The Twin Pillars of the Christian Life

Effective Prayer and Disciplined Bible Study

by

Dr. Wayne A. Mack

and

Joshua Mack

Including selected writings from

J. C. Ryle

Charles H. Spurgeon

Thomas Watson

George Mueller

Grace & Truth Books

Sand Springs, Oklahoma

ISBN# 9781-930133-631

First printing, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1977

Second printing, Grace & Truth Books, © 2003

First e-Book edition, Grace & Truth Books, © 2013

All rights reserved, with the exception of brief quotations. For consent to reproduce these materials, please contact the publisher.

Cover design by Ben Gundersen

Cover photo credit: Stuart Whatling, London, England, with appreciation

e-Book conversion by Digital Puritan Press

Scripture quotations annotated [ESV] are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations annotated [KJV] are from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the crown. Reproduced by permission on the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

Grace & Truth Books

3406 Summit Boulevard

Sand Springs, Oklahoma 74063

Phone: 918 245 1500

www.graceandtruthbooks.com

email: gracetruthbooks@gmail.com

The published has provided this e-book to you without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied, so that you can enjoy reading it on your personal devices. This e-book is for your personal use only. You may not print or post this e-book, more make this e-book publicly available in any way. You may not copy, reproduce, or upload this e-book, other than to read it on one of your personal devices.

Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: gracetruthbooks@gmail.com.

Table of Contents

Effective Prayer

Introduction

The Prayer Habits of George Mueller

Depend on God Completely

Be Specific in Prayer

Devote Yourself to the Word

Make Prayer a Priority

Keep Christ Central

Confess and Forsake Sin

Be Persistent in Prayer

Power in Prayer

Paul Teaches Us How to Pray

Effectual Prayer

Scriptural Patterns for Prayer

How to Pray

Session No.1

Session No.2

Session No.3

Session No.4

Session No.5

Session No.6

Session No.7

Suggested Pointers on Prayer

Prayer Sheet No. 1 — Temporary Requests

Prayer Sheet No. 2 — More Than Once-a-Week Prayer Requests

Prayer Sheet No. 3 — Once-a-Week Prayer Requests

Endnotes

Disciplined Bible Study

Introduction

Profiting From the Word of God (Thomas Watson)

How We May Read the Scriptures with Most Spiritual Profit

Bible Reading: Why and How (J.C. Ryle)

How to Read the Bible (Charles H. Spurgeon)

I. Understand What You Are Reading

Alert Minds

Meditation on the Word

Prayer to Its Author

Using Means and Helps

II. Seek Out the Spiritual Teaching

III. Such Reading is Profitable

The How and Why of Effective Bible Study (Wayne Mack)

Why We Have Confidence in the Bible: Who Its Author Is

Why So Many Christians Are Poorly Equipped: Failure To Take the Medicine

Why So Many Christians Are Poorly Equipped: Improper Use of Scripture

Why So Many Christians Are Poorly Equipped: Low Regard for Scripture

One Thing You Must Do To Really Benefit From Scripture: Be Teachable

A Second Thing You Must Do To Really Benefit From Scripture: Welcome Reproof

A Third Thing You Must Do To Really Benefit From Scripture: Accept Correction

A Fourth Thing You Must Do To Really Benefit From Scripture: Start Training

Suggestions For Getting the Maximum Benefit From This Chapter

Bible Study

Session No.1

Session No.2

Session No.3

Session No.4

Session No.5

Session No.6

Session No.7

Appendix

Helpful Books

Helpful Tapes

Endnotes

Effective Prayer

INTRODUCTION

This unit on Effective Prayer is designed to help the reader learn how to pray more effectively, that is, in line with the Word of God. It begins with an introductory reading on the prayer habits of George Mueller and continues on with Biblical principles pertaining to prayer. It then moves on to thought-provoking questions, which are designed to lead you into a comprehensive and yet practical study of what the Bible teaches about prayer. Many of the questions are answered in the introductory readings. Some are not. But answers to all questions are found in the Scripture references provided with the questions.

At the conclusion of this unit of our manual, specific suggestions concerning a prayer list, how to pray for missionaries, how to pray for other Christians, sample prayer sheets, and a list of helpful books and tapes are included.

To use this manual in the most profitable way, we recommend that you read the introductory material first and then proceed to the questions. The questions are divided into seven sessions. Each session may be studied one at a time, or, if desired, each session may be broken down into smaller segments.

