have the last word in the life of a believer. 

May we be strengthened to proclaim loudly to all we meet the name of Jesus.