Ramadan Kicks Off Christian Prayer Movement
Did you know that Muslims claim Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Ishmael as major figures in their religion? Did you also know that Muslims also have a positive view of Jesus?
Few Muslims, however, know anything about these figures in the Bible. While they know little about what Christians believe, few Christians know what Muslims believe. Christians hope to change that through the power of prayer.
Islam’s holiest month is Ramadan. This year Ramadan is July 20 through August 18. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. They believe it’s one of the highest forms of Islamic worship. Muslims abstain from earthly pleasures and curb evil intentions and desires as an act of obedience and submission to their god, believing it serves as atonement for sins, errors, and mistakes.
Mission Network News is making available a prayer guide from WorldChristian.com titled, “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World.” This prayer guide aims to help Christians pray more intelligently and effectively for the Muslim world.
Paul Filidis with WorldChristian.comsays this 21st edition of the prayer guide was created “to motivate Christians to pray for Muslims. But it also educates people about the Muslim world. It gives highlights, or an overview of the Muslim faith—different issues in the Muslim world—and [talks about] different locations.”
Today, television and even the Internet are only exposing people to the radical side of Islam as terrorists have used Islam to attack innocent people. Filidis says, “If we’re only exposed to that, then we may be tempted to not respond with the mind of Christ, but be fearful, angry, and even hateful and rejecting and generalizing all Muslims as terrorists.”
While the booklet isn’t exhaustive, Filidis says, “The prayer booklet is organized in such a way that there are testimonies, general information and articles on Islam, and then every day a subject is addressed. At the end of the subject there are prayer points that we can pray related to that day’s subject.”
Filidis says this isn’t only a North American initiative: “It’s a worldwide mobilization. I’m emphasizing that to help [Christians] realize they’re not praying alone. There are at least 30 to 40 languages worldwide that have the same material. They’ll pray in their languages for the same subjects each day.”
