Praying for our Muslim Neighbours
Every year Muslims all around the world participate in 30 days of dedicated fasting alongside their usual, daily 5 calls to prayer. This time of fasting is known as Ramadan. Every year, the timing of this month changes slightly. In 2025, Ramadan was set from February 28-March 30.
Over the past two weeks, I’ve had the joy of sitting down with many Christ-followers who grew up in Islam. Many came to know Jesus when moving to Canada, and some shared about finding Jesus while in the Muslim world. All these individuals now call FAC their home church. I was deeply encouraged and blessed by hearing their stories and their encouragement to us as brothers and sisters in Christ. Here’s what I learned from these friends about Ramadan and why Christ-followers should pray for our Muslim neighbours:
Ramadan is a time where people fast all day, but at sundown the fast is broken with a large feast. It is a communal time and there is a great celebration each night with loved ones. When you’re a Christ-follower in the Muslim world during Ramadan, there can be a sense of loss of community since Islam is not only a religion but is also deeply cultural. Middle Eastern culture is communal and relational in nature.
Finding Community with Other Believers
Pray for believers in these regions, that they will be encouraged and find community with other believers. Often fear—due to the extreme persecution that Christians face—keeps Muslim-background believers (MBBs) from finding fellowship. Fellowship is essential for discipleship and growth in their relationship with Jesus. Without it, many fall back into darkness.
One couple shared that while they were still living in the Middle East after coming to faith in Jesus, Ramadan became a time when they started asking God to soften the hearts of those around them and open their minds. They sought ways to show Christ’s kindness and love. Due to the darkness all around them during Ramadan, they also grew in their intentionality to be saturated in God’s Word (the Bible) and worship in their heart language.
“That brings so much light to us, calms us, and we got a softer heart.”
This couple knew that they needed to be grounded in the knowledge and truth of who God is and be full of His love to stand strong amongst their Muslim neighbours.
“We had to be strong in our faith.”
Pray that Christians like this couple find ways to continue to share how Jesus has renewed their lives with their families and friends during these cultural gatherings.
Finding the Missing Peace
Without Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, we (Christians) know as humans we can never pay the price for our wrong-doing. We can never do enough on our own to earn salvation.
During Ramadan, many are striving to find favour with Allah…seeking to do good and be devout. The goal of Islam is to have more good works than bad on your judgment day. Your goal is to have the scale of your life show you were a good person.
“The reality was whatever we have tried to seek for that spiritual satisfaction, we always lack that” said one believer regarding his time of striving during Ramadan and a Muslim. The man continued saying, “So, technically, you know, it doesn’t matter how intense and how hard we tried. We always and deep within, we lack of that spiritual satisfaction. And when we reviewed our daily routine and what we have done, what we have gained during that the whole month, we question, why we are not there yet? What is missing?
We needed to find that big missing part, which was a spiritual connection.
And I have done that (searched) for years and years and years. Actually, I would say, decades.
And, I found that satisfaction when I was invited by a Christian to a conference when we studied bible, and that teacher shared with us the word of God. And that was exactly what my heart and my soul received full, satisfaction.
And what came to my mind was, ‘This is exactly what I have been missing. This is exactly why I did Ramadan. Why I practiced. I prayed. All to try to reach, to get to this point.’ And I knew that I have found it (satisfaction) in Jesus, and I knew this is exactly the one.”
Sam (name has been changed to protect his identity) also shared with me that after he heard the truth about Jesus, his mind started trying to fight against it due to his decades of learning Islam and hearing that Christianity was corrupt. He said there was an inner battle for a long time, but his heart won in the end. And he fully accepted Jesus. This is another reason why we need to continually pray for new believers to stand firm.
The people I spoke with also reminded me not only should we be on our knees interceding for Muslims to come to know the love of Jesus, but we should also be bold in sharing the love of Jesus.
“If believers and followers of Christ, didn’t reach out to us … if they didn’t allow us to be exposed to the love of God, the unconditional love and the word of God and God’s wisdom, we would not be here.”
Another woman shared,
“My story with Jesus began in 2002, when we arrived in Canada and for the first time we went to church with a friend! The most beautiful and warming welcome we received from Pastor Ray as he mentioned our names and how he was praying for our safe arrival!
As we started to go to church [FAC] to meet English speakers and boost our friendship, I realized that church is a safe place and you could feel God’s presence in there.
I kept going to church till Ramadan began and I stopped going as I was busy fasting and praying. As I was praying just like other years, I felt something was missing and it wasn’t the same! At the end of Ramadan when I went to the Saddledome for a mass [Muslim] prayer gathering, I had the first touch of Holy Spirit! I knew I no longer belonged to this group and I immediately left.” This woman heard the gospel at a Farsi Christmas Party held at FAC and she put her faith in Jesus.
These are just two examples of people encountering Jesus through Christ-like hospitality, prayer and sharing of the Gospel. I have heard other stories of how Muslims from non-Arabic speaking countries heard a Christian pray directly to God in their first language. This made them ask questions. Because in Islam, Arabic is the language that you are to recite scripted prayers in, and it is also the language of the Quran.
Arabic is to be used even if your heart language is Farsi, Somali or others. So, personal prayers to God given by Christians in their language stand out as radical! Don’t be afraid to ask to pray for your Muslim friends and be a witness to the personal relationships that you have, which are available to us all through Jesus. If you feel your Muslim friend is ready, you can also ask what their first language is and find them a Bible in their language. This may be the first time they have seen Holy Scriptures in their own language!
The Power of Prayer
We know that God is at work, all around the world! This includes inside Muslim Communities. When we intentionally pray for those who do not know Jesus…this could be someone we know by name, an unreached people group, or country…our hearts begin to change. Our burden for the lost grows! We also begin to pray with increased love and compassion towards the needs of our Muslim friends. Ultimately, we pray because we know that only God can change hearts and minds and increase interest in learning about Jesus.
There are so many amazing stories of Muslims coming to faith in Jesus through being introduced to Him in dreams and visions! We pray for more of these divine encounters in the Muslim world. There are also so many stories of Christians sharing the unconditional love of God to their Muslim friends that have made them question their religion. Pray for believers in these regions to be attentive to the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those around them. And may we as Christ-followers, right here in Calgary, seek opportunities to join Jesus in sharing His love and truth with our Muslim friends and neighbours. Don’t give up in praying and building relationships!
We plant the seeds; God makes the seeds grow into a beautiful harvest.
“There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” – Revelation 7:9
Written by Briana Southerland, Missions Pastor at FAC
You might also be interested in …
- “Waiting for Peace” blog post (November 2024)
- “God Works within the Unknown” blog post (December 2023)
- Global Engagement at FAC
