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It is here we end our journey with George Müller. Below are my favorite quotes. Enjoy!

#1—“My own experience has been, almost invariably, that if I have not the needful sleep, my spiritual enjoyment and strength is greatly affected by it.”

The reader must digest the implications of “needful”. Different people, different needs. But we all should be suspicious of the flesh. In other words, the Christian must discern between needful sleep and lazy sleep.  

#2—“There may occur cases when travelling by night cannot be avoided; but if it can, though we should seem to lose time by it, and though it should cost more money, I would most affectionately and solemnly recommend the refraining from night-travelling; for in addition to our drawing beyond measure upon our bodily strength, we will be losers spiritually.”

Here is Müller’s point: Loss of time or loss of money should be gladly given up for the sake of constant progression in the Christian journey. Has that ever come into your thinking as you plan your family vacation?

#3—Surely it ought not to be true that we, who have power with God to obtain by prayer and faith all needful grace, wisdom, and skill, should be bad servants, bad tradesmen, bad masters.”

If you are a bad worker, you are a bad testimony for Christ. I wonder how often the name of Christ is defamed, not by a worker who occasionally cusses, but rather a worker who is unproductive, who is only there to “collect a paycheck”.

#4—“Every instance of obedience from right motives, strengthens us spiritually, while ever act of disobedience weakens us spiritually.”

#5—“The longer I live, the more I am enabled to realize that I have but one life to live on earth, and that this one life is but a brief life, for sowing, in comparison with eternity, for reaping.”

I never thought of “sowing” and “reaping” in this way.

#6—“It has been my own happy lot, during the last thirty-seven years, to become acquainted with hundreds of individuals, who were not inferior to apostolic Christians.”

In other words, Müller was acquainted with legitimate, passionate, sacrificial followers of Jesus. This encourages me as a pastor to pray not for a return to the early church, but rather another generation of early church Christians.

#7—“As to the importance of the children of God opening their hearts to each other, especially when they are getting into a cold state, or are under the power of a certain sin; how often advice, under great perplexity, has been obtained—by opening my heart to a brother in who I had confidence.”

Do you have that type of “brother” or “sister” in Christ? If not, pray for someone. Until then, go be that “person” to someone else!

#8—“An unvisited church will sooner or later become an unhealthy church”.

That is convicting. My favorite quote so far.

#9—“Where faith begins, anxiety ends; where anxiety begins, faith ends.”

#10—“It is the very time for faith to work, when sight ceases. The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith.”

#11—“The natural mind is ever prone to reason, when we ought to believe; to be at work, when we ought to be quiet; to go our own way, when we ought to steadily walk on in God’s ways, however trying to nature (i.e. against our fleshly desires).”

How often I want answers! I don’t want to be quiet. I don’t want to wait. The tree of a “mature” man is filled with the “fruit of waiting”.

#12—“It is true, the Gospel demands our ALL; but I fear that, in the general claim on ALL, we have shortened the claim on everything.”

In other words, ALL only means SOME. Man, if this isn’t an indictment on American Christianity, I don’t know what is. 

#13—“But how much greater is the spiritual blessing we receive, both in this life and in the world to come, if constrained by the love of Christ, we act as God’s stewards, respecting that, with which He is pleased to entrust us!”

#14—“Our Heavenly Father never takes any earthly thing from His children except He means to give them something better instead”.

Early in my Christian walk I would have read this quote and believed that God would bless me like Job (Job 42:12-17). Now in my 35th year as a Christian, I understand that the blessing may or may not be material, but it is always spiritual.

#15—“We have to guard against practically despising the discipline of the Lord, though we may not do so in word, and against fainting under discipline; since all is intended for blessing to us”.

The reader must not have a one-dimensional understanding of “fainting”. “Fainting” can mean wilting under the heat of God’s discipline, which makes us frail and weak, blaming others and playing the “victim card”. It can also mean “running from the discipline”, internalizing the bitterness, so the Christian begins to rot from the inside out, rather than experiencing the renewal of the inner man (Heb. 12:5-11; 2 Cor. 4:16-18).

#16—“In the whole work we desire to stand with God, and not to depend upon the favorable and unfavorable judgment of the multitude”.

How many mature Christians questioned and criticized the methods of George Müller? Quite a few I am sure. Yet he would not succumb to the worldly seduction of man’s approval (John 12:42-43).

#17—“Weigh everything well; weigh all in the light of the Holy Scriptures, and in the fear of God”.

#18—“To ascertain the Lord’s will we ought to use scriptural means. Prayer, the word of God, and His Spirit should be united together”.

This “blend” was the secret to Müller’s strength.

#19—“Our happiness, our usefulness, our living for God are often most intimately connected with our choice of a spouse”.

What if Müller’s wife did not agree with his conviction regarding “voluntary poverty”? What if she would have said a few years into marriage, “I didn’t sign up for this!” Would we be reading about George Müller today? Probably not.

#20—“True godliness without a shadow of doubt, should be the first and absolutely needful qualification, to a Christian, with regards to a companion for life”.

I did not write in my blog about the second Mrs. Müller. She was a co-laborer with Müller (in the Orphan Houses) and her fruits of her godly behavior had been observed for years. After the loss of the first Mrs. Müller, he was lonely and desired a companion. Again, his accounts speak little of her physical beauty, but her spiritual beauty was obvious, which made for an easy decision. Young men, pray for a wife that is “sold out” to Christ. In the meantime, go serve the Lord!

#21—“The very fact that day after day, and year after year, for 29 years, the Lord has enabled me to continue, patiently, believingly, to wait on Him for the blessing, still further encourages me to wait on”.

29 years! Have I prayed daily for one year about anything? Müller spent 52 years praying for the salvation of his brother. The parable of the persistent widow makes a whole lot more sense after blogging after the life of George Müller (Luke 18:1-9).

#22—“Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained and in not expecting the blessing”.

#23—“It is common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; while the truth is, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying; for the less we read the word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray”.

Many young Christians need to hear this quote of Müller. How true this is! If Satan can’t take away eternal life, he certainly can distract us and deceive us. Is this not simply another ploy of the Deceiver, similar to his work in the Garden of Eden? Let us not be “ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 1:11)!

#24—“The word of God is our only standard, and the Holy Spirit our only Helper”.

Simple words from a simple man. Thank you God for saving and using George Müller in my life.