My friend Michelle recently sent me a book by George Mueller (usually you would write the "u" with an umlaut in German; but, since I can't figure it out with my keyboard, you can put an "e" next to any letter that requires an umlaut so you get the same pronunciation...see, I really do remember my high school and college German classes ;).) It is called "Answers to Prayer" and I read through it in about a day and then quickly moved on to two other books about him - a "Heroes of the Faith" book and "Delighted in God" by Roger Steer.
Honestly, I'm not sure why I've never read these before. I "knew" who George Mueller was...a man in the 1800's that worked with orphans in England and always had everything he needed by praying to God for all his needs. Simple, basic, and to the point. And yet, I feel the need to elaborate on the "how" of him praying to God for all his needs. It's easy to say "I pray to God and ask him to provide for me"; but, how are we doing that? Are we in the right frame of mind, are we truly consistent, are we asking for what God's plan is for us?
As I'm writing this, it's Holy Week, specifically Good Friday. I have an amazing aroma in my house that has been created by 15 lbs of lamb that I soaked in water and covered in salt, then soaked again and put about 20 cloves of garlic, thyme, rosemary, paprika and more salt and pepper on to and then put it in the oven in my turkey roaster. It smells better than Thanksgiving, and that's hard to do around here! As that smell permeates my every thought, it brings me back to the WHY of what I'm doing. We're celebrating the Passover (or Seder Meal) tonight at church. As Nikki (the planner of the event) has been quick to point out, it's not a meal perse in that you'll go away full. It's a meal that has quite a bit of symbolism and meaning to it and I am constantly reminding myself of what that meaning is to me and my family.
George Mueller was thankful to the Lord for providing for his, and the orphans, daily needs; but, as Michelle pointed out to me the other night when we talked...what about His son coming to earth and dying for our sins so that we might have eternal life with Him? Do we take that for granted? Do we trivialize our very salvation by consistently praying for our "daily bread?"
I have made a change this week in how I pray. I want to be more consistent, more purposeful, I might even keep a diary like George Mueller did so that I can start recording exactly and how quickly the Lord has answered our prayers. I also am making a point of praising and thanking Him first. I remember a sermon I heard, years ago, and I can't even remember where, about how to pray the A.C.T.S. way. Ever heard of this?
A - Adoration, worship the Lord and let Him know how and why you love Him!
C - Confession, if you aren't in the right place with the Lord (ie. you have sin in your life), you aren't in the right place to come to Him in prayer! Get it out of your life and off your chest.
T - Thanksgiving, be sure to tell Him all the things you're thankful for that He's done. If you think about it, there really is a lot!
S - Supplication, finally you ask of Him your requests. Communicate with Him, talk with Him and tell Him what you need, and in His will and time, He will provide for you.
I've tried over the years to do this; but, I often get caught up in the Supplication part of my prayers. I quickly skip to that part as I'm going about my day and forget about the positives in our relationship with each other. Do I believe that you can pray as you go about your day, absolutely; but, I think we can do that to the point that we don't
ever sit down/kneel down and really commune with the Lord. I am definitely guilty of that on more than one occasion.
I want to be more thankful this week. Thankful for all of my answers to pray...and there are many; but, here is a quick list of just the recent ones.
- I want to be thankful for my salvation first and foremost! Amazing Lord!
- I want to be thankful for our medical conditions and medical clearance. We had our medical clearance issued a few days
before I had my neck problems (which are now fine, I had the MRIs and the cortisone shots and I feel much better..AND, I'm also off of my migraine medication, Thank you Lord.) That has allowed us to move on with our move to Africa and I see that as a providential thing. "I take into account providential circumstances. These plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit." - George Mueller
- I want to be thankful for a house to "house-sit" and a car to "car-sit" when we arrive in Tanzania. The Lord has provided for us a place to stay and transportation for the entire first year we're there. Again, a direct answer to a need we had, from the Lord.