The Prayer Habits of

GEORGE MUELLER

George Mueller’s life stands as a testimony to the power and truthfulness of our Almighty God. Is there someone who doubts whether God still answers prayer? Let them learn from George Mueller. Does anyone doubt whether God is able to accomplish beyond what they could ask or think? Introduce them to George Mueller.

Here is a man who desired to live his life so that men and women might see that God is faithful still and hears prayer still.¹ By God’s grace, that is exactly the kind of life George Mueller lived.

He was born in Prussia in September of 1805. There certainly wasn’t anything special about his youth which would make one think that he was going to grow up to be a great man of God. In fact, by looking at his childhood, one would think just the opposite. He wasn’t born into a godly home. His father educated his children on worldly principles.² For the first twenty years of his life, George lived an extremely sinful lifestyle. He was a thief. By the age of ten, he was consistently stealing money from his father. He was sent to prison at just sixteen for deception and theft. He stole from his friends and even took money from his pastor. George was not only a thief, he was also a hypocrite. His father sent him to school to train to be a pastor because he knew pastors were paid well. While at school, George studied hard but continued in his sin. He participated in the form of religion, but he had no heart for Christ. Three or four days before I was confirmed, and thus admitted to partake of the Lord’s Supper, I was guilty of gross immorality; and the very day before my confirmation, when I was in the vestry with the clergyman to confess my sins, after a formal manner, I defrauded him...³ He would often resolve to live a better life, but to no avail. He didn’t care about the Word of God. He writes, I had no Bible and had not read one for years. I went to church but seldom; but from custom, I took the Lord’s Supper twice a year. I had never heard the gospel preached. I had never met with a person who told me that he meant by the help of God, to live according to the Holy Scriptures. In short, I had not the least idea that there were any persons really different from me.⁴

By simply looking at George’s youth, many would have assumed he was a hopeless case. Not for God.

Around the age of twenty one, George’s life was radically changed. One of his friends took him to a small Bible study held in the home of a true Christian. There he heard the Word preached for the first time and was never the same again. As he walked home after the Bible study had concluded, he remarked to his friend, All we have seen on our journey to Switzerland, and all our former pleasures, are as nothing in comparison with this evening.⁵ He began to love studying the Scriptures and praying. Slowly but surely, he worked at putting off his old sinful practices and putting on righteousness. He developed a great passion for witnessing and had a craving for fellowship with believers.

During this time, God gave George a great desire to be a missionary. Eventually he was sent to London as a missionary to the Jews. After a few years, George became the pastor of a small church. He was wholeheartedly devoted to the authority of Scripture and his preaching and life was a testimony to that. He lived in complete obedience to the Bible and trusted God for his daily needs.

Not too long after his move to England, God led George to establish The Scripture Knowledge Society for the purpose of teaching the lost about God. God used the Society to pass out 2,000,000 Bibles and 111,000,000 tracts, to instruct 121,683 students, and to aid 115 missionaries at a total cost of over one million dollars.

George is most remembered, though, for the orphanages he established. He founded these orphanages for the express purpose of encouraging believers to trust and obey God, no matter what the cost. He wrote, My spirit longed to be instrumental in strengthening their faith, by giving them not only instances from the Word of God of His willingness and ability to help all those who rely on Him, but to show them by proofs that He is the same in our day.⁶ Therefore, he refused to ever ask for money or to let anyone besides God know of his financial needs. Over the course of his life, God provided almost five million dollars for these orphanages which housed over ten thousand orphans.

We can learn a great deal from George Mueller. He was a man of the Word. He dared to be obedient in all that he did. But perhaps we can learn the most from Mueller in the area of prayer. Mueller was a man whose life was saturated with prayer.

Let me just draw seven principles that we can learn from Mueller’s example of prayer.

Depend on God Completely

One of the distinguishing marks of George Mueller’s life was his absolute reliance upon God for all things. By the grace of God, I desire that my faith in God should extend towards everything, the smallest of my own temporal and spiritual concerns, and the smallest of the temporal and spiritual concerns of my family, towards the saints among whom I labor, the church at large, etc.⁷

He took all his concerns to God in prayer. Mueller desired to never resolve a problem by leaning upon man or upon human methods, but instead leaned wholly upon God. Thus, he made it a rule never to reveal the financial state of the orphanage to anyone or to ask for funds. (Though we don’t have to imitate Mueller in all the specifics of how he did things, we certainly should be challenged by his willingness to depend upon God alone in all things.)

