Prayer for the Muslim world: Beyond the stereotypes

PRAYING FOR MISSIONS
January 2019

As part of the 10/10 Prayer Initiative, 180 agencies have come together to ask God to draw to himself 10 percent of the world’s Muslims in the next 10 years. 10/10. Easy to remember, yet such an amazingly big task that only God can do it. Will you join us?

By a former missionary in the Middle East — I recently heard a speaker talking about breaking down stereotypes. He himself is of Middle Eastern descent, and he used jokes to poke fun at himself and others like him and to dispel stereotypes that others may have of him. He did a (mostly) nice job of telling funny stories and helping people realize that Middle Easterners (or people of Middle Eastern descent) are real people too.

But what also came out in his talk, to me, was frustration and real pain because even though he is an American, he has suffered a lot because of his race and religion. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he found he could only get work as an actor playing the part of bad guys; when directors saw his ethnic background, they immediately cast him as a terrorist or bank robber.

For the first five years, then 10 years, and now almost 20 years after 9/11, he is still trying to break down these ingrained and fear-filled stereotypes of people from the Middle East. Of course, there are dangerous people from the Middle East, but there also are dangerous people from Europe, and from North, Middle and South America, and you will always need to be alert and have situational awareness and discernment in relating to the surrounding world.

But as Christians, as people who are called to be like Christ, should we not be first and foremost among those showing love, respect, and mercy to the people around us? Didn’t Jesus challenge those eager to punish the woman caught in adultery, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone?” Yes, he also confronted the woman and told her to leave her life of sin, but not until he had first dispersed the crowd.

Fear is something that wants to rise up in our minds and hearts; we have to recognize that and stop and pray, “Lord help me to love others as you love them.” If we don’t understand Muslims, then we need to be involved and get to know some Muslims, be it at work or through our children’s schools, by volunteering in our neighborhoods or towns, or through an outreach at our church. It is hard to change your perception from a distance, so jump in! Move closer! Volunteer to teach English, coach a sports team, or pick up trash in a Muslim neighborhood.

How about the first words out of our mouths to Muslims are not judgmental words or derogatory words about the Koran or Mohammed? How about we just go and love on them? God didn’t expect you or me to clean up our lives or to have perfect theology before he saved us, so don’t expect others to clean up their lives before you love them either.

10/10 Prayer Initiative requests
  • We are asking God to draw 10 percent of the Muslim world to himself in 10 years, and we want to be part of it too! We want to be proactive in sharing our faith with Muslims, and we want to be proactive in preparing the church to receive this new influx of believers.

  • All of our workers have more work to do than they can fit into each day. Pray for wisdom in choosing what they do and with whom. Pray also for more workers to join in the work, so that the loads can be shared.



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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.
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