Day 8 (April 20) - Pray for university students in the AP
Col 1:27-29 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Young adults are often considering life’s biggest questions and are open to the gospel. Thousands of them from all over the world are moving to the AP to study at universities, joining the thousands of local, Arab students. In this setting, disciples of Jesus can participate in campus life as professors, staff, and students. As God opens these doors, local young adults in the AP have unprecedented opportunities to develop friendships with Christians and hear the good news for the first time.
Prayer: Father, thank you for opening doors for Christian professors and students to come to universities in the AP. We pray that you would help them live a holy life that causes students to ask questions. We ask that you would fill them with love for students and staff, to serve them, and speak the good news of Jesus to them so that they can present everyone mature in Christ. Please give local students ears to hear and eyes to see the riches of the glory of the gospel, Christ in us, the hope of glory! Amen.
Watch this testimony of how one Saudi international student came to faith:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkb09G2RK0w
Day 9 (April 21) – Pray for expat churches in the AP
The Gulf countries have opened their doors to foreigners from all over the world to come and work (The Gulf countries are the six AP countries minus Yemen). Some have even given official permission for international churches to meet. These international churches are gathering in many languages, worshiping Jesus, and shining his light in the AP. These churches are full of engineers, teachers, maids, construction workers, embassy workers, and other professionals who come from around the world. Each of these believers have unique opportunities to start relationships with local co-workers and neighbors. Praise God that there are over one million expat Christians in the Gulf today!
Prayer: Father, please fill these believers with your Holy Spirit to speak your word with boldness (Acts 4:31). Empower them to make the most of every opportunity, speaking with wisdom to give answers to each person who asks about the hope that they have (Colossians 4:6). Protect the pastors as they shepherd these believers from all over the world and equip them to minister the gospel in the AP. Encourage them as they bear the burdens of their people. Help them to faithfully proclaim Christ, that in him only are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Use the churches to bring firm faith to those who don’t know you yet. Make the church a bastion of truth and good order against false and plausible arguments against you. Amen.
Day 10 (April 22) – Pray for second generation believers
Col 2:6-7 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Second generation believers in the AP are very few, but God is doing amazing things in the lives of AP Arab families, in both the parents and the children.
Prayer: O Heavenly Father, we praise you that you have worked through families in every generation since Adam and Eve. We pray specifically for the second generation of believers in the AP. We thank you for the children and teenagers who have professed faith. As they have received Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, give them power to walk in you. Give them even firmer roots and continue to build them up in you. Establish them in the faith and train them to abound in thanksgiving in all things. Especially bless this family that came to faith on two different continents. Lord, we ask you for more families to come to faith for your promise is for us and our children (Acts 2:39). Amen.
Day 11 (April 23) – Pray against the human tradition of Islam
Col 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
The church around the world needs to have compassion on Muslims because they suffer from fear, anger, condemnation, and constant attacks from the devil and elemental spirits. They have been taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition and not according to Christ who is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:4).
Prayer: O Christ, have mercy on our dear Muslim friends. We love them, but the evil one has blinded and enslaved them. Please have mercy on them and break the bondage of empty deceit. Destroy the elemental spirits which rule in their hearts. May they experience freedom in you, freedom from fear, anger, and punishment. Pour out your grace and love so that they will be refreshed like drinking water in the Arabian desert. Bring real joy and freedom to their hearts for the first time in their lives! Amen.
Day 12 (April 24) – Pray for justification by faith alone
When we know Jesus Christ, there is no need to seek meaning in life through religion, philosophy, or cults as the Colossians did. Christ is the meaning of life because he is life itself! We don’t need to add anything to what Christ has achieved for us to be saved. We are complete in him. Muslims believe that one must do good works to accrue favor with Allah. One’s good deeds and bad deeds are literally recorded by angels and measured on a scale. However, for Christians, God has cancelled the record of debt that stood against us, nailing it to the cross of Christ. There is no record of wrongdoing! We have been completely forgiven in Christ, buried, and raised with him through faith through the powerful working of God’s grace. Sermons in mosques always urge Muslims to become better Muslims, to be more obedient to the tenants of Islam. In contrast, our God’s ultimate goal is not to make bad people more religious, but to make dead people come alive!
Prayer: O Savior and Lord, if you kept a record of sins, who could stand? We thank you that there is forgiveness with you so that we can serve you (Psalm 130:3,4). We constantly wait for you and put our hope in your unfailing love. May Arab Muslims in the AP experience the grace of your forgiveness in Christ alone. Show them that their deeds are worthless in gaining salvation, that physical circumcision and religious rituals cannot earn your favor. Circumcise their hearts and make them alive together with Christ! Baptize them in Christ’s death and resurrection so that they may be spiritually united to Christ, the head of all rule and authority. Amen.
Day 13 (April 25) – Pray to fight against spiritual evil
Col 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
The city of Bahla in Oman is the center of black magic in Oman and arguably for the entire AP. The occult is alive and well in the AP despite the fact that orthodox Islam forbids it. Stories abound of humans being turned into animals, people being transported to anywhere in the world by stepping over a line drawn on the ground, demons speaking through family members, witches casting curses upon their opponents, etc. Muslims are like the rest of us, weak people who seek relief and practical answers to life. Because Islam does not satisfy the inner being, some Muslims go elsewhere to find answers.
Prayer: O Lord of hosts, God of armies, you are a powerful warrior who fights for us in the heavenly places! Thank you Lord that you defeated Satan on the cross and that your kingdom and righteousness are growing and will not be stopped. Thank you that you have disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Christ. We pray the same for Muslims in the AP, that you would free them from the evil spirits that rule their lives through black magic in particular. We pray especially for Bahla. Put the evil authorities in Bahla to shame so that they may no longer oppress the Omani people! Have mercy on them, O God, and build your church in Bahla. Also, may local believers in the AP put on the full armor of God because Satan is enraged that they are in a different kingdom now. Protect them from the evil one and give them victory over all evil rulers and authorities. Amen.
Pray for Bahla, Oman:
Day 14 (April 26) – Pray during Ramadan, a new moon festival
Paul had to respond to doctrinal errors affecting the church. He had to deal with issues regarding food, drink, festivals, and new moons. Ramadan is a type of new moon festival based on the lunar calendar. Sightings of the moon mark the beginning and the end of the month of Ramadan. Ramadan also deals with food and drink since a Muslim cannot eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset. And verse 18 could describe Mohammad, someone who insisted on asceticism during Ramadan and also claimed that the angel Gabriel came to him in visions with the words of the Qur’an. On the contrary, Paul continues to exalt Christ as preeminent. Christ is the substance, not the shadow!
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you with humility that you have freed us from unnecessary rituals and religious piety that cannot save us. The substance belongs to Christ. Thank you for qualifying us in him alone! Please have mercy on Muslims in the AP who try to justify themselves through asceticism and religious rites. Help them, O God, to discover that Christ is all in all. Save many during Ramadan when they are more aware of spiritual matters. May they know that on the cross, “it is finished”! Amen.
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