Followup 1 on How to Pray for Muslims During Ramadan

So, did anyone sign up and read through the called to pray emails in my previous posts? How about praying for ISIS? 

It's easy to dismiss this nowadays, I know, I'm like that too. That's one of the reasons I started this blog, to get myself, and hopefully others moving...

It's not too late, check out my original post: How to Pray for Muslims During Ramadan and sign up.  Ramadan isn't over yet, and you aren't in need to pray for people during a certain time frame, it's just that Muslims can be more open to hearing the Good News during this time.

How did the called to pray emails affect me?

I am a person who loves historical fiction. I think the main reason is because I can truly empathize with the characters and also learn things about the time period that I never knew before. It helps me connect better.  

After reading Fira's story in the emails, it showed me one side of a particular type of Muslim family and what they go through during Ramadan.  Before I started this journey I didn't know much about Ramadan.  This has opened my eyes a little more to the need we have to understand more.  

I've always been interested in other cultures, I was going to study Anthropology/Archaeology in college, but I made different choices.  It still calls to me though, and so for me this type of story tore into my soul.  I cried a few times reading those short emails, and I cried out for God to have his hand over those that are in the dark.

What now?

Well, now I am going to go through the Pray for ISIS emails, and I am going to be posting links to each day for those on my Facebook page, just like I did for Frontiers' called to pray emails.   

Something clicked last Sunday!

Sunday morning before church my husband and I were talking about the called to pray emails and how I was feeling connected to them.  We went to church and one of the people on our teaching team preached about something spot on.  The story of the Good Samaritan, if you've never read it you can find it here. I've heard this story many times before, but until a few years ago I didn't realize the context of the culture in those days. Why would it be such a big deal to help someone on the side of the road?  Well, it boils down to a few things: fear, discomfort & inconvenience. We think that we wouldn't do something like that these days, but I have to tell you, this happens every day.  We live in a scary world and it's hard to get out of our comfort zone.  Listen here for the full sermon, choose the Who is my neighbor?

At the end of the sermon Hope4Syria was brought to light.  What an amazing coincidence that as I'm in the midst of learning about what a family from Syria could go through during Ramadan, I hear about this?  No, not a coincidence.  

THIS IS WHAT I CALL A GOD MOMENT

Often I feel a soft tapping on my shoulder when I listen to a sermon, sometimes I do something about it and sometimes I don't.  Sometimes, usually when I'm in the midst of a crisis, a problem is weighing me down, or I'm really driven in my walk with the Lord I feel a huge push.  This was my push.

How in the midst of this crisis that we are having in our country can we show other's the love of Jesus?  It will look different for every person, but it requires action.  Action to pray, action to get involved, action to give, action to spread the word...etc.

Luke 10:37

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”