In the spring of 1841, George Müller (1805-1898) had a lifetransforming discovery that changed his life. He saw more clearly the importance of a daily quiet time with God in the Word of God and prayer. He says in his autobiography:
I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and
primary business to which I ought to attend every day
was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to
be concerned about was not how much I might serve the
Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might
get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man
might be nourished. For I might seek to benefit 5
believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might
in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a
child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in
the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in
my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended
to in a right spirit.
One of the most gifted Scotch preachers, Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843), said: “I ought to spend the best hours in communion with God. It is my noblest and most fruitful employment, and is not to be
thrust into a corner. The morning hours, from six to eight, are the most uninterrupted and should be thus employed. After tea is my best hour, and that should be solemnly dedicated to God. I ought not to give up the good old habit of prayer before going to bed; but guard must be kept against sleep. When I awake in the night, I ought to rise and pray. A little time after breakfast might be given to intercession. I ought to pray before seeing anyone. Often when I sleep long, or meet with others early, it is eleven or twelve o’clock before I begin secret prayer. This is a wretched system. It is unscriptural. Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says: ‘Early will I seek thee’; ‘Thou shalt early hear my voice.’ Family prayer loses much of its power and sweetness, and I can do no good to those who come to seek from me. The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not trimmed. Then when in secret prayer
the soul is often out of tune, I feel it is far better to begin with God — to see his face first, to get my soul near him before it is near another.”
Martin Luther (1483-1546), the great reformer, said: “If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.”
John Bunyan (1628-1688), author of the famous “Pilgrim’s Progress” said “he who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.”
Andrew Murray (1828-1917), the great devotional author, says: “Shut the world out, withdraw from all
worldly thoughts and occupations, and shut yourself in alone with God, to pray to Him in secret. Let this be your chief object in prayer, to realize the presence of your heavenly Father.”