Go for yourself, with all your temporal and spiritual wants, to the Lord. Bring also the necessities of your friends and relatives to the Lord. Only make the trial, and you will perceive how able and willing He is to help you. Should you, however, not at once obtain answers to your prayers, be not discouraged: but continue patiently, believingly to wait upon God: and as assuredly as that which you ask would be for your real good, and therefore for the honor of the Lord; and as assuredly as you ask it solely on the ground of the worthiness of our Lord Jesus, so assuredly you will at last obtain the blessing. I myself have had to wait upon God concerning certain matters for years, before I obtained answers to my prayers; but at last they came. At this very time, I have still to renew my requests daily before God, respecting a certain blessing for which I have besought Him for eleven years and a half, and which I have as yet obtained only in part, but concerning which I have no doubt that the full blessing will be granted in the end.... The great point is, that we ask only for that which it would be for the glory of God to give to us; for that, and that alone, can be for our real good. But it is not enough that the thing for which we ask God to be for His honor and glory, but we must secondly ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus, viz., expect it only on the ground of His merits and worthiness. Thirdly, we should believe that God is able and willing to give us what we ask Him for. Fourthly, we should continue in prayer till the blessing is granted; without fixing to God a time when, or the circumstances under which, He should give the answer. Patience should be in exercise, in connection with our prayer. Fifthly, we should, at the same time, look out for and expect an answer till it comes. If we pray in this way, we shall not only have answers, thousands of answers to our prayers; but our own souls will be greatly refreshed and invigorated in connection with these matters.
If the obtaining of your requests were not for your real good, or were not tending to the honor of God, you might pray for a long time, without obtaining what you desire. The glory of God should be always before the children of God, in what they desire at His hands; and their own spiritual profit, being so intimately connected with the honor of God, should never be lost sight of, in their petitions. But now, suppose we are believers in the Lord Jesus, and make our requests unto God, depending alone on the Lord Jesus as the ground of having them granted; suppose, also, that, so far as we are able honestly and uprightly to judge, the obtaining of our requests would be for our real spiritual good and for the honor of God; we yet need, lastly, to continue in prayer, until the blessing is granted unto us. It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must patiently, believingly continue in prayer, until we obtain an answer; and further, we have not only to continue in prayer unto the end, but we have also to believe that God does hear us, and will answer our prayers. Most frequently we fail in not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained and in not expecting the blessing. – George Muller
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Seeking First the Kingdom (1844)
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you.” —Matthew 6:33 A FTER our Lord, in the previous verses, had been pointing His disciples to “the fowls of the air” and “the lilies of the field,” in order that they should be without carefulness about the necessaries of life, He adds: “Therefore take no thought [literally, “be not anxious”], saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Mat 6:31-32). Observe here particularly that we, the children of God, should be different from the nations of the earth, from those who have no Father in heaven, and who therefore make it their great business, their first anxious concern, what they shall eat, what they shall drink, and wherewithal they shall be clothed. We, the children of God, should, as in every other respect so in this particular also, be different from the world, and prove to the world that we believe that we have a Father in heaven Who knoweth that we have need of all these things. The fact that our almighty Father—Who is full of infinite love to us His children, and Who has proved to us His love in the gift of His only begotten Son and His almighty power in raising Him from the dead—knows that we have need of these things, should remove all anxiety from our minds. There is, however, one thing which we ought to attend to with reference to our temporal necessities. It is mentioned in our verse: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” The great business which the disciple of the Lord Jesus has to be concerned about (for this word was spoken to disciples, to professed believers) is to seek the kingdom of God, i.e., to seek, as I view it, after the external and internal prosperity of the Church of God. If, according to our ability and according to the opportunity which the Lord gives us, we seek to win souls for the Lord Jesus, that appears to me to be seeking the external prosperity of the kingdom of God; and if we, as members of the body of Christ, seek to benefit our fellow members in the body, helping them on in grace and truth, or caring for them in any way to their edification, that would be seeking the internal prosperity of the kingdom of God. But in connection with this we have also to “seek His righteousness,” which means (as it was spoken to disciples, to those who have a Father in heaven, and not to those who were without), to seek to be more and more like God, to seek to be inwardly conformed to the mind of God. If these two things are attended to (and they imply also that we are not slothful in business), then do we come under that precious promise: “And all these things [that is food, raiment, or anything else that is needful for this present life] shall be added unto you.” It is not for attending to these two things that we obtain the blessing, but in attending to them. I now ask you, my dear reader, a few questions in all love, because I do seek your welfare. I do not wish to put these questions to you without putting them first to my own heart. Do you make it your primary business, your first great concern, to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Are the things of God—the honor of His name, the welfare of His Church, the conversion of sinners, and the profit of your own soul-- your chief aim? Or does your business, your family, or your own temporal concerns, in some shape or other, primarily occupy your attention? I never knew a child of God who acted according to the above passage, in whose experience the Lord did not fulfill His word of promise, “All these things shall be added unto you.” THIRTY-FIRST DAY “I will hasten my Word to perform it.” Jer. 1:12.
Whilst He is pleased to sustain me, I am able, day by day, to pass on peacefully, and thus, by God’s help, even with my present measure of faith, if continued to me, should be enabled to bear up under other difficulties and trials; but I look for an increase of faith with every fresh difficulty through which the Lord is pleased to help me. THIRTIETH DAY “They that fear Thee will be glad . . . because I have hoped in Thy Word.” Psalm 119:74.
We may have to wait upon the Lord, yea, even a long time; but at last He helps. It may seem as if the Lord had forgotten us, but at last He helps abundantly, and shows that only for the trial of our faith, both for our own benefit and the benefit of those who might hear of His dealings with us, has He allowed us to call so long upon Him. TWENTY-NINTH DAY “I will perform My Word with thee.” I Kings 6:12.
Let God work for us when the hour of trial of our faith comes, and do not work a deliverance of our own. Wherever God has given faith, it is given, among other reasons, for the purpose of being tried. However weak our faith may be, God will try it; and as in every way, He leads on gently, gradually, patiently. TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY “My meditation of Him shall be sweet.” Psalm 104:34.
Through reading of the Word of God, and especially through meditation on the Word of God, the believer becomes more and more acquainted with the nature and character of God, and thus sees what a kind, loving, and faithful Being He is; thus meditation on the Word of God will be one special means to strengthen our faith. TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31.
How may I know that I shall be saved? Notice here in particular (1) It matters not how great a sinner I am; (2) The promise is positive concerning my salvation, if I believe in the Lord Jesus; (3) I have only to believe in the Lord Jesus. If I trust in and depend upon the Lord Jesus for salvation, I shall have everlasting life. TWENTY-SIXTH DAY “Thy testimonies also are my delight.” Psalm 119:24.
This evening I was walking in our little garden meditating on Hebrews 13:8. I was led to say to myself, Jesus in His love and power has hitherto supplied me with what I have needed, and He will provide me with what I may need for the future. A flow of joy came into my soul while realizing the unchangeableness of our adorable Lord. TWENTY-FIFTH DAY “I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest.” John 17:8.
Be not discouraged if you have unconverted relatives. Perhaps very shortly the Lord may give you the desire of your heart, and answer your prayer for them; but in the meantime seek to commend the truth by manifesting towards them the meekness, gentleness, and kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ. TWENTY-FOURTH DAY “Them that honour Me I will honour.” I Samuel 2:30.
I have not been in the smallest degree a loser in acting according to the dictates of my conscience, and as regards spiritual things the Lord has indeed dealt bountifully with me, and led me on in many respects, and moreover, has condescended to use me as an instrument in doing His work. |
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