Thoughts on Prayer and Resting

I have been reading 'George Mueller, The Father to the Fatherless' to my children. This man was such a great man of God because of his prayer life. We have been learning so much by studying the life of this man. He took care of over two thousand orphans, all the while not asking for one penny from anyone. The Lord always provided in response to his prayers to God. That is amazing to me! He never let anyone know what was needed; he only let God know. And God came through every single time! I have not been able to get out of mind some of what we read last night: 'Mr. Mueller taught people how to pray. "Once I am sure that a thing is right and for the glory of God," he said, "I keep on praying for it until the answer comes. I don't give up! The great fault of the children of God is, they don't continue in prayer. If they would, they would see great things from God."

How often do I not tarry in prayer? How often do I give up? One of the many lessons I have learned through training for this marathon is perseverance. I hope to write more about this later, but the perseverance I have learned in the physical realm of running is something God wants to spill over into my spiritual life in the aspect of prayer. I so want to have the perseverance George Mueller had!

Secondly, I read a great article about 'resting in God'. It said this:

'Homeschooling, raising children, living a godly life--none of these are purely human jobs. In a nutshell, the task is bigger than you are. This is where sleep comes in. God wants us to remember that the task is ultimately His. We work for Him but we have the freedom to rest in that work. It takes a whole lot of pressure for a human being to forgo sleep--the kind of pressure that comes when we decide to shoulder a load God never meant us to carry. Our joy is to come alongside God and labor under His direction and power--not to take His work on ourselves'

"It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrow; for so he giveth his beloved sleep."