I am often encouraged in my Christian walk with the stories of folks who have gone before us. George Mueller is one of my favorites. He was born in 1805 in Prussia but moved to England as a young man. The story goes that he lived a pretty godless life until he was suddenly converted at age 21 while attending an old fashion house prayer meeting.

His testimony is that he arrived in England with very little. He had no money, no recommendations, little English skills but wrote in his journal, “My whole life shall be one service for the living God.”

He was deeply rooted in the scriptures and relied on prayer for EVERYTHING.

He founded the Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol, England and over the course of his life he cared for 10,000 destitute children giving them the gospel of Jesus Christ, an education and a safe place to live. And then at the age of 70, he began to travel extensively preaching the gospel in 42 different countries.

But the really amazing thing about his life was his dependence on prayer. Over the course of his life, Mueller raised over $7 million dollars and never once asked for a gift, shared a need or even hinted that his work needed support. He just prayed it in.

Sometimes it was a miraculous moment…like the time the orphanage had no food for the children. Mueller had them assemble in the dining hall and they began to thank the Lord for a meal that wasn’t in front of them.

As they were praying, a dairy cart lost a wheel outside their house. The owner feared that all the milk products would spoil before he could get the cart repaired. So, he gave all the milk, the various cheeses, the clotted cream and cottage cheese to the orphanage. They children had a full meal.

On another occasion, he declared in his journal that he only had one cent in his hand and nearly 1400 people to care for that day. He began to pray earnestly for the need. By the end of that one day, he had received over $10,000 from sources he had no previous contacts with. God just nudged them to give.

Mueller once said, “There is no limit to what He is able to do. Praises for ever to His glorious name! Praise Him for everything! I have praised Him many times when He sent me ten cents and I have praised Him when He has sent me sixty thousand dollars. Expect great things from God and great things you will have.”

This week gives you and I an opportunity to live a bit like Mueller. Let’s expect great things from our Savior and pray with that kind of dependency!