Andrew Murray (1828 – 1917)

Who Was He?

Andrew Murray was born on 9 May 1828 in Graaff Reinet, South Africa, the son of a Dutch Reformed Church missionary from Scotland. When he was ten years old, he and his brother John were sent to Scotland for their education, where they were deeply influenced by revivalist preachers like William Burns. They went on to study theology at the University of Utrecht in Holland, where they resisted the rationalism of the day and formed a small prayer group known mockingly as the “Chocolate Club.”

Ordained in 1848, Murray was given the enormous task of being the only minister over a 50,000- square-mile territory in remote South Africa. For weeks at a time he would ride on horseback to preach to isolated Dutch-speaking farming families. He married Emma Rutherford in 1856 and together they had eight children.

Murray pastored churches in Bloemfontein, Worcester, Cape Town, and Wellington over his long ministry, and became the central figure in the South African Revival of 1860. In 1879 he lost his voice entirely for two years due to a throat condition — a season of suffering that drove him deeper into prayer and the study of Scripture. Following a miraculous healing in London in 1881, he emerged with an even more fervent dedication to God.

Over the remaining decades of his life, Murray wrote more than 240 books and tracts, including the timeless classics Abide in Christ, Humility, and With Christ in the School of Prayer. His books have been translated into dozens of languages and continue to be read by millions. He died on 18 January 1917 at the age of 88, having shaped the global church's understanding of prayer, the Holy Spirit, and the deeper Christian life more profoundly than almost any writer of his era.

A Great Answer to Prayer For more than thirty years, Murray's father had prayed every Friday evening for revival to come to South Africa. He would read revival accounts to his family and then retire to his study to pour out his heart to God. The son grew up watching this, and the hunger for revival was instilled in him from childhood.

In May 1860, Andrew Murray was newly installed as pastor in Worcester when a conference on revival was convened. As speakers told of revivals in America and Europe, the congregation began to hunger. One evening, without any premeditation, the entire congregation spontaneously began weeping and crying out to God — hundreds of voices simultaneously, men and women, young and old, overflowing with prayer and confession.

Murray initially resisted, calling for order and silence. But his father came and told him, “Andrew, my son, I have longed for such times as these, which the Lord has let you have.”

Murray realised this was the revival his father had prayed for over three decades. He surrendered and embraced what God was doing. The revival spread throughout the whole country and bore lasting fruit — a direct answer to those thirty years of faithful, quiet, persistent prayer.

Later in life, Murray's two-year loss of voice was itself followed by a dramatic answer to prayer.

When all medical remedies failed, he travelled to Bethshan, a faith home in London, where he was completely and instantly healed through prayer and faith. He never again suffered from throat trouble and went on to write and preach for another thirty-six years.

Key Scriptures John 15:7 — “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Romans 8:26 — “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Ephesians 6:18 — “Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

His Words on Prayer “Prayer is not merely coming to God to ask something of Hi m. It is, above all, fellowship with God and being brought under the power of His holiness and love, until He takes possession of us and stamps our entire nature with the lowliness of Christ, which is the secret of all true worship.”

“Prayer is not monolo gue, but dialogue; God's voice is its most essential part. Listening to God's voice is the secret of the assurance that He will listen to mine.”

“Time spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer alone gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way for God Himself to do His work in us and through us.”

“The Holy Spirit comes in answer to believing prayer. The measure of believing, continued prayer will be the measure of the Spirit's working in the Church.”

“Nothing so reveal s a defective spiritual life in a minister or a congregation as the lack of believing and unceasing prayer. Prayer is the pulse of the spiritual life. It is the great means by which ministers and laypeople alike receive the blessing and power of heaven.”

Prayer and the Word of God “Many do not understand this union of the teaching of the Word and the Spirit, so there is a twofold difficulty in knowing what God's will may be. Some seek the will of God in an inner feeling or conviction and would have the Spirit lead them without the Word. Others seek it in the Word without the leading of the Holy Spirit. The two must be united — the Word and the Spirit — because only in these can we know for sure the will of God and learn to pray according to it.”

“A readine ss to believe every promise implicitly, to obey every command unhesitatingly, to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, is the only true spirit of Bible study.”

Prayer and the Holy Spirit “In every prayer the triune God takes a part — the Father who hears, the Son in whose name we pray, and the Spirit who prays for us and in us. How important it is that we are in right relationship to the Holy Spirit and that we understand His work!”

“Through His Spirit, the Spirit of prayer, our life may be o ne of continual prayer. The Spirit of prayer will help you become an intercessor, asking great things of God for those around you.”

“If the spiritual life be healthy, under the full power of the Holy Spirit, praying without ceasing will be natural.”