Hajj Day 4 - November 7, 2011

Sacred Act #4: Sa'y (running between)  

Lastly, the pilgrims go to the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Inside, the pilgrims walk around the Ka'aba seven times and point to the stone or kiss it. Then they pray in the "Place of Abraham," the spot within the Grand Mosque where Muslims believe the patriarch prayed*. After this prayer time, pilgrims reenact the running between the hills of Safa and Marwa, and drink from the well of Zamzam**. This reenactment is the Islamic version of Hagar's (Abraham's second wife) desperate search for water for her son, Ishmael. Islamic tradition say she repeatedly ran between the hills of Safa and Marwah, climbing them to get a better view of the landscape, attempting to find someone who had water. Upon her return to her son after one of her runs, she discovered that a spring had miraculously sprouted near the infant. Muslims believe the Zamzam Well is this source of water and millions of Muslims still drink from it. Muslims affirm their commitment to Allah on this day. 

Key Scripture to pray  

But God shows his great love for us in this way, 

Christ died for us 

while we were still sinners.

Romans 5:8

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. 

Isaiah 55:2-3

Going before the Father

• As Muslims circle the Ka'aba and run through the hills, ask that they will see the futility of these acts. They can have peace with God and a commitment to Him, but it is through what Christ did for them. Pray that they will hear this good news and believe.
• In John 4, Jesus is interacting with the woman at the well. He says to her that He will give her this living water if she asks. Pray that Muslims across the world desire the living water that only Jesus can give.
• Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6). As the pilgrims leave after all these spiritual experiences and the exercises they have done, may they still feel extreme emptiness and a lack of peace until they know the Redeemer of their souls, Jesus.
• Pray that they may learn that they can meet God wherever they live, without having to save up money in order to make the pilgrimage.

• "God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). As Muslims head home, some take great pride in being referred to by the title "Hajji." Pray that they will learn that God opposes the proud. Pray that they will see that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

For the pilgrim, there is a heart's deep longing for living water to cleanse, revive and bring life.

People literally run around the hot desert, searching for water. They buy liters of Zamzam water to carry home with them, giving it to eager relatives. How desperate is the need! The Living Water is right there, willing to give them all of Himself. He gives Water to cleanse them of sins, Water to revive the thirsty soul and Water which brings abundant life. Pray that pilgrims will "bathe and soak" in these promises.

What does the Bible say?

*     There is no reference in the Bible that Abraham was ever in Mecca.

**   The story of Hagar and Ishmael is found in Genesis 21:8-20, but it does not talk

       about this "running between." It does place the location as the desert of Beersheba,

       probably in the Negev desert of today.

Prayer for the Arab World

PRAYER GUIDELINES: For prayer guidelines, in Egypt, in Tunisia
and the other countries, as well. When you read "Egypt", include other
countries as appropriate. When you read "church," think of the local
fellowships, expatriate fellowships.

1. A peaceful transition of power. Wisdom and revelation for the leaders and to the way they address the people of Egypt.
2. A quick end to this protest and the economic crisis accumulating.
3. That the evil unleashed will hit a wall, and the plans of the enemy to start a civil confrontation will not succeed.
4. Peace and security to return to the streets of Egypt
5. A restraining of the Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties who have evil hidden agendas.
6. For the Church to have a prophetic voice at this critical time. For Wisdom and revelation from the father to speak life and revealed truth to the Church and the Nation.
7. The Church to move prophetically and know how to handle this difficult time with confidence and boldness.
8. That Egyptians will not be taken lightly or mistreated any longer.
9. That President Mubarak will leave with dignity and honor, and none of His family will be harmed.

Brother Andrew sharing Jesus with the Taliban

"Peace is not the end of conflict and war, nor the result of so called 'peace talks'. It's rooted more deeply in inner peace with God and people around us," says Anne van der Bijl, the Dutchman who's better known as Brother Andrew. Now in his eighties, he still serves the persecuted church and preaches the Gospel to her persecutors. "Peace is a fruit of justice, as the prophet Isaiah says, not of prayer. That's why Jesus said: 'Blessed are the peacemakers'; He didn't say: 'Blessed are the peacetalkers'."

"The main thing that's preventing peace today is our own 'enemy mindset'," says Van der Bijl. "We build defenses and send out troops all over the world to 'bring peace', but everyone knows that we're not able to establish peace. As the Church of Jesus Christ we've lost the art of bringing the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to our enemies. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches that we don't really have enemies: 'Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you'. This is followed by: 'Blessed are the peacemakers.' I can't love my enemy if he remains my enemy, so I first have to clear the barrier that makes me think there is an enemy."

"What makes us unique as the Church of Jesus Christ is our call to the 'ministry of reconciliation', to be peacemakers in our time. Where do we make peace? Wherever there's conflict and war. When we become friends with those who are considered our enemies, we become effective fighters against terrorism. You will see that the doors and hearts of people are wide open, and if we do what Jesus commands us, there will be supernatural results as well. That's how I got entrance to the Hizbollah, the Hamas and the Taliban."

How did you get access to the Taliban?

"I just go there. I find out where they live and show up at the door step. They ask what I come for and I tell them about Jesus. We've become way too diplomatic and careful in our approach. Next week I hope to visit the Taliban again. They now say: 'Anne, this is your second home'."

"One day I visited a large, notorious Quran school where 90% of the graduates immediately join the ranks of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. A war factory of human weapons, targeted to wage war against the infidels, which is the Americans and NATO. I arrived at a square where hundreds of these students waited in line for military exercise. There was a microphone in the front. The head of the school and a minister of the government gave a short talk, and suddenly the microphone was handed to me: 'Anne, it's your turn'."

"I was surprised as I only came to visit. So I went to the microphone, pulled out my Bible and said: 'This is the only book in the world that tells us that God loves us, that our sins can be forgiven, and how we can go to Heaven when we die.' I told them about Jesus. I believe every Christian should be able to speak about his faith in Jesus unprepared for at least 15 minutes. Sometimes you get a chance like this to share the Gospel, and it would be pity to waste such an opportunity."

"After my talk, the leader of the Quran school, who's also a high official in the Taliban and government circles, came up to me and said: 'Anne, would you please come back and tell us more about Jesus, also to our graduate class?' By the time they graduate, they all have a beard and a high degