Leaving room for a change of plans

PRAYING FOR MISSIONS
August 2021

By a member of SEND’s Diaspora | North America team — As we entered his house, he hung his head and said, “No, no, I am embarrassed. I should be coming to see you. You are my teacher and yet you came to me. In my country, the custom is that the small people go to see the big people, and the big people just stay home and wait for us.” I said to him, “Don’t be embarrassed. We are all the same before God. God doesn’t ask who our father is. He doesn’t ask how rich we are. He doesn’t ask if we are big people or small people. He simply looks straight at our hearts and he loves us."

After we got past the awkward start to our conversation, we actually had a very nice visit. We shared family news back and forth and talked about what it will take for his children to get into college. As we visited, I silently prayed for how I would steer the conversation and share about sacrifice. We were visiting during the Islamic holiday EID al Adha, which commemorates when Abraham was ready and willing to sacrifice his only son until God intervened and provided a ram.

Suddenly it came to me, not to share about sacrifice, but to share the story found in Luke 18 about the two men who came into the temple to pray—one who was rich and haughty and the other who was poor and humble. My host had already prepared the way for me to introduce the story by the way he’d reacted when we showed up at his door. So, I shared the story and emphasized again the fact that God looks at the heart, not at our social standing, wealth or outward appearances.

It was well received and it also prompted a brief discussion about hypocrisy, along with external and internal faith. We look back and give thanks for God preparing the way for something different than what I thought I was going to share. If we are going to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to lead us, we have to be willing to listen and follow his prompts, even if it means a change of plans.

Before we left, we asked how we could pray for the family. They gave us some requests and we prayed for them. They warmly thanked us for coming and invited us to return soon.

We went on to visit another family afterward, and while the second family was kind (and we had a nice visit), when we shared a Bible story it was not as well received. One family member even rolled their eyes as we shared (yes, that happens in other cultures too!). Before we left, we were able to pray for them, but we didn’t see the same receptivity we experienced in the first house. We had to remember that we are planting seeds on these visits and yes, some are falling on the hard path, yet some are falling into softer soil. May God give us grace to keeping sowing seeds as we pray for the Lord to produce a harvest.

Today I encourage you to keep visiting your Muslim neighbors and colleagues. When you visit, share Bible stories and pray for them. You are planting seeds of faith. And not only are you helping to change their understanding of who Christians are, but you are reshaping their worldview and helping them to understand who God truly is – a God who takes sin seriously, but also a knowable loving Father.

Prayer for the Muslim world
  • We continue to pray for 10% of the Muslim world to come to Christ in the next 10 years. What a crazy, audacious prayer! Please God, give us the faith to believe you can do this.

  • We are hearing reports of Muslims coming to Christ in very difficult places and we rejoice and are amazed that some are publicly declaring their allegiance to Christ. We pray for God to sustain them.

  • We also pray for former Muslims who have declared faith in Christ and come to the West—that the abundance of consumer goods and materialism does not distract them from what is most important, knowing and walking with Jesus.

  • Pray for Christian workers in Afghanistan. The country is in turmoil politically and COVID is ravaging across the land as well. Pray for wisdom and grace for those serving and living in this land, that they would communicate hope and light in a dark and difficult place.

  • Pray for Christian workers around the world who shared with Muslims about Jesus and his sacrifice during EID al Adha. Pray that the words shared would sink deep into hearts, take root, and grow.

  • Pray for Muslims to understand that they cannot find lasting forgiveness in sacrificing an animal year after year, and that they will seek the One who made the ultimate sacrifice, putting their faith in him.


Your prayers launch missionaries out to unreached peoples and give them success through the power of the Holy Spirit. Subscribe to Intercede & SEND , our monthly global prayer calendar.

• Download a free bookmark with daily themes to help you pray for your missionary friends and their children.

Additional Posts

By Erin Brown July 2, 2025
"This probably looks impossible, but you serve a God who is greater." These are the words of Abigail Niles, a young woman who followed the Lord to Romania.
By Diaspora North America June 29, 2025
March 7, 2025 Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution only to break it in less than a week? On March 1, 1.8 billion Muslims began their annual fasting month called Ramadan. They are supposed to fast completely—no water or food—during daylight hours from March 1–Mar 29. It begins with much fanfare, promises, and declarations, as fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims believe that faithfully keeping the fast ensures one’s place of favor with God. But many Muslims won’t be able to keep the fast through the whole 30 days. The reasons and excuses are myriad. Sometimes they will continue to claim to be fasting, but in reality, they are eating behind closed doors. To gain God’s favor, they must fast through the whole month, not just part of it. So, they live with the guilt and shame of not fulfilling the requirements of Islam. What was supposed to help gain their salvation now stands in condemnation. A Feast Within the Fast To complicate matters even more, Persian New Year’s Day is March 20, right in the middle of the fasting month. Persian New Year is one of the most important cultural holidays for most Iranian and Afghans, as well as many others with a Persian background scattered throughout Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, many people with Persian heritage don’t just celebrate on one day. Their New Year’s celebrations extend over two weeks! How do they reconcile these two weeks of festivities within Ramadan? For Arab Muslims, it is a non-issue. But for the Persian world, it IS a struggle. The hard-core Taliban will try to push people to keep the fast. However, many will lean more towards keeping their more ancient pre-Islamic traditions of New Year’s. I would encourage you to take time to explore with your Muslim neighbors and colleagues why they fast. Then share why Christians fast. Perhaps read Isaiah 58 with them, summarize it, and ask for their thoughts on this passage. One more thing to note during Ramadan is the Night of Power. Each year, during Ramadan, on or about the 27th day of the month, there is a special time called the Night of Power. This year it will happen on or around March 26. Muslims believe the Night of Power is when Mohammad first received the revelations of the Quran from the Angel Gabriel. Prayers offered up by Muslims during Ramadan—especially prayers in a mosque—are believed to be weightier than prayers at any other time. However, prayers on this special Night of Power, prayed in a mosque, are considered infinitely more valuable than any other prayer. Many Muslims will stay up all night praying on the Night of Power to earn extra points with God. There is a small problem in all of this, though—Muslims can’t agree on which night is actually the Night of Power. It is sometime during the last ten days of Ramadan, with tradition stating that it is on the 26th or 27th night. There are several resources to help Christians and churches pray for the Muslim world through this month of Ramadan. I would encourage you to connect with some or all of them. Please make others in your church aware of these resources. Perhaps you could even host a special prayer time at your church, utilizing these resources. Ramadan 30-Day Prayer Guide Booklet – This can be purchased as a hard copy or PDF. Prayercast – A wonderful website with many videos on the Muslim world. If you sign up, you can receive daily prayer videos that also work great during a Sunday worship service to help raise awareness of the need for prayer for the Muslim world.
By Erin Brown June 25, 2025
"He must increase, but I must decrease."
Show More