A night of prayer during Ramadan
Many of you would have noted that Muslims were marking the month of Ramadan during April (which overlapped with Easter this year). As you probably know, Muslim people try to fast from food and water during daylight hours in the hope that God will accept them. One thing they do towards the end of Ramadan is to pray through the night hoping that God will speak to them. They call this ‘Laylet al Qdar’ or ‘night of power’ (28 May).
Lutherans believe in praying as well, and Pastor Nathan Hedt (New and Renewing Churches) has been hosting a fortnightly prayer time for mission breakthrough. Our Cross-Cultural team have joined in these regular prayer times.*
When we discovered that our scheduled prayer meeting fell on the same night that Muslims have Laylet al Qdar we were moved to focus on this situation (taking it in turns to pray through the night as well)
We prayed for our (earnest) Muslim brothers and sisters that God would indeed speak to them, and Jesus (Isa) would be revealed. It was a moving experience to pray together, and the Lord encouraged us that he is on the move.
* This prayer initiative is a collaboration between the New and Renewing Churches and Cross-Cultural Ministry departments – we recognise the importance of concerted prayer for local mission, and so we gather from across Australia and New Zealand each fortnight via Zoom for an hour to pray and encourage each other. For many of us, it is the highlight of our fortnight.
If you would like to join, please make contact via crosscultural@lca.org.au, and we can send the link.