George began his work with the orphans by depending upon God for guidance and strength. His journals make it clear that he continually cried out to God to provide the means to open the orphanage, the staff to run it, and the money to support it. He writes, So far as I remember, I brought even the most minute circumstances concerning the Orphanage House before the Lord in my petitions, being conscious of my own weakness and ignorance.⁸

He ran the orphanages with an attitude of absolute dependence upon God. Story after story illustrates his humble attitude. For example, in November of 1838 he did not even have a single half-penny to pay for food for any one of the three orphan houses. What did George do? He did not get anxious, but rather took the matter to his Father in prayer. He was confident that God would provide, even though he didn’t know how. He began to walk home after praying with his staff, but since he felt he needed exercise, he took the long route. Only twenty yards from his home he met a friend who gave him twenty pounds to meet the orphanage’s current needs. Had George been one half minute late, he would have missed him. George always depended upon God, and God always provided.

This attitude gave George great hope and confidence. He writes, They that trust in the Lord shall never be confounded! Some who helped for a while may fall asleep in Jesus; others may grow cold in the service of the Lord; others may be as desirous as ever to help, but have no longer the means... were we to lean upon man, we should surely be confounded; but, in the leaning upon the living God alone, we are beyond disappointment, and beyond being forsaken because of death, or want of means, or want of love, or because of the claims of other work. How precious to have learned in any measure to stand with God alone in the world, and yet to be happy, and to know that surely no good thing shall be withheld from us whilst we walk uprightly.⁹

George often demonstrated his absolute trust in God. There was one time when a rich man and some of his lady friends were visiting the orphanages. Amazed at the care the orphans were receiving, they looked at George and asked him if he had a large bank account so that he could provide for all these children. George simply answered, Our funds are deposited in a bank which cannot break. This was quite a statement, as George did not have a penny at the time to provide for the children.¹⁰

George longed for all believers to depend upon God entirely. He did not want anyone to think that his situation was unique, but instead constantly exhorted Christians to take all their concerns to God in prayer. He often told Christians to make everything a subject of prayer, and to expect answers to requests they have made according to God’s will, and in the name of Jesus. We live in a day and age where it is easy to forget our dependence upon God. We have credit cards and our money in bank accounts, and we must never substitute dependence upon human things for dependence upon God. We need to train ourselves to have an attitude of dependence.

Be Specific in Prayer

Mueller brought everything before God in prayer. Too often, due to laziness or lack of faith, many Christians pray only in generalities. They don’t want to expect too much from God. Mueller’s prayer life stands in stark contrast to this kind of attitude.

He prayed to God about financial matters. There were many times when Mueller had not a penny in hand and two thousand children to feed. So he would cry out to God. It is important to note that God took George through many difficult times. We must not get the idea that life was always easy for this man of God. There were times when he cried to God and God immediately answered, and there were other times when he prayed and God took a long time to answer. Yet, he continued to pray. On one occasion, George wanted to buy a certain piece of land on which to build an orphan house. Unfortunately, the owner wanted to sell it at a much greater cost than George could afford. So George went to prayer. He prayed several times a day about this specific matter. After several weeks of prayer, the owner consented to sell the land at the cost George had been praying for.¹¹

George cried out to God for physical needs. When he lost a key, he would pray to God to help him find it. When someone did not show up for an appointment, George prayed that he would come quickly.¹² He did not view anything as too small to pray for. There is a simple story which illustrates George’s attitude towards prayer requests. One of his favorite young friends once came to him and told him that she wished God would answer her prayers like He did George’s. He repeated to her God’s promise to listen to His children. So she sat on his knee and he asked her what she wanted to pray for. He prayed with her that God would send her some wool. She ran outside to play, but then realized that she hadn’t asked God what kind of wool she wanted. She ran back inside to Mueller.

I want to pray again.

Not now, dear, I am busy.

But I forgot to tell God what color I wanted.

Taking her up on his knee again, Mueller said, That’s right, be definite, my child, now tell God what you want.

That was Mueller’s practice in prayer: He was definite, and he told God what he wanted.

Devote Yourself to the Word

There are those who try to separate powerful praying and consistent study of the Scripture. They may say, I am devoted to prayer, but I have a difficult time studying God’s Word. Or perhaps, I love Scripture, but I am just not into prayer. It really is important to join the two. If we want to be people of prayer, we must be people of the Word; and if we want to truly be people of the Word, we must be people of prayer. Mueller’s prayer helped him study the Word and his study of the Word helped him pray.

