Skip to main content

Prayer and Conversion, by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous


Prayer and Conversion
By Pastor Charlie

Over the last few months, I have been writing about various aspects of prayer by directing our attention to particular portions of Scripture. Over the next few months, I will be writing about various principles of prayer by directing our attention to the experiences of such leading lights as George Müller, Andrew Murray, Hudson Taylor, and E. M. Bounds. My prayer for the coming devotionals is that we will see the work of God in the lives of others and grow in the desire to see God build prayer-stories in our lives as well. Let’s begin with George Müller’s conversion story.
George Müller grew up in a culturally Christian home, and thus by custom he regularly attended church and took the Lord’s supper twice per year. However, he did not hear a clear presentation of the gospel until he was twenty years old. About one month after he turned twenty, a friend named Beta invited him to a home Bible study. There he received the warm welcome of Christians and listened as they prayed, sang, read from the Scripture, and read a sermon from a local pastor. Müller later commented that, although those who prayed were far less educated than him, he could not pray as they did. There was a sincerity and warmth to their communion with God that was at once foreign and attractive to him.
When the meeting was finished and he walked home with his friend, he commented that “all our former pleasures are as nothing compared to this evening” (Autobiography of George Müller, Westminster Literature, page 10). He had experienced the joy of the Lord and the joys of this world were no longer enough to satisfy his soul. It took a few more weeks for Müller to bow his knees before Christ, but when he did he found Christ able to do what the church, his father, and his own will power were unable to do, namely, to save his soul, transform his desires, and give him lasting joy in life. “The individual who desires to have his sins forgiven, must seek for it through the blood of Jesus. The individual who desires to get power over sin, must likewise seek it through the blood of Jesus” (Autobiography, page 10).
From this time forward, Müller learned to pray and he learned that one of the great grounds of prayer is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ wherein one’s sins have been forgiven and one is transformed from an enemy of God to a child of God. For while, by grace, the Lord sometimes hears and answers the prayer of those who do not know him, his heart is to have communion with us and then grant his blessings to us. Indeed the heart of prayer is a heart that has been reunited with God in Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worship Songs, October 15, 2017

By
We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. My Redeemers Love Hope Has Come I Will Glory In My Redeemer Blessed Be Your Name Here In Your Presence Your Glory Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) -- Sermon Text: John 11:1-16 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).
Post a Comment
Read more

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

By
  One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF.  However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive.   I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church.  In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority.  Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

By
“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit.  Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vendi...
Post a Comment
Read more