Friday, June 30, 2017

Thousands of women and girls are murdered every year in Islamic honor killings. If a woman or girl behaves in a scandalous way, or even if she is a victim of sexual assault or rape, her Muslim family often sees it as their responsibility to get rid of her. The family believes that in this way they can have their “honor” restored! Usually a male family member has the duty to carry out the killing.

Studies show that family members normally do not accept any other solution in their effort to remove the “stain on their honor.” They often see bloodshed as the only way out. However, if the indiscretion of the woman or girl is kept hidden, it can be tolerated. As long as her actions do not bring dishonor to the family, the situation is covered up and does not ordinarily necessitate the honor punishment!

Prayer

Great Messiah, you went to the cross for us! We are all sinners, fallen and full of imperfections. We all commit shameful acts.

Yet, in your mercy, you died to save us and give us new life. You took upon yourself all our sin, shame and stain! Thank you. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for this free redemption. It is free for us, but it cost you your life, your blood. Thank you for your mercy.

I pray for those who commit such atrocities. Stop them in their tracks. Visit them in your mercy, love and grace. Change their hearts. Bring them into your Kingdom. May they repent and mend their ways. May they be willing to leave all at the foot of the cross, even their staunchly-held and well-guarded traditions.

I entreat you, Almighty God, loving Father, to help Muslims who put their faith in Jesus understand the power of your forgiveness and grace. Fill them with compassion and love. In the mighty name of Christ, amen.

Promise

When I bring you home from exile, you will be like a pleasing sacrifice to me. And I will display my holiness through you as all the nations watch (Ezekiel 20:41, NLT).

Friday, June 23, 2017

God promised to give Israel the land of Canaan. So Moses sent a group of leaders to spy out the land, but most of them brought back a negative and discouraging report (Numbers 13:26-33). They said the land devoured its inhabitants and that the people were giants. Worst of all, the spies saw themselves as grasshoppers compared to those giants!

Some Christians look at Islam’s advances today and feel like they are grasshoppers next to giants. Even in the United States, Islam is taught in some public schools as a “culture,” but Christianity is not! The Islamic population in Europe is growing fast, while the original European stock is dangerously and precipitously shrinking! Experts say that in 50 years Europe will be majority Muslim.

Prayer

Almighty God, when we believe your Word and take our responsibility as Christian witnesses seriously, we don’t see ourselves as “grasshoppers”; rather, we are more than conquerors. Humanly speaking, we are not up to the task of challenging the world of Islam to leave their darkness and come to the light of Christ. But we must not depend on human strength or wisdom. Help us have the kind of faith in you that David had. May we see the giant as too big to miss! Fill us with the power of your Spirit. Be our armor, our shield and our sword.

Help the church in Europe and America to see the influx of Muslims as a God-given opportunity to bring multitudes of Muslims to Christ the Savior.

Give the believers in my local church the vision to be effective messengers of the true God and bring Muslims to your Kingdom. Heal us from thinking we can never make a difference. Give us zeal and passion as we share your Word. Help us obey your Great Commission to make disciples of every nation (Matthew 28:19).

Glory, power and honor be to you alone, Lord, King and Savior. Amen.

Promise

He is not afraid of bad news. His heart remains secure, full of confidence in the LORD (Psalm 112:7, GW).

Friday, June 16, 2017

He started out as a “nobody”: he was raised in a home that worshipped other gods (Judges 6: 25-27), in a nation that had gone away from the true God (Judges 6:1), and was living through dire economic and social conditions (Judges 6: 2-6).

Does this sound like the story of many Muslims today? For Gideon, God intervened in his life: he spoke to him, changed his heart, and called him to serve him. The reticent young man who had once lacked self-esteem became a four-star general and the commander in chief of the Lord’s armies! The victory he and his forces won brought deliverance for the whole nation (read Judges 6-7).

Prayer

O God, glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask you to give your church among Muslims leaders like Gideon: men and women who trust you as Gideon did, believe your promises, receive anointing and empowering from you, obey your call, watch for signs from you and act with courage.

Give church leaders spiritual wisdom and insight so they might grow in the knowledge of God. I pray that their spiritual eyes may be enlightened. Help them know the hope to which you call them (Ephesians 1:18).

Hedge around them on every side, protect them and their families, and bless the work of their hands (Job 1:10).

May the banner of Christ be lifted high over all the Muslim world. May the righteousness of God rule in the hearts of Muslims. Amen.

Promise

The LORD is with you, mighty warrior. …Go with the strength you have, and save [your people]. I am sending you (Judges 6:12, 14, SAB).

Friday, June 9, 2017

Muslims believe in one God whose oneness does not allow for the doctrine of the Trinity: three Persons in One. They mistakenly believe that Christians worship three gods. Islam claims that Jesus cannot be the Son of God, because God does not marry and produce children. Muslims believe that the Holy Spirit is just an angel.

Furthermore, the loving relationship of God the Father with his people is missing in Islam. “The central claim of Christianity is that God has spoken.”^[1] This means there is the Speaker (God the Father), the Word spoken (the Son) and the Interpreter of the Word (the Holy Spirit).

Although people are not saved because of a doctrine, the teaching of the Trinity reveals to us God’s person, his character and his work, and is essential for our relationship with him. An incorrect concept of God is at the core of many heresies.

Prayer

Lord God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, great in glory and eternal in love, I ask you to open the eyes of many Muslims this week to see your sacrifice, power and wisdom.

Forgive Muslims for rejecting Jesus Christ, your Son, and trying to box the Eternal God into the limits of their own logic! May they instead submit to your eternal love and worship you—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Lord Jesus, reveal yourself to them, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. You said: “I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me…. I came from God” (John 8:16,42). May Muslims be reconciled to you at the cross of Calvary. Set them free from the darkness of Islam. May their hearts be touched by your love, O God our Father, by the grace of Christ your Son, and by the closeness and gentleness of the Holy Spirit.

You are the Almighty, the only living God, Maker of heaven and earth, and Redeemer and Sustainer of humans. Blessed are you for ever and ever. Amen.

Promise

Jesus said, “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father too. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:6-7, SAB).

Footnotes

^[1] Swiss Theologian Karl Bart, 1886-1968.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Before Jesus ascended to the Father, he promised to send the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and Guide and empower us to witness for him. His promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. This weekend we will celebrate Pentecost Sunday to commemorate the gift of God’s Spirit to the Church. Only the power of the Holy Spirit can draw people to Christ and enable Christians to accomplish great things in everyday life, in evangelism and in missions.

Over the centuries, the Holy Spirit has used miracles, visions, and dreams to reveal Christ to many Muslims in different parts of the world. The great influx of Muslims coming to Christ in Indonesia in the 1960s and 1970s, and presently in some parts of Africa, can be attributed mainly to the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer

O God the Holy Spirit, come upon Muslim convert to Christ, and fill them with your power and presence. Fulfill to them Jesus’ promise of Pentecost. Holy Spirit, sanctify them, guide them to the truth, and help them lead a victorious Christian life. The environment that surrounds them is very hostile to the Gospel, and they need the fullness of the Spirit to persevere in their commitment to you.

Help them pray for others and intercede for the lost world. Inspire them with zeal and power to witness for Christ, spread the Gospel throughout the whole earth, and demonstrate God’s majesty through signs and wonders.

I pray that the time will come when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord’s glory as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Promise

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions (Joel 2:28, NLT).