George Müller's Ten Thousand Prayers

In 1844, George Müller of Bristol, England, began praying for five personal friends to come to faith. He prayed daily, without ceasing, recording each petition in his journal. After five years, the first friend converted. Ten years in, the second followed. Twenty-five years passed before the third came to faith. Müller kept knocking. He prayed for the fourth and fifth friends for over fifty years — more than ten thousand individual prayers offered for the same two souls. The fourth friend finally believed shortly before Müller's death in 1898. The fifth converted at Müller's funeral, moved to repentance by the life of the man who had never stopped asking on his behalf.

In Luke 11, Jesus tells of a man who pounds on his neighbor's door at midnight, refusing to leave until his request is granted. The point is not that God is reluctant — it is that persistence in prayer reveals the depth of our trust. Müller understood this. He did not pray because he doubted God's goodness. He prayed because he believed in it so completely that fifty years of silence could not shake him.

Jesus promises: ask, and it will be given. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. The Father who gives good gifts does not forget the prayers of His children — even when the answer outlasts a lifetime.