MR. PERRY writes: At one meeting at Huntly, by special request Mr. Müller gave illustrations of God's faithfulness in answer to prayer, connected with the orphan work, of which the following are examples: a. He stated that at various times, not only at the beginning of the work, but also in later years, God had seen fit to try his faith to the utmost, but only to prove to him the more definitely that He would never be other than his faithful covenant-keeping God. In illustration he referred to a time when, the children having had their last meal for the day, there was nothing left in money or kind for their breakfast the following morning. Mr. Müller went home, but nothing came in, and he retired for the night, committing the need to God to provide. Early the next morning he went for a walk, and while praying for the needed help he took a turn into a road which he was quite unconscious of, and after walking a short distance a friend met him, and said how glad he was to meet him, and asked him to accept £5 for the orphans. He thanked him, and without saying a word to the donor about the time of need, he went at once to the orphan houses, praising God for this direct answer to prayer. b. On another occasion, when there were no funds in hand to provide breakfast for the orphans, a gentleman called before the time for breakfast and left a donation that supplied all their present needs. When that year's report was issued, this proof of God's faithfulness in sending help just when needed was recorded, and a short time after the donor called and made himself known, saying that as his donation had been given at such a special time of need he felt he must state the circumstances under which he had given the money, which were as follows: He had occasion to go to his office in Bristol early that morning before breakfast, and on the way the thought occurred to him: "I will go to Mr. Müller's orphan house and give them a donation," and accordingly turned and walked about a quarter of a mile toward the orphanage, when he stopped, saying to himself, "How foolish of me to be neglecting the business I came out to attend to! I can give money to the orphans another time," and he turned round and walked back towards his office, but soon felt that he must return. He said to himself: "The orphans may be needing the money now. I'm leaving them in want when God had sent me to help them;" and so strong was this impression that he again turned round and walked back till he reached the orphanages, and thus handed in the money which provided them with breakfast. Mr. Müller's comment on this was: "Just like my gracious heavenly Father!" and then urged his hearers to trust and prove what a faithful covenant-keeping God He is to those who put their trust in Him.
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Sermon by Dr. William R. DowningMR. PERRY furnishes also the following reminiscences: As George Müller was engaged in free, homely conversation with his friends on a Sunday afternoon within about three weeks of his departure to be with the Lord, he referred to two visits he had made during the previous week to two old and beloved friends. He had fully appreciated that, though they were about ten years younger than himself, his power to walk, and specially his power to continue his service for his Lord, was far greater than theirs. So that he playfully said, with a bright smile: "I came away from both these beloved brethren feeling that I was quite young by comparison as to strength, though so much older," and then at once followed an ascription of praise to God for His goodness to him: "Oh, how very kind and good my heavenly Father has been to me! I have no aches or pains, no rheumatism, and now in my ninety-third year I can do a day's work at the orphan houses with as much ease and comfort to myself as ever." One sentence aptly sets forth a striking feature in his Christian character, viz.: George Müller, nothing. The Lord Jesus, everything. In himself worse than nothing. By grace, in Christ, the son of the King. And as such he lived; for all those who knew and loved this beloved and honoured servant of Christ best would testify that his habitual attitude towards the Lord was to treat Him as an ever-present, almighty, loving Friend, whose love was far greater to him than he could ever return, and who delighted in having his entire confidence about everything, and was not only ready at hand to listen to his prayers and praises about great and important matters, but nothing was too small to speak to Him about. So real was this that it was almost impossible to be enjoying the privilege of private, confidential intercourse with him without being conscious that at least to him the Lord was really present. One to whom he turned for counsel, in prayer, or in praise, as freely as most men would to a third person present; and again and again marked answers to prayer have been received in response to petitions thus unitedly presented