Hello, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. Today I want to help you understand something profound about Islam that most Christians don't realize.
Listen to these beautiful words from James 4:8: "Come near to God and He will come near to you."
As Christians, we are constantly encouraged to pray to God, seeking His face and fully expecting that we will hear from Him. Our Heavenly Father is just that—a Father who delights to hear from His children and who desires to speak to them, telling them what is important to Him and what He wants them to do.
This is the essence of our relationship with God—two-way communication. We talk to Him, and He talks to us.
[The Christian experience - even in desert times]
Now, if a Christian says he or she is in a "desert time," it usually means we're going through a period in our spiritual walk when we aren't hearing from God for some reason. This "desert time" can actually be a time of growth and greater obedience to God, but it's also a time we want to leave behind as quickly as possible. We long to hear His voice again.
But here's the question I want you to consider: What if your religion was "desert time" all the time? What if you not only never heard from God but you were not taught or expected to hear from God? What kind of relationship would you then have with God?
The answer is: none. No relationship. Just religious duty. And that "desert time" describes the world of Islam.
[What Muslim prayer actually is - ritual, not relationship]
Let me share what The 30 Days Prayer Network, which seeks to educate Christians on Islam, says about Muslim prayer:
"Muslims do not think of communion with Allah, knowing Allah, or hearing from Allah as being part of their normal prayer experience. In Islam, normal daily prayer is a focused ritual exercise which is an expression of worship and honor toward Allah. Personal requests are possible in Islam, but the formal ritual prayers are definitely the most important prayer activity for Muslims.
Prayer in Islam is generally not meant to bring one's self into direct personal contact or communion with Allah. Even when Muslims speak of prayer as communication with Allah, they are never thinking that Allah will actually speak back to them. The communication is always one way."
Did you catch that? The communication is always one way. Muslims pray to Allah, but they never expect Him to speak back. Never.
[The stark contrast - knowing God]
The small Sufi Muslim minority—representing maybe 10-15% of the world's 1.9 billion Muslims—does speak of mystical experiences of meeting God. However, Sufi beliefs place the emphasis more on being submerged in the divine than knowing God in a communication-oriented and relational sense.
Among believers in the Messiah, knowing God in a relational sense is a key aspect of faith. Jesus said in John 17:3, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Eternal life is knowing God! Not just knowing about Him, but actually knowing Him personally.
[Orthodox Islamic teaching - God stopped speaking]
According to orthodox Islam, God never speaks to humans directly, and actually He has not even spoken to anyone indirectly—through angels—since the time of Mohammed. Muslims universally believe that Mohammed was the last and the greatest of the prophets. According to them, Mohammed brought the final spoken revelation from God, which eventually became the book we know as the Quran.
Think about what this means: Muslims believe that God spoke His final word 1,400 years ago and has been silent ever since. There is no ongoing communication. No personal word from God to guide them. No voice speaking comfort in their suffering. No direction for their specific situations.
[Why Muslims pray - merit, not relationship]
So why do Muslims pray five times a day if they don't expect to hear from God? Prayer is encouraged as a means of restraining Muslims from social wrongs and moral deviancy. It's seen as a meritorious activity—something that earns them merit with Allah.
According to Islamic tradition, when Mohammed was asked, "What is the best deed?" He replied, "To offer prayers at their fixed times." When asked again, "What is next in goodness?" He replied, "To be good and dutiful to your parents." When asked again, "What is next in goodness?" He replied, "To participate in Jihad in Allah's cause."
Prayer is about earning merit, demonstrating submission, and performing religious duty. It's not about relationship.
[Ramadan fasting - the same principle]
My friend Pastor Malath, a Christian pastor in Iraq who works with Muslims, echoed this same idea when I asked him about fasting during Ramadan. He said:
"What you need to know about Islam is that fasting in Islam is mandatory, and the one who fasts will get so many rewards. Like Allah will forgive his or her sin. It is like a new beginning. During this month, the people try to read the whole Quran and do some good deeds more than any other month, for it would help them to save rewards for heaven."
