Rather a remarkable thing happened in connection with the opening of the Home. The money had been supplied, and preparations had been made to receive the children, but none sought admission!
Müller cast about in his mind as to why this should be so, and he discovered that whilst he had asked God for money to open the Home and for helpers, he had forgotten to pray that the children might be sent; and to this he attributed such a strange occurrence.
Still, the omission was soon rectified, and the Home ere long teemed with children.
This was in 1834. From such a small beginning the great Orphan Homes on Ashley Down sprang. Every need connected with the progress of the work was made the subject of prayer by George Müller and his earnest band of workers.
Again and again he has not known where to turn for the next meal for his orphans; but, as if by a miracle, supplies have been always forthcoming. Though often in great straits Mr. Müller has never asked for help except of God, and never has that help been denied.
The following extract from his journal will show the trials to which Mr. Müller has been subjected: "Never were we so reduced in funds as to-day. There was not a single halfpenny in hand between the matrons of the three orphan houses. There was a good dinner, and by managing to help one another by bread, etc., there was a prospect of getting over the day also; but for none of the houses had we the prospect of being able to take in bread. When I left the brethren and sisters at one o'clock after prayer I told them that we must wait for help, and see how the Lord would deliver us this time." About twenty yards from his home he met a person interested in the Homes who gave him £20. This is but a sample of many occasions upon which, having waited upon God in simple faith, help has arrived at the very hour it has been needed.
Some paragraphs in Müller's yearly reports read almost like a fairy story, only they are far more beautiful, being a record of facts. Thus in May, 1892, when the financial year of the institution began, they had in hand for their School, Bible, Missionary and Tract funds only £17 8s. 5-1/2 d.
In June of that year a packet was found at Hereford Railway Station containing eleven sovereigns, addressed to Mr. Müller, with nothing but these words inside, "From a Cheerful Giver, Bristol, for Jesus' Sake". In the same month came £100, "from two servants of the Lord Jesus, who, constrained by the love of Christ, seek to lay up treasure in Heaven".
A Newcastle man wrote that though finances were low he doubled the sum usually sent to the institution, "in faith and also with much joy". A sick missionary in the wilds of Africa sent £44 17s. 5d., being apparently all the money he possessed.
"Again and again," writes Mr. Müller, "I have had cheques amounting even to £5000, from individuals whose names I knew not before receiving their donations."