I would like to share some notes on Chapter 4 of The Autobiography of George Müller, which describes how he prepared his sermons. What stood out to me was his determination not to choose a subject based on his own wisdom, but to seek the Lord’s direction and depend on the Holy Spirit throughout the process.

Here is my summary of his approach:

  1. Seek the Lord’s direction. He would ask the Lord to teach him what subject to preach on. If he already had something in mind, he would pray over it and, if persuaded that it was the Lord’s will, study it, all while remaining open to redirection.

  2. Wait on the Lord. If he had no subject in mind, he would remain on his knees, waiting for the Holy Spirit to direct him. Whenever a passage came to mind, he would ask the Lord whether it was His will for him to speak on it. He would sometimes do this repeatedly, especially if the subject was a difficult one. If, after praying, his mind was at peace about it, he would take it as the subject.

  3. Continue reading Scripture. If no subject came to mind, he would continue his regular Bible reading, sometimes reading five, ten, or even twenty chapters before receiving a subject.

  4. Depend on the Holy Spirit for understanding. Once he had a subject, he would meditate on the passage, asking the Lord to teach him through His Spirit. He would write down notes to assess his understanding of the passage, seldom relying on other study aids apart from Bibles in other languages.

  5. Entrust the delivery to the Lord. He would ask the Lord to bring to mind what he had learned in his prayer closet.

  6. Trust the Lord even at the last minute. If he still had no subject, he would go to the meeting anyway. He testified that the Lord had always provided one, sometimes just minutes before he was due to preach.

  7. Depend on the Spirit while preaching. He sought to preach in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit, allowing the Lord to continue teaching him even as he spoke.

  8. Speak plainly. He aimed to use simple language that everyone could understand, including children and those who could not read.

Reading about Müller’s approach reminds me that whenever we discuss God’s Word, we should first turn to God Himself, for He is the author. Our all-knowing God is also the only One who knows exactly what His people need to hear.

This is particularly relevant to me as I continue on this journey of writing daily. I am learning to depend on the Holy Spirit to guide me rather than treating my daily writing as merely an intellectual exercise. May I continue to grow in my dependence on the Lord.