Do you hear the language? Rewards. Merit. Earning forgiveness. Saving up for heaven. It's a transactional religion, not a relational one.
[The tragedy - spiritually orphaned]
This breaks my heart. There are approximately 1.9 billion Muslims in the world today. That's nearly a quarter of the global population. And the vast majority of them—hundreds of millions—pray faithfully five times a day, fast during Ramadan, make pilgrimage to Mecca, give alms, and recite the Quran.
But they never hear from God. They never experience His personal presence. They never know the comfort of His voice in their darkest moments. They never receive specific guidance for their lives. They're spiritually orphaned, following a religion of rules and rituals but lacking the relationship their hearts were created for.
[Why dreams and visions rock their world]
This is why, when Muslims do hear from God through visions and dreams—which I talked about in earlier podcasts—it really rocks their world!
Remember my friend from Afghanistan who dreamed that Jesus gave water and packages and said, "I am Jesus, friend of Tania"? That wasn't just a nice dream. That was the first time in this Afghan’s entire life that God had spoken personally! The first time two-way communication with the divine was experienced!
When Muslims encounter Jesus in dreams and visions, they're encountering for the first time a God who speaks, who communicates, who initiates contact with them. It's revolutionary. It's transformative. And it's one of the primary ways God is breaking through to Muslims today.
According to recent research by ministries working in the Muslim world, an estimated 25-30% of Muslim-background believers report that their journey to faith began with a dream or vision of Jesus. That's a staggering percentage!
[What we have - the privilege of relationship]
As Christians, we often take for granted what an incredible privilege we have. We can pray anytime, anywhere, and expect God to hear us. Not just hear us—respond to us! Jesus said in John 10:27, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."
We have a God who says, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3). We have a God who promises, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).
We can open the Bible and hear God speak to us through His Word. We can pray and sense the Holy Spirit guiding us, comforting us, convicting us. We can worship and experience God's presence. We have a relationship, not just a religion!
[How this should change our prayers for Muslims]
Understanding this reality should completely change how we pray for Muslims. Here's what I want you to pray:
First, pray that Muslims will encounter the living God who speaks.
Second, pray that Muslims will experience the emptiness of one-way communication. Pray that as they perform their ritual prayers five times a day, speaking but never being spoken to, they'll begin to feel the hollowness of it and hunger for something more.
Third, pray for Christians to understand this difference. When we witness to Muslims, we need to emphasize that Jesus offers relationship with God, not just religion. We can know God personally! We can hear His voice! This is radically different from Islam, and it's incredibly appealing to Muslims who are tired of the spiritual desert.
Fourth, pray for boldness among former Muslims. Those who have left Islam for Christ have experienced the most dramatic transformation—from a religion of one-way communication to a relationship of two-way communion with God.
[The invitation - come and hear]
Here's what's beautiful: God is already speaking to Muslims! He's giving dreams and visions. He's orchestrating circumstances. He's putting Christians in their paths. He's broadcasting the Gospel via satellite TV into closed countries. He's making the Bible available in their languages online.
The question is: Will they listen? Will they respond? Will they dare to believe that God not only hears their prayers but wants to speak back to them?
And for us: Will we pray? Will we tell them about the God who speaks? Will we show them that Christianity isn't just another religion with better rules—it's a relationship with the living God?
[Closing reflection and prayer]
Imagine praying your entire life and never expecting an answer. Never hearing God's voice. Never experiencing His comfort. Never receiving His guidance. That's the reality for hundreds of millions of Muslims.
But it doesn't have to be. Jesus came to tear down the barrier between humanity and God. He came so that we could know God, hear from God, and walk with God. And that invitation extends to Muslims too.
Let me pray:
Thank you for joining me today. I hope this has deepened your understanding of what Muslims experience and how to pray for them more effectively.
Until next time, remember—keep your eyes on the nations, and praise God for the privilege of two-way communication with Him!
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