Mueller emphasized the importance of reading the Scripture prayerfully. He didn’t want to come to a passage of Scripture carelessly, but rather continually sought God, asking God to teach him what the passage meant. He often warned against becoming too devoted to Christian books and commentators instead of being devoted to the Scripture and crying out to the Holy Spirit for wisdom.¹³

To Mueller this prayerful reading of Scripture was essential for effective times of prayer. Therefore, Mueller devoted himself to the Word. During the last twenty years of his life, Mueller read the entire Bible approximately four to five times every year. By the end of his life, he had read the entire Bible almost two hundred times. Because he read the Scriptures prayerfully he could pray scripturally. Mueller’s study of Scripture was a big part of his success in prayer.

Mueller began to practice this principle early in his Christian life. Before he prayed in the morning he would meditate upon a portion of Scripture. As he would meditate upon Scripture, his soul was drawn to prayer. He would then begin to pray Scripturally. He writes, ...after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession or to supplication; so that, though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned out almost immediately more or less into prayer.¹⁴

Mueller emphasized the importance of the Word of God in prayer for several reasons.

First, praying Scripturally helps the believer develop a proper understanding of who God is and this will strengthen his faith.

As the Christian reads of God’s mercy and God’s power and sees the wondrous workings of God in the past, he will grow in his faith and thus have greater confidence in the God to whom he prays.¹⁵

Second, praying Scripturally produces courage during difficult times. When trials come and our circumstances seem difficult we must rest in the promises of God. Mueller wrote, Further, when sometimes all has been dark, exceedingly dark, with reference to my service among the saints, judging from natural appearances; yea, when I should have been overwhelmed indeed in grief and despair, had I looked at these things after outward appearance; at such times I have sought to encourage myself in God by laying hold in faith of His mighty power, His unchangeable love, and His infinite wisdom... for it is written ‘He that spared not His own son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?’ Romans 8:32 (KJV).

Thirdly, praying Scripturally informs the believer’s prayers. Mueller continually emphasized the importance of not praying according to our own will but according to the will of God. He would often evaluate his prayer requests in light of Scripture in order to make sure that what he was asking was according to God’s will. How can we know God’s will so we can pray it? We learn God’s will through the study of God’s Word.

Make Prayer a Priority

It is absolutely impossible to read the life of George Mueller and miss this simple point: George Mueller made prayer a top priority. For Mueller, prayer was not an option, it wasn’t something to put on the spiritual back burner—it was his lifeblood.

It’s very humbling to read of Mueller’s devotion to prayer. His life was saturated with prayer. He prayed privately. He began every day with a time of Scripture reading and prayer. Sometimes these prayer times would last for hours. He would often go for walks with his New Testament and spend time crying out to God. He had a daily time of prayer with his wife. He also scheduled a prayer time with his staff. Yet, this was just the beginning. He prayed continually. When asked if he spent much time on his knees in prayer, Mueller replied, More or less every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down, when I rise up.¹⁶

Mueller did not just teach this principle, he lived it. In spite of his preaching schedule, providing care for thousands of orphans, managing a large staff, and taking care of countless details, Mueller always made time for prayer. He explained, Here is the great secret of success. Work with all your might, but trust not the least in your work... pray and then work.¹⁷

Still others might complain that prayer and study of the Scripture is not enjoyable. Mueller wanted against giving in to feelings when it comes to prayer and urged believers to continue to pray and study even when they don’t feel like it. One will never develop a desire for prayer and for Scripture unless one works at praying and studying the Scripture.

Mueller would tolerate no excuses for a lack of prayer. We must not regulate prayer to a last resort but rather must make it our first resort.

Keep Christ Central

George Mueller loved Jesus Christ. He recognized that he did not deserve God’s grace and that the only reason God answered his prayers was because of the work of Christ. There is only one thing George Mueller deserves and that is hell. I tell you my brother that is the only thing I deserve. I am indeed a hell-deserving sinner. By nature I am a lost man, but I am a sinner saved by grace.¹⁸

Therefore, whenever George taught on prayer he always placed great stress upon the absolute necessity of depending upon the merits and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only ground of any claim of blessing.¹⁹ God accepts us not based on our own good works but on the work of His Son. We don’t deserve God’s grace, and, therefore, we can never become proud when God answers our prayers. We must constantly remind ourselves of our sinfulness and our Savior’s mercy.

Mueller challenged believers to meditate deeply on Christ. Do we seek to ponder what the Lord Jesus Christ is to us, as our Redeemer, as our great High Priest, as the One who is coming again to take us to Himself that where He is we may be also... Do we comfort ourselves day by day with all of this?²⁰ Christians should constantly be exalting Christ in their prayers and crying out to God on the basis of His Work. As one reads through Mueller’s prayers it becomes evident that this is exactly what he did. He loved His Savior with all of his heart and clearly worked at exalting Him in his prayers and with his life.

