George Mueller stands as one of the great examples of intercessory prayer I’ve ever read about. His incredible faith sustained his orphanage in England for decades.

One time the orphanage was completely out of food and money. Mueller set the table for his kids, just like they were ready to eat. No food in the kitchen, no groceries in the pantry. Mueller sat everyone down and prayed, “Dear Father, we thank you for what you are going to give us to eat.”

Immediately, there was a knock at the door. The local baker stood at the door. “Mr. Mueller,” he said, “I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 and baked fresh bread. Here it is.”

Soon, there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children milk so he could empty the cart and repair it.

Mueller lived on that edge of prayer for decades. It’s foreign to us. We want planned growth. We want planned giving and income. We put together business plans, etc. We just want predictability.

Living in the power of the Spirit has risk. There are times when we are put on the edge of faith and we truly need to trust God for the next step. It’s in those times we truly need to hear the voice of the Spirit. Our lives are to be bathed in prayer and the Word. We need to be tuned into his voice, ready to respond.