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Prayer, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit, by Pastor Charlie Handren

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Prayer, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit
By Pastor Charlie

By his grace, the Lord gave George Müller a heart to seek him in big things and little things from the beginning of his life with God. He also sought to benefit others in practical ways and in spiritual ways, especially seeking to share the gospel with those who weren’t walking with Jesus.
Over the years, the Lord taught him how profound and simple a connection there is between prayer, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God.
To ascertain the Lord’s will we ought to use scriptural means. Prayer, the Word of God, and His Spirit should be united together. We should go the Lord repeatedly in prayer, and ask him to teach us by His Spirit through His Word. I say, by His Spirit through His Word. For if we should think that his Spirit led us to do so and so, because certain facts are so and so, and yet his Word is opposed to the step which we are going to take, we should be deceiving ourselves. (Autobiography of George Müller, Westminster Literature, 14)
Indeed, the key ingredients in a fruitful life with the Lord are (1) the speech of God, (2) the presence of God, and (3) our speech back to God. Fruitfulness is the natural and necessary outcome of intimate interaction between the Lord and his children, as we listen to what he has to say, allow him to apply his wisdom to our lives, and then receive the power to walk in his ways.
This happens, first, as we hear the Lord’s clear commands and instructions, and then obey them by the power of his Spirit. I never cease to be amazed by the Lord’s ability to have me in a certain passage of Scripture on a certain day specifically because I needed to hear a certain word from him and apply that to my life.
Second, we learn the way of fruitfulness as we come to understand the general patterns by which the Lord thinks and feels and wills. As this happens, we will be able to discern his will in matters about which the Scripture doesn’t directly speak. Should we move here or there? Should we take that job or not? How much should we save and give and spend each month. We will search the Scripture in vain for specific answers to questions like these, but as we learn to seek his will by his Spirit through his Word, we become more discerning and more fruitful.
The principle is so simple but so powerful, so let us hear this wisdom from our older brother in Christ and put it into practice: “We should go to the Lord repeatedly [emphasis added] in prayer, and ask him to teach us by His Spirit through His Word” (14).


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