International (MNN) — Ramadan started yesterday. For Muslims around the world, that means a month of fasting, praying, and seeking to hear from Allah.
For Prayercast’s Chris Ruge, that means an opportunity for Christians to pray.
This year, Ramadan starts in the middle of May and ends part way through June. To fulfill one of the Five Pillars of Islam, Muslims will spend that time fasting from sunrise until sunset.
“They’re seeking to be closer to Allah, to hear from him in a special way this month,” Ruge said.
For the sixth year in a row, Prayercast is putting forth a challenge to believers: ask God to use Ramadan to bring Muslims closer to Him.
Photo Courtesy Prayercast
“It’s a fantastic time for us as believers to pray that they would in fact draw near to the one true God and that Jesus would reveal himself to them in this time of spiritual sensitivity for them,” Ruge said. In other words, he wants Muslims reaching out to find Allah to find God instead.
“What’s unique about Muslims as opposed to many other religious people around the world is that many Muslims are earnest in their desire to know and to please God,” he explained. “The thing is, they just don’t know how, and the way they’re going about it is the wrong way.”
That’s why Prayercast wants to encourage believers to come alongside Muslims and help them find better ways to pursue God.
“We’re talking about men and women who feel the same things we feel, who grieve about the same things we grieve about, who love their children and want to see them do well, who struggle with the same things we struggle with, and who are sinners the same way that we are sinners.”
Not sure where to start? Prayercast has practical ways to get involved in this support for the entirety of Ramadan with their #PrayercastRamadanChallenge.
“We’re challenging people around the world to join us, to get a short email and watch a short video each day to be prompted in prayer for a different way that they can pray for the Muslim world,” Ruge said. “Ramadan and the structure of a plan to pray over an extended period of time for a specific people is a fantastic way to discipline yourself to be a part of what God is doing around the world.”
Photo courtesy of Prayercast
The program will also include pieces of the upcoming LoveMuslims series. “The LoveMuslims project exists to create the most comprehensive set of artistic and compelling prayer resources for the Muslim world ever created,” Ruge said. That means 160 prayer videos in 13 categories to help Christians understand how to pray for the Muslim world. The project is slated to roll out in full this fall.
In the meantime, Ramadan is now, and it’s not too late to start praying. If you want more information, we’ll connect you here. Visit our website throughout the next few weeks for more on Ramadan and how you can get involved.
Prayercast is Mission Network News’ sister ministry, both part of OneWay Ministries.
