Father in heaven, it’s happened again.
By now, we are almost numb to it. It’s becoming a regular occurrence.
Lord, we are heartbroken not just at the events and the loss of life in Orlando, but at how our hearts are becoming calloused to it. We are calloused by the media’s constant, persistent, unrelenting coverage of it.
We are calloused by the politicians and the lobbyists and the “advocates” all vying to take center stage and persuade us what should be done to “fix this” once and for all. We are calloused to how much we hate those on “the other side” of the political spectrum.
The enemy is so crafty, Lord. He knows just which buttons to push to get us to bite and devour each other. He knows we will become emotional and lash out at each other. He knows we will do things motivated by hate or anger or fear or all of the above.
And meanwhile, the real enemy plots his next move, knowing he can move us little by little to even greater anger and hate and fear.
Or apathy.
The enemy knows with each evil act, he can claim that the evil in the hearts of men is because there is no god—and certainly no One True God.
He knows there will be people on his side who will claim that such evil proves You do not exist.
And at the same time, he will laugh because if people believe You do not exist, they certainly will not give the real enemy of our souls a second thought.
But the mistake the enemy always makes is underestimating Jesus.
He made the same mistake when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. He made the same mistake when he convinced Judas that Jesus wasn’t really the Messiah. He made the same mistake when he got the crowd to yell, “CRUCIFY! CRUCIFY!”
And that is that what is intended for evil, Father, you can use for good.
Lord, we don’t see it now. What we see now looks like evil and nothing but evil. We cannot imagine what good will possibly come of this, but we trust in You and You alone.
Perhaps you have allowed this that your children would finally come together and pray for those who are deceived. We know more Muslims are coming to faith in Jesus Christ right now than in all of the history of Islam.
We know there has been a tremendous increase in Muslims coming to Christ since a group of your people began to pray for them during their month of Ramadan, which is right now.
So, Father, as you have told us to do, we will pray that those who call themselves enemies of the cross and those who walk in darkness will not be cursed but that they will be blessed with salvation.
- We pray that Muslims who are questioning their faith will meet others who have walked that journey and found it led them to Christ.
- We pray your Holy Spirit will send dreams and visions of Jesus to Muslims which they can neither forget nor ignore.
- We pray that Muslims who decide to follow Jesus will find fellowship with believers who will love them and support them and guide them in the faith.
- We pray that the millions leaving their homelands in search of a new life may find new life in Christ at their destinations.
- We pray for peace in areas where people are having to flee their homeland.
- We pray that if any of us should encounter anyone who shows any signs of anger or hatred with Jesus or with those called by His name, that we would have the courage to reach out to them and witness to the love of Jesus Christ.
- We pray for new Muslim believers to grow in unity, encourage one another in fellowship and love and to be lights for others.
- We praise you, Father for the movements of Muslims to Christ in this century and pray that the pace of these movements would heighten and expand.
- We pray for fellow Christians to resist the temptation to exchange hatred for hatred, hostility for hostility.
- We pray we would speak and act with hearts of flesh and, no matter how outrageous or provocative the news might become, we would not allow our hearts to grow calloused and cold.
- We pray, Father, that you will lead individual believers in Christ to Muslim individuals whom they can and will love in Jesus’ name.
- We pray provision and protection and guidance over all who are bringing the true gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims all over the world.
- We pray you would make us willing to forgive those who would kill us, even to the point of washing their feet, that they would be saved.
- We pray that in all things, in all ways, in all we do and say, your will would be done and that the kingdom and the power and the glory would be yours and your alone.
AMEN!
Today’s Praise
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
Psalm 40: 1-3
Portions of the above prayer were taken from 30daysprayer.com website.