← Return to Blog Home

Week 13: May 1-6

God’s Power through George Mueller

Psalm 81:10

I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Today we will look at the life of George Mueller. Mueller was known as a man of great prayer and dedication to God and ministry. George Muller’s sole philosophy was to “live a life and lead a ministry in a way that proves God is real, God is trustworthy, and God answers prayer.” What a powerful goal in life. What a powerful goal for us to live in our homes!

Born in 1805, Mueller grew up in an unbelieving family, and by his own admission was an unregenerate liar, thief, and drunk.  After a brief stint in jail, his father sent him to divinity school thinking ministry would make a good living. At age 20 Mueller attended a Bible study, and God saved his soul. A few years later, while recovering from an illness, Mueller was housed by a man who deeply impacted his life in two major ways. First, he learned the preciousness of reading and meditating on God’s Word. Second, he learned the doctrines of grace in the Bible. Mueller says about this man, “through the instrumentality of this brother the Lord bestowed a great blessing upon me, for which I shall have cause to thank Him throughout eternity.” 

These experiences ignited a life on fire for God! Mueller pastored a church in Bristol, England for 66 years. At age 28 he founded The Scripture Knowledge Institute. This organization created schools to teach children and adults the Bible, distributed tracts and Bibles, supported missionaries, and most notably created orphanages to board and educate destitute children. Mueller started 5 orphanages that cared for over 10,000 children, while he still preached 3 times a week as a local pastor. When Mueller turned 70, he began foreign missions work that continued for the next 17 years of his life.

Although Mueller’s achievements are monumental, how God worked to achieve these is the real story of Mueller’s life. Mueller never went into debt, never took a salary, and never asked a specific person for a donation to accomplish all of these endeavors. He PRAYED for all of these things, and God abundantly supplied. Here are a few of the documented stories:

One morning the plates and cups and bowls on the table were empty in the orphanage filled with 300 children. There was no food in the pantry, and no money to buy food. The children were standing waiting for their morning meal, when Mueller said, "Children, you know we must be in time for school." Lifting his hand he said, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat." There was a knock on the door. The baker stood there, and said, "Mr. Mueller, I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn't have bread for breakfast and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it.” Mueller thanked the man. No sooner had this transpired when there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the Orphanage, and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it. 

The Muellers set off for the United States in August 1877 aboard the boat Sardian. Off Newfoundland the weather turned cold and the ship's progress was seriously hindered by fog. 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, who controls every circumstance of my life." Mueller then knelt down and prayed simply. When he had finished the captain was about to pray, but Mueller put his hand on his shoulder, and told him not to. "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."

“Nov. 21, 1838. – Our funds were extremely depleted. There was not a single halfpenny between the supervisors of the three orphan houses. Nevertheless there was a good dinner; but for none of the houses had we the prospect of being able to take in bread. When I left the brethren and sisters at one o’clock, after prayer, I told them that we must wait for help, and see how the Lord would deliver us this time. I was sure of help, but we were in a bad situation. When I came to Kingsdown, I felt that I needed more exercise, being very cold; I took a longer route home, I met a brother who walked back with me, and after a little conversation he gave me £10 towards providing the poor saints with coals, blankets and warm clothing; also £5 for the Orphans, and £5 for the other items of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution. The brother had called twice while I was gone to the Orphan Houses, and if I had been one half minute later, I should have missed him. But the Lord knew our need, and therefore allowed me to meet him.”

Mueller’s life should convict us of our lack of faith-filled prayer. But Mueller’s life should also encourage us. He was a man just like us. He was captured by the all-encompassing sovereignty of God, which became the foundation of Mueller's confidence in God to answer his prayers for anything. A powerless God is no God at all. Mueller’s great faith encouraged many. We need to fill our homes with this kind of faith to encourage our children and our communities by the display of God’s enormous power.

“Work with all your might; but trust not in the least in your work.” Mueller

*Many of the details in this week’s devotional are condensed from a sermon on the life of Mueller. The link to the full sermon and other articles are listed in the further reading section.

Pray Together

  1. Pray that God helps you develop a life of total faith in His sovereign power to provide for us.
  2. Pray that God will create an opportunity for a Gospel conversation this week.
  3. Pray that God will develop in you a heart of prayer and dependence on Him.

Further Reading

Posted by Rob Fipps with