Waiting for Breakfast
Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer
While many people are known for their dedication to prayer, George Müller’s story is both dramatic and heartening. Christian evangelist Müller was also the director of the Ashley Down orphanage of Bristol, England, in the nineteenth century. 10,024 orphans are recorded as passing through his care during his lifetime. This ministry to orphans operated without any attempt to ask for funds…beyond prayer. One of the classic stories of Müller’s approach to provisions for the children is as follows:
Müller was in constant prayer that God touched the hearts of donors to make provisions for the orphans. For example, on one well-documented occasion, thanks was given for breakfast when all the children were sitting at the table even though there was nothing to eat in the house. As they finished praying, the baker knocked on the door with sufficient fresh bread to feed everyone, and the milkman gave them plenty of fresh milk because his cart had broken down in front of the orphanage.[1]
Müller prayed and expected every prayer to be answered so that the need would be met. In another account of the results of Müller’s prayers he was at sea and needed to land in time for a meeting:
Once, while crossing the Atlantic on the SS Sardinian in August 1877, his ship ran into thick fog. He explained to the captain that he needed to be in Quebec by the following afternoon, but Captain Joseph E. Dutton said that he was slowing the ship down for safety and Müller’s appointment would have to be missed. Müller asked to use the chart-room to pray for the lifting of the fog. The captain followed him down, claiming it would be a waste of time. After Müller prayed a very simple prayer, the captain started to pray, but Müller stopped him; partly because of the captain’s unbelief, but mainly because he believed the prayer had already been answered. Müller said, “Captain, I have known my Lord for more than fifty years and there is not one instance that I have failed to have an audience with the King. Get up, Captain, for you will find that the fog has gone.” When the two men went back to the bridge, they found the fog had indeed lifted, and Müller was able to keep his appointment. The captain became a Christian shortly afterwards and was later known as “Holy Joe.”[2]
For George Müller prayer came first, not an add-on, but the essence of the Christian life lived out in a troubled world. Reading accounts of the way his prayers were answered you cannot help but think of the ending verses of Psalm 5, “But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield” (Ps. 5:11-12).
One of the sweet, old hymns of childhood seems to capture that sense of refuge, joy, and favor, “Near to the Heart of God.” Written by Cleland Boyd McAfee, its words remind us of where persistent daily prayer takes us:[3]
There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God.
A place where sin cannot molest,
Near to the heart of God.
Jesus, blest Redeemer,
Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us who wait before Thee
Near to the heart of God.
There is a place of full release,
Near to the heart of God.
A place where all is joy and peace,
Near to the heart of God.
Reflection Questions:
- There are many other people who have extraordinary prayer lives. What other accounts of dependance on prayer have impressed you? Do a search for “examples of people who rely on prayer” to dig into some new stories of people of prayer.
- What Biblical figures do you think of as people of prayer? What traits do they have in common? How are their experiences like those of “modern” people of prayer?
- While need is one of the things David addresses in Psalm 5, even more important is the triumph, joy, and fellowship woven through the Psalm. Is it a new concept for you that prayer should bring joy? Do you spend time focusing on those aspects of prayer—gladness, joy, and favor—as well as addressing “important issues and needs”?
(Photo description and credit: Quiet water has always represented calm, relaxation, and peace to me. This photo was taken back in the fall of 2024 and is of the stream below the mill at Dogwood Canyon Nature Park outside Lampe, Missouri. Taken by R. A. Stites)
[2] Ibid.
[3] Near to the Heart of God – Wordwise not only does this page give the words to this hymn, but also the story of its creation. A choral rendition of the hymn may be found HERE.
