REMINDER: Check out this week's "Truth That Transforms" broadcast at www.truthinaction.org). This week’s program is part 1 of a special program entitled “One Nation Under God” that looks at the Christian roots of America. Don't Miss It!
URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS:
ATTENTION: TODAY begins the 30 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (see link below for resource material you can download.) Please join me in focusing prayers of these over one billion people who need to hear the gospel of Jesus.[NOTE: 1) You can download a page of helpful basic information about Islam and Ramadan at: http://www.opendoorsusa.org/downloads/pdf-downloads/Islam_reference_guide-1.pdf ; and 2) The following is from a 30-day prayer guide you can download at: http://www.opendoorsusa.org/downloads/pdf-downloads/2013-ramadan-prayer-calendar-1.pdf
July 9 - ADVOCATE - (Pakistan) - “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)
In Pakistan, many Christians fear the blasphemy law. These laws are often used against them in battles over land, possessions, or simply to end a dispute. As Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during the Ramadan season, tensions can run especially high due to the long periods of sunlight, averaging 14 hours each day. Pray today, in the name of Jesus, for goodwill and justice to prevail for His people.
Egypt Facing Civil War? "Some Fear Civil War As Violence Spreads In Egypt," http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1605 -- PRAY for the nation of Egypt, as it faces a crucial moment, that the recent events would result in its becoming a true democracy and NOT an Islamic state. PRAY esp. that the peoples' freedoms, in particular the religious freedom of its minorities (specifically its oppressed Christians) would be protected.PRAY also: 1) For peace and stability in Egypt after the government overthrow, 2) That the U.S. will effectively reach out to the new government, and 3) For safety for Americans living in Egypt
Texas To Vote On Major Pro-Life Bill THIS Week - PRAY that the Texas House will finally vote to approve a bill (which the Governor is ready to sign) that will, among other things, make illegal abortions before the 20th week (when babies are discovered to first feel pain) and which will regulate abortion clinics just as any other medical facilities are. PRAY that the passage of this law will spur other such laws throughout the country and eventually be made into a federal law.
American Pastor Saeed Held Prisoner in Iran - June 5th Update - "Saeed's Wife Uses UN Speech to 'Plant Gospel'," by George Thomas, CBN News Sr. Reporter, June 05, 2013, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/June/Saeeds-Wife-Uses-UN-Speech-to-Plant-Gospel/?cpid=EU_CBNNEWSPM_2013_156"Prayers from Prison: American Pastor Held in Iran Releases Letter," May 22, 2013; http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1458"...Abedini has been held at the brutal prison for 238 days, enduring long stints in solitary confinement, and, according to his supporters, beatings and torture at the hands of his jailers and fellow inmates. For months, he has been suffering from serious injuries, including internal bleeding from beatings with no proper medical attention, according to his family and attorneys."(Sources: Fox News, Assemblies of God website) Please PRAY:1) For the imprisoned Pastor Abedini, and for those Iranians who tend to his needs in prison to treat him more humanely. 2) For his family in Boise, Idaho. and their efforts to involve the U.S. State Department in securing Pastor Abedini’s release. And 3) For the impact of his witness upon believers and non-believers, in America and across the world. And if you have not yet, join the over 600,000 worldwide who have signed the petition asking for his release at www.SaveSaeed.org
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AS MUSLIMS WORLDWIDE CELEBRATE RAMADAN: [The following was included in an email from Open Doors ministry, July 8, 2013.}
"The following is from a blog posted last summer by a Christian leader in Egypt:“With the back-drop of Ramadan brings a special cultural and religious atmosphere for Muslims in several ways. It’s a month of celebration of one of Islam’s most important pillars of belief. More food is consumed in this month than any other month of the year. From the time they break their fast each evening to the time they start the fast at dawn the next day, some Muslims keep eating and drinking almost all night. This is called 'iftar.' "
"The religious atmosphere among Muslims rises dramatically, more than any other month of the year. This is a holy month for Islam, so they are promised to gain favor from Allah when they do good works, hoping that some of the bad things they have done during the past year will be erased. Many Muslims distribute free grocery packages or hold street-side free iftar tables for passersby to sit down and eat if they are unable to reach home in time to break for the evening fast. And of course, Ramadan is also a special month when Muslims want to try to win ‘infidels’ back to Islam. They try to convert their Christian neighbors, colleagues and friends, which causes a lot of tension among Egypt’s Christians. These Christians must remain respectful but firm against their Muslim acquaintances’ conversion efforts without falling into heated arguments."
