All Days
Use these resources to help pray specifically each day.
One of the primary ways God is drawing Muslims to Himself is through simple Bible studies that highlight passages of scripture from Creation through the Resurrection. The Waha app (https://waha.app/) contains many story sets that have been translated into dozens of languages. Throughout the 30 days we will pray through these story sets that reveal Jesus, the Word made flesh.
As you read these familiar passages, prayerfully imagine what it would be like to read them for the first time – to see the wisdom, power, beauty, and authority of God and to be drawn to trust in Christ and yield your allegiance to Him.
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.
This passage teaches us that God will ask us to do things that do not make sense to us. He desires obedience to His commands, and He is never contrary to His nature.
Historians agree that child sacrifice was widely practiced during Abraham’s day. So, Abraham would have been familiar with a command to sacrifice his child. What was surprising was that God Himself intervened, provided a substitute, showing that He could be completely trusted.
This passage teaches us that humans can hear God’s voice. We learn that man can be tested by God but that it is ultimately for our good.
Seventy days after Ramadan ends, Muslims gather together in homes to celebrate Eid al-Adha and slaughter a sheep to commemorate this story, though they do not understand the fullness of it. Muslims reject the idea of a substitutionary sacrifice as we understand it in Christ. Yet every year they celebrate this story of a substitutionary sacrifice.
This story shows us Abraham’s radical, immediate, and costly obedience. When God told him to take his son, whom he loves, and to offer him as a burnt offering, the very next morning Abraham rose early and began that journey.
Hebrews 11:17 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”
Lord, grow such a strong confidence and trust in You among believers in this place that they would see miracles happen and His name glorified as many Muslims turn to faith in Jesus.
Unlike the temporary sacrifices of the Old Covenant, we know that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Pray for Muslims in this place to trust in Christ, who when He offered for all time a single sacrifice for sin, sat down at the right hand of God. May they believe by His single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Use these resources to help pray specifically each day.