- I want to be thankful for like-minded homeschool families that have given us support. This covers both my friends here in the US and specifically our co-op. But, it also covers answers to prayers about other families that will be arriving on the field in Tanzania and also homeschooling their children. The Lord knows my "social" tendencies and that I need friends, He even provided that for me and the children.
- I want to be thankful for our supporters. You are an amazing group of people and I pray daily that the Lord will bless your lives and allow you to be everything that He wants for you to be! I am so thankful that we have purposefully allowed the Lord to touch the hearts of, and hand pick our support team. I know you are all here because He wants you to be here!
I could go on and on; but, needless to say, the Lord has truly provided for us in so many rich and wonderful ways!
I am going to start writing down our specific needs and praying for the Lord, in His will, to answer and provide for them...specifically...
- We are believing in the Lord to sell our house before we leave for the field. We are praying for the Realtor that we'll be choosing next week as well. As Michelle (again) pointed out to me when I was saying that I felt we should be good stewards of our money and not have a Realtor involved...maybe we are supposed to bless that person who needs that money right now more than we do. I had never thought of it that way...it's true though, I can bless another by letting them sell my house for me. We're planning on starting that process next week.
- We are believing in the Lord for continued good health. George Mueller tells a story of how he felt led to go into m work; but, in Prussia you were required 3 years of military service (1 year if you had gone to University, which he had.) He didn't want to serve even his one year though and through the invite of a friend, went to a show, ate at a reception, and became very ill. Ill to the point that the Army said he was unfit and released him from his commitment. He then went to England; but, for months, remained sick and bed ridden. 'He said that he prayed the Lord would "do with me as seemeth best." The Lord answered his prayer in time, very slowly. He permitted his servant to languish in sickness so his soul might learn a new lesson in trust.' I GET that .... this whole winter I've complained about all of our sickness and health issues and in retrospect, I have realized, if we hadn't been sick and had been able to pull off this major move on our own, our trust in the Lord wouldn't have been strengthened. We would have believed more in our own power and strength. We are down to the wire now, I am having renewed energy and strength and I KNOW that the only way we will get everything done in the next couple of weeks is because of the Lord...not me!
- We are believing in the Lord for full budget support and large one time purchases before 1 August. George Mueller talks about remembering Matthew 6:25-26.
"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; not yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment: Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap...yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"
I do know that I'm more important to the Lord than the beast and the flowers of the field. I KNOW that! A life consistent with faith in the Lord will not have me laying up treasures and stores here on earth. With God there is "no emergency, no unforeseen circumstance, and no want that He won't provide for." I will wait and trust in the Lord, that in His time, He will provide!
George Mueller has left me with one more thought...the steps that he used to ascertain God's will in regards to his prayers. I'll leave you with that list, and one final thought of my own. In my own devotional life, I'm reading through 1 Samuel, and after I read each day, I alway try to "sum up" what was the main point of those chapters. What did the Lord want me to get out of them? It isn't always obvious. But, yesterday, it was. The story of Saul being chosen as King and anointed by Samuel made this point obvious to me...I need to look to God, not to any man (or woman) or supporter or King or President or Director, for my needs. Sometimes we pray for things that aren't God's will. The Israelites prayed for a King; but, they already had one, God! God gave them what they asked for; but, in the process they were rejecting his Kingship in their lives and their nation, and they suffered greatly for it. I hope and pray that I can ascertain what the Lord wants for me, and only ask Him for those things that he wants to bless me and my family with!!!
How to Ascertain the Will of God:
1. I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.
2. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impressions. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.
3. I seek the will of the Spirit of God through or in connection with the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also.
4. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
5. I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright.
6. Thus through prayer to God, the study of the Word and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three petitions, I proceed accordingly.
"I never remember, in all my Christian course, a period now of 69 years and 4 months, that I ever sincerely and patiently sought to know the will of God by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, through the instrumentality of the Word of God, but I have been always directed rightly. But if honesty of heart and uprightness before God were lacking, or if I did not patiently wait upon God for instruction, or if I preferred the counsel of my fellow men to the declarations of the Word of the living God, I made great mistakes." - George Mueller