“My heart is broken for the millions of Muslims here in Egypt and around the world, who are seeking peace with God this month. They try so hard to do good works in an effort to somehow earn His favor and forgiveness. It brings tears to my eyes that most of my countrymen do not know that Jesus died and rose from the dead to freely give them, through simple faith, the peace with God they so long to have.”
"Dreams, Visions Moving Muslims to Christ" - By Chris Mitchell and Julie Stahl, CBN News Jerusalem Bureau, February 06, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2012/June/Dreams-Visions-Moving-Muslims-to-Christ/[AS I SEE IT: There is no way of denying the things talked about in this article are things God could be doing. I choose to believe He wants to move in a special way in these final days before Jesus' return. That is why for awhile now I have been encouraged to pray DAILY for God to speak in dreams and visions (and even signs and wonders) to Muslims, and esp. to Islamic jihadists who wage war against American and coalition forces in Afghanistan and throughout the world. Where there is not a Christian believer to witness to them, may God be using dreams and visions to bring untold millions into His kingdom in these last days.n Amen.]
JERUSALEM, Israel -- Several years ago, Ali took the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca known as Hajj.
"Of course when I went to Mecca I was going there in order to pay hommage to the Kabba and to fulfill the requirements in Islam," he recalled.But the trip became more of a spiritual journey than he could ever imagine.
"That night I saw Jesus in a dream. First, Jesus touched my forehead with his finger. And after touching me, He said, 'You belong to me,'" Ali recalled."And then He touched me above my heart," he continued. "'You have been saved, follow me. You belong to me,' he said." Ali's story in Mecca was told and dramatized in a DVD called "More Than Dreams." "I decided I'm not going to finish the Hajj, the pilgrimage. Whatever it takes, I'm going to follow that voice," he explained.
The film documents and dramatizes Ali's story and several other Muslims who came to faith in Jesus through a dream or vision."We're seeing that all around. We're hearing about people that have never even thought about Jesus as savior," Tom Doyle, with e3 Ministries, said. "They're content Muslims and they're having dreams over and over."
Doyle and his wife Joanna take the gospel to the Muslim world. He's also the author of the upcoming book, Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World? "I think our God is a fair God, that He's righteous and just, and people are seeking and they don't know where to go," Doyle said. "Maybe they don't have a Bible, maybe there's no missionary in the village," he said. "He'll get the message to them somehow."
The phenomenon of dreams and visions has surfaced throughout the Muslim world, from Indonesia to Morocco. "In the church if you ask how many people came to Christ, 80 percent will say, 'I saw Him in a dream,'" one woman in central Asia told CBN News. Her identity is being protected for security reasons.A Christian friend challenged her to ask God to speak to her personally. "So I decided to ask Him," she said. "The next day ... in my dream I saw Jesus ... I decided to come to Him."
Hazem Farraj hosts "Reflections," a satellite program for Muslims. He said he often gets feedback about dreams and visions.
"I had one lady write me ... she said, 'I turned on the television and there you were ... the words that were coming out of your mouth were so peaceful I fell asleep,'" Farraj recalled. "She said, 'When I fell asleep I ended up having a vision of Jesus and I saw the Lord,'" he continued. "She said, 'As soon as I looked over I knew that Christ was the sacrifice, the son of the God."
Doyle said the dream or vision is usually the start, not the end, of a Muslim's conversion. "Nobody goes to sleep a Muslim and wakes up a Christian, but it knocks down the false barriers that are inherent in Islam," Doyle explained. The Doyles said beneath the current revolution in the Middle East, there's a spiritual earthquake. "As things heat up politically and spiritually within Islam, man, the Holy Spirit is moving even more powerfully," Joanna said."This is the time when hearts are open, people are desperate, governments are changing," her husband added. "Everybody's foundation has massive cracks in it and Jesus is the answer that can come in and fill that need."
Many veteran missionaries to the Muslim world say dreams and visions, along with satellite television, are introducing Muslims to Jesus in unprecedented numbers.They add that more Muslims are coming to Jesus than at any other time in the 1,400-year history of Islam. The Doyles want believers in the West to join this spiritual revolution. "Not everybody is going to go the Middle East. But they can pray," Doyle said."And no government, no leader can block intercession around the world," he said. "So we need to pray as believers that God would continue to push the gospel out to the ends of the earth." [ *Originally published June 29, 2012.]
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