Confess and Forsake Sin

Scripture makes it clear that God does not listen to the prayer of the wicked. He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination to God (Proverbs 28:9). Sin hinders our prayers.

1 Peter 3:7 illustrates this truth clearly. You husbands live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman, and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Mueller embraced this principle. He warned that it is of the utmost importance that we seek to maintain an upright heart and a good conscience, and therefore do not knowingly and habitually indulge in those things which are contrary to the mind of God... All my confidence towards God, all my leaning upon Him in the hour of trial will be gone, if I have a guilty conscience and do not seek to put away this guilty conscience but still continue to do the things which are contrary to the will of God.²¹ He didn’t believe that a Christian should ask God in faith while continuing to indulge unrepentantly in sin.

Confession therefore played an important part in Mueller’s prayers. He often asked God to show him his sin and to guard him from making sinful decisions. Mueller sought to mortify his fleshly desires and live solely for Christ. When asked the secret of his success, Mueller replied, There was a day when I died, I utterly died, and as he explained this he bent lower and lower until he almost touched the floor, died to George Mueller, his opinions, his preferences, tastes and will—died to the world, its approval, or censure, died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friend, and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.²²

Be Persistent in Prayer

One of the most important lessons to be learned from George Mueller’s life is how to respond when prayer requests are not quickly answered. For the thousands of Mueller’s prayer requests God answered quickly, there were thousands which He delayed in answering. As one reads through Mueller’s narratives it is striking how often God made George wait for an answer. How did Mueller respond when God delayed? Through prayer. If God is slow in answering prayer, do not give up. Rather pray more often.

Mueller writes, One or the other might suppose that all my prayers have been thus promptly answered. No, not all of them. Sometimes I have had to wait weeks, months or years, sometimes many years... During the first six weeks of the year 1866 I heard of the conversion of six persons for whom I had been praying a long time. For one I had been praying between two and three years. For another between three and four years; for another above seven years, for the fourth above ten years, for the fifth above fifteen years, and for the sixth above twenty years. In one instance my faith has been tried even more than this. In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals. I prayed every day without one single intermission, whether in sickness or in health, on the land or on the sea, and whatever the pressure of my engagements may be... two remain unconverted... But I hope in God, I pray on, and I look yet for the answer.²³

On one of Mueller’s many missionary tours, a man who was greatly discouraged came up to him for counsel. This man had six sons for whom he had been praying many years. His sons, in spite of all his prayers, showed no interest in God or their souls. He wanted George to tell him what to do. Mueller simply replied, Continue to pray for your sons, and expect an answer to your prayers, and you will have to praise God.²⁴

When Mueller desired to increase the number of orphans from three hundred to one thousand, he began to pray for God’s help in the matter. He kept on praying day after day for eleven years until God answered his prayer.

When Mueller was opening a new home and needed more helpers for the orphan homes, he sought the Lord in prayer. Yet when the home was about to open, he did not have enough applicants to fill the position. How did Mueller respond? By thanking God for previous answered prayers, and deciding not to pray just once a day for this matter, but to pray three times a day for helpers. He did this daily for four months, and was pleased to see God answer his prayers in an incredible way.²⁵

Mueller sums up his attitude by simply saying, When once I am persuaded that a thing is right and for the glory of God, I go on praying until the answer comes. George Mueller never gives up.²⁶

Mueller was persistent in prayer for several reasons.

First, he truly believed that God did answer prayer. God’s slowness did not shake Mueller’s faith. Before Mueller opened his first orphan house he prayed daily for fourteen months and three weeks. Never, during all these times, had I the least doubt that I should have all that is needed.²⁷

Many of us have a difficult time continuing in prayer because in our heart of hearts we aren’t sure whether God is really listening to our prayers. Jesus tells us, What man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake will he? If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him? (Matthew 7:9-11).

Mueller was confident in this promise and because of that he did not doubt the Father’s goodness. For through grace my mind is so fully assured of the faithfulness of the Lord, that in the midst of the greatest need, I am able to go about my other work. Indeed, if God did not give me this [this confidence in the faithfulness of God] ...I should scarcely be able to work at all.²⁸

Second, he believed that God had good reasons for being slow to answer certain prayers. Mueller could actually rejoice when prayers were not immediately answered because of his complete trust in the wise purposes of God. When God did not immediately answer his prayers, George took it as a sign of His love, because by doing so, God was strengthening Mueller’s faith. "Truly