This week we pray to have

A CHURCH IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES LIKE THAT OF ANTIOCH

We often encounter a fledgling church among Muslim converts to Christ. With this prayer we implore God for a church that is full of the Spirit and strong in the Word, missions-oriented, outward-looking, and very active in bringing the lost to the Kingdom.

According to Acts 13:1-3, the church in Antioch was such a one.

PRAYER

Glory be to you, Lord Jesus our Savior, Bridegroom of the Church, her Redeemer and Master.

Stretch out your mighty arm, and give us in Muslim lands a church that refuses heresies, that is not taken in by egocentrism, that stands firm in the face of divisions and rifts. A church that guards its unity, lives in holiness, weathers persecution, and does not hesitate to sacrifice all for Christ, her Lord.

Yes, Heavenly Father, we pray for a church that has prophets and teachers, a church that accepts and encourages members of various races and nationalities, that includes people of high positions and lowly ones, those who are educated and those who are not, a church to whom the Holy Spirit speaks and declares God’s will.

May the church in Muslim lands be a worshiping, praying, fasting church that produces leaders and sends them out as missionaries to plant the church in various parts of the world.

By faith I see, coming out of Islam, a church that, on the last day, will be like a chaste, beautiful bride presented to her Groom (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 21:2).

Glory be to you, O God, in the Church and in Christ Jesus for all time and eternity! Amen.

PROMISE

I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations… you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere (Jeremiah 1:5; Acts 1:8, NLT).

This week we pray for the

FAMILIES OF MARTYRS

In physical stature, he was an ordinary man. Spiritually he was a giant! Because he believed in Christ, had led scores of Muslims to the Kingdom and discipled and shepherded them, he was arrested and brought to trial. In court, before judges, lawyers and the public, he proclaimed the Kingdom of Christ with power and courage. Never had that group of Muslims heard the Gospel message stated so plainly, clearly and powerfully. The Muslim authorities were furious. They executed him.

Two years later, I talked with his son, a young man about 25 years old. He too is a giant who has continued to carry his father’s torch and legacy among his own people. He pastors a church and brings the lost to the Kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of Christians are martyred every year.  Have you thought of what happens to their families?  This week we will pray for them.

PRAYER

Father of the fatherless and defender of the widows (Psalm 68:5), we come to you in awe and sadness at the loss of our brothers and sisters to martyrdom. These are times of trial and trouble for your Church, but you are our merciful Father who comforts our hearts. Your consolation never fails.

I pray for the families of the heroes of faith who have paid the ultimate price for the sake of your name. They have left behind wives, husbands, children, parents, siblings, friends, and a church that seems orphaned without them. Dear God, comfort us all in our affliction and loss, and let your divine presence be our stay and support.

Visit the martyrs’ families and encourage them. They have needs—financial, spiritual and emotional. Use us, their Christian brothers and sisters, to care for them and encourage them.

May nothing separate those families from the love of Christ—no tribulation, distress, persecution, danger, loss, or death; no life, angels, or rulers… absolutely nothing! Rather, in all these things may they be more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:35-39).

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior who paid for our redemption with his own blood. Amen.

PROMISE

Will not God give justice to his chosen ones, when they cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? (Luke 18:7, Sharif Bible).

This week we pray about the Islamic

FAST

During this season, Muslims start the month-long fast called Ramadan. The Muslim calendar is based on the lunar year which has only 354 days. So each year the month-long fast comes about 11 days earlier than the previous year.

Muslims fast from dawn to sunset every day throughout this month. They abstain from food, drink, smoking, smelling nice odors, and marital relations. Each day after sunset, they break the fast, usually with a feast. They are allowed to eat until dawn of the following day.

According to Islam, this fast enables people to gain a right standing with God and an entry into paradise.

Some Muslims actually believe that during this month the devil is chained and cannot cause them harm, that the doors of heaven are open and the doors of hell are closed.

PRAYER

O Lord Jesus, I pray with love and compassion in my heart for Muslims during this season of fasting.

You know, Lord, that most Muslims are sincere people. They are serious about their religion and beliefs. Help them realize that to approach you they have to go through Jesus and his sacrifice at Calvary. They cannot save themselves from sin by “pulling themselves up by their bootstraps”! They cannot lift themselves up to you by performing rituals and religious duties.

Help them, O God, discover during this season that we are saved, not through works of righteousness, but only by faith through your undeserved favor.

I pray that you will reveal yourself to Muslims during this month as the Savior who has already accomplished all things. May they know that on the cross “it is finished.” Amen.

PROMISE

It is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life” (Galatians 3:11, NLT).

This week we pray for

BELIEVERS IN PRISON

It is estimated that at any given time, several thousand believers in Christ are imprisoned in Muslim countries because of their determination to live for Christ as their Savior and Lord.

Most of them experience harsh and inhumane conditions.  They are often given no food or access to legal help.  The police beat them to dissuade them from following Christ and to extract information and confessions about other believers.  Some die at the hands of the police.

PRAYER

O God, give our Christian brothers and sisters in prison grace in their severe trials.  Give them strength to stand firm in their faith and stay loyal to you. Give them courage to resist Satan and his temptations. Deliver them from evil.

May they be comforted by thinking about Jesus “who endured such hostility against himself from sinners” (Hebrews 12:3).

Visit them, O Lord, in a special way.  Manifest to them the love and compassion of Christ. Soothe their physical wounds and emotional hurts. Comfort their hearts, and help them forgive and love their enemies.

Come down and reveal yourself to them as you did with Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace. Assure them that their families are in your care. If it is your will, you can deliver them miraculously as you did with Peter.  Yet if some will be put to death like John the Baptist and James, give them grace and strength to stand firm to the end. 

Lord God, convict their tormentors.  May every one of these tormentors, persecutors, and blasphemers turn to you as Saul of Tarsus did.

Help us, the ones who live in relative freedom, to remember those in prison as if we were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if we ourselves were suffering (Hebrews 13:3).

To you, the God of all comfort, we owe our real freedom and our eternal life. In you we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Amen.

PROMISE

He will guard the footsteps of his loyal servants, while the wicked will be silenced in darkness (1 Samuel 2:9, REB).