Mission Leader

We are in the midst of the Islamic month of Ramadan, which is their month of fasting from dawn to dusk. For many Westerners, the last thing we want to do is pray for those we consider “enemies.”  Yet Christ teaches us to pray for them.  So during this month of Ramadan, consider this prayer as Muslims around the world go to prayers today.  Certainly we should be praying for them as they prostrate themselves in prayer this day.

Friday Prayer Focus
Today, even perhaps at this moment, Muslims worldwide will be preparing themselves for Friday prayer. Indeed, all week long practicing Muslims do ritual washing in order to be pure for prayer. Right intentions and a focused attitude toward God are specifically encouraged concerning prayer in Islam. However, it is certain that ritual cleansing, as well as the specific times, order and outward forms of prayer, definitely occupy most of the literature and instruction concerning Islamic prayer.
In Islam it is impossible to pray correctly without the ritual cleansing by water, or in the absence of water with sand. Islamic instruction about prayer is filled with long passages on exactly how to accomplish the cleansing process. None of the steps can be sidestepped or done in an improper way, otherwise Islamic prayer loses its merit and validity.
Here is a typical Muslim text about doing Wudu (the ritual cleansing):
1. A Muslim begins every action with intention. To yourself, make the intention to cleanse yourself for prayer, for the sake of Allah.
2. To yourself, say “Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem” (In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful).
3. Wash your hands three times, making sure the water reaches between the fingers and all over the hands.
4. Bring a handful of water to your mouth and rinse it thoroughly three times.
5. Sniff water into your nose three times to clean it. Use your right hand to bring up the water, and your left hand to expel it.
6. Wash your entire face three times.
7. Wash your arms, up to the elbows, three times. Start with the right.
8. Use your wet hands to wipe over your head once, from front to back and front again.
9. Use your wet fingers to wipe the inside and outside of your ears, once.
10. Wash your feet up to the ankles three times. Start with the right.
11. Dry off.
Prayer Starters
While some aspects of the ritual washing may be helpful as a reminder about how sinful we are as human beings, ultimately the ritual cleansing does not lead Muslims to true righteousness or holiness.

§ Pray for Muslims to discover the depths of sin and God’s holiness so that they may forever be freed of the idea that water can ever make them fit to meet God. Pray this for people that you may know, pray for Muslims in your city and elsewhere (Heb 8:9-12).

Adapted from 30 Days of Prayer for The Muslim World

Check out the video to the right of this post or linked here. This little vignette gives the readers digest version of a trip I took into some “high risk” mountains and valleys in the heart of the Central Asia.

On a recent trip to that part of the world I met with a follower of Christ Jesus who came to faith from a Muslim background.  I asked him about the “risk” of living for Jesus in the midst of violent opposition. He described his own harrowing experience of being stripped naked before fifty or more people and subsequently tortured for his faith in front of a crowd of people.

As he described the experience he shared, “Risk?  There is no risk.  Our problem is not risk, it is fear.  We pile one layer of fear upon another and upon another. Fear upon fear upon fear upon fear.”

He explained, “We have nothing to fear and there is no risk because all that man can do is advance our journey to our Savior.”