Encouragement to Pray for our Muslim Brothers

The Middle East is unsettled.  Uprisings and protests are ongoing in several countries.  Some of these situations may be contrived in part by groups that would want to take advantage of any potential “power vacuums.”  God, though, may have other plans.  Quite possibly, this could be a great “God” opportunity.  How many of us, likewise, had to be “unsettled” before God could go to work on our lives.

This is a call for all followers of Christ to pray for those who declare themselves to be Muslims.  It is also a call to ask God to give you His love for Muslim people.  There is a lot of history that can’t be overlooked between Christian and Muslims.  As fervently as Christians respond to concerns about Muslim extremists or infiltration of Muslim culture into our society, we should even more fervently be praying for them to see God’s hand of blessing in their lives and to respond to the voice of their true Master, the servant Master.

The best way to encapsulate this prayer is as follows:

Pray that God would turn the heart of Ishmael back to his Father Abraham.

Ishmael was the son of Abraham (half-brother of Isaac).  Ishmael became the father of the Arabic people.  In this prayer, the name Ishmael could be applied to Arabic Muslims, as well as in a broader sense, their spiritual brothers, Muslims from all people groups. 

Ishmael’s father was Abraham.  Abraham’s spiritual Father is God.  The picture is of Ishmael having his Fathers heart for God.

Pray that God would turn the heart of Ishmael back to his Father Abraham.

We, as followers of Christ, are in a spiritual sense Ishmael’s half-brother.  We have, by God’s grace, been grafted into Abraham’s “family tree” through Christ.  With one heart, let us pray for our half-brothers during these times.  What could God do if the body of Christ prayed with one heart and one voice for this purpose.

And the glory which thou hast given Me I have given to them: that they may be one, just as we are one; I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst sent me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me. (John 18:22-23)

Let us also pray for fellow believers who live in and those who minister to these countries.  Pray for God’s favor to be upon them and their witness, pray for Gods heart of Love to be ever present in their hearts, and pray for their safety in these troubled times.  Pray that even in the midst of persecution they would not shrink back, but would be faithful to show God’s LOVE and forgiveness.

Pray also that God would unsettle our own hearts.