A Lesson From George Mueller on Prayer

There is so much going on in the world, in the country and in your life right now, I want to challenge you to stop where you are right now and pray.  Yes. Right now. This moment. 

In his book, Praying Backwards, Bryan Chapell tells this story:

On March 9, 1842, the resources of the orphanage run by George Mueller were exhausted.  For years Mueller had never asked for money to run the orphanage. He simply prayed for their needs, and God had always supplied. But on this day the money had run out.  Mueller’s response was to do what he knew best.  He gathered friends early in the morning and prayed again. The daily mail provided no relief.  Then, just as all hope seemed lost, a special delivery letter arrived. It was a letter that had initially been delivered to the wrong address.

The letter contained a sizable gift mailed from another city.  The timely arrival of the misdirected letter meant that the Lord had begun to answer the morning prayer several days earlier.  The Lord had interwoven events, thoughts, and timing involving the donor, the postal service, various forms of transportation, bank transfers, and Mueller’s prayers to culminate in the needed donation arriving at the crucial moment. 

Such events were repeated numerous times in Mueller’s ministry.  Some reports say such providential rescues of the orphanage occurred hundreds of times.  Whatever the precise number, the effect on the ministry is clear.  Mueller and his associates grew to expect the Lord’s work.  Mueller’s biographer writes that the minister and those who served with him sang without reservation:

I believe God answers prayer

Answers always, everywhere;

I may cast my anxious care,

Burdens I could never bear,

On the God who heareth prayer.

Never need my soul despair

Since He bids me boldly dare

To the secret place repair,

There to prove He answers prayer.

 “Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV).

In Christ,

Pastor Phil Schroeder

Why I'm Not For Prayer in School

First, let’s define the phrase. When most people say “let’s put prayer back in schools” they don’t mean, let’s give students the right to pray. They already have that right.  It was never taken away.  As long as it is not disruptive, any student or group of students is allowed to pray silently or aloud as they wish.  Schools are also required by law to give student-led prayer groups and bible studies the same access to school facilities that other extra-curricular groups (such as chess club or glee club) have. 

What is no longer allowed is a teacher, administrator or other school official leading the students in prayer.  I think that’s a good thing.  Once upon a time in our country, Christianity was the majority religion.  Most teachers and administrators would pray a Christian prayer.  That is no longer the case.  We live in a post-modern, post-Christian America.  You can no longer assume that your child’s teacher or principal will have a Christian background.  They may be Muslim, Jewish, Wiccan, Satanist, Scientologist, New Age, Atheist or whatever.  Do you really want someone with beliefs utterly opposed to your own leading your child in prayer daily?  I sure don’t.  

And besides in today’s era of tolerance, and pluralism, any prayer uttered by even a Christian teacher would be so watered down “so as not to offend anyone” that it would be meaningless.  It would be a prayer to an abstract, “lowest common denominator” deity that would be so inclusive, that it wouldn’t describe anybody’s “God”. 

If you send your child to public school, you have the right not to have a particular religion or ideology taught to your child.  Now, I also don’t believe that public schools are actually neutral.  A “neutral” ideology is still an ideology.  There is a system of beliefs being taught to our children.  It is up to us as parents to supplement what they learn at school with Christian teaching, so that they learn to see the world through a Biblical lens.  Equip your children with Scripture.  Make sure they know how to pray and share their faith with their friends.  Be involved in the public school system.  As Jesus commanded, be salt and light.

And remember you have a choice.  You can choose to send your child to public school, private school or to home school.  If you choose to send them to a Christian school, then you should expect (and want) your children to be led in prayer.  But a school that is paid for and run by the public is not the place to teach your children about Jesus. That’s your job.  And if you want the school to help you, you’re going to have to send them to a place that will.