to the Lord altogether apart from his own special work. George Ferdinand Muller Birth: Sep. 27, 1805 Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany Death: Mar. 10, 1898 Gloucestershire, England Christian evangelist. Missionary. Philanthropist. George was born in Kroppenstaedt, Prussia, now Kroppenstedt, Germany, as Johann Georg Ferdinand Müller. His parents were Johann Freidrich Müller and Sophie Eleanor Haase. George had a brother named Friedrich Wilhem Müller. He also had a half brother named Franz "Frank" Müller. George's early years were full of drinking, stealing, gambling, and lying. At sixteen he was sent to prison for defrauding a hotel-keeper. Things turned around for George when a friend from the University of Halle, where George's father sent him to study divinity, invited him to a prayer meeting. He was welcomed there and began attending regularly. After seeing a man pray on his knees he was convinced he needed salvation and stopped his sinful way of life and was called to be a missionary. George married Mary Groves on 7th October 1830 in St Davids church, Exeter. They had four children: a stillborn child (9 Aug 1831) Lydia (b. 17 Sep 1832 d. 10 Jan 1890) Elijah (b. 19 Mar 1834 d. 25 June 1835) a stillborn child (12 Jun 1838) He saw the great awakening of 1859 which he said "led to the conversion of hundreds of thousands."1 He did follow up work for D. L. Moody, preached for Charles Spurgeon, and inspired the missionary faith of Hudson Taylor. His fellow worker, Henry Craik, died on January 22, 1866, followed by the death of his wife on February 6, 1870. They were married 39 years. She was 72 and had suffered from rheumatic fever. James Wright married Mueller's daughter, Lydia in 1871 and also replaced Craik as his associate. George only saw one of his children, Lydia, grow to adulthood but sadly, he found out she had died from influenza while he was on a trip to India. Nineteen months after Mary died, George remarried to a woman 13 years his junior named Susannah Grace Sangar. George had a great aptitude for languages and was able to preach in English, French, and German. He was also a man of prayer. He prayed for everything and expected God to answer his prayers. He never asked for donations. He was never in debt. He first came to Bristol, England to preach in Bethesda Chapel and it was from this visit that he saw the plight of many orphans there thus, he founded the now famous Müller Orphanage. He cared for over 10,000 orphans in his life. On one occasion they sat down to eat and there was no food in the house. George prayed. A knock came on the door from a baker who had freshly made loaves of bread to feed everyone. The milk man also gave them milk because his cart broke down in front of the orphanage. Besides managing 5 orphanages, George established over 117 schools which brought Christian education to over 120,000 children including orphans. In his nephew's book, Edward Groves describes how he was summoned to his uncle George's room on the morning of his death, "Having just drunk a glass of water, he laid himself down and apparently without a struggle or spasm of pain, gently breathed his last". He was buried by the side of his two wives. After George's death, his work was continued by The George Müller Foundation, which was renamed The George Müller Charitable Trust on 1 March 2009. Former Honorary Directors and years of service: George Müller (Founder) (1834-1898) James Wright (1898-1905) George Frederic Bergin (1905-1912) William M Bergin (1912-1930) Alfred E Green (1930-1940) Thomas Tilsley (1940-1952) John McCready (1952-1958) James J Rose (1958-1986) Joseph Cowan (Director) (1986-1988) Robert L Scott-Cook (1988-1994) Julian P Marsh (1994-2008) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Info by original memorial creater: Founder of the Ashley Down Orphanage. Family links: Spouses: Mary Groves Muller (1797 - 1870) Susannah Grace Sanger Muller (1817 - 1894) Children: Lydia Muller Wright (1832 - 1890)* Elijah Muller (1834 - 1835)* *Calculated relationship Inscription: The writing on the tombstone is as follows: "In Loving Memory of George Muller, Founder of the Ashley Down Orphange. Born September 27, 1805 Fell asleep March 10, 1898 __________ He trusted in God with whom "nothing shall be impossible," and in His beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord who said "I go unto My Father, and whatsoever ye shall ask in My name that will I do that the Father, may be glorified in the Son." And in His inspired word which declares that "All things are possible to Him that believeth." And God fulfilled these declarations in the experience of His servant by enabling him to provide and care for about ten thousand orphans. Burial: Arnos Vale Cemetery Arnos Vale Bristol Unitary Authority Bristol, England Taken from: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38554103 An Hour with George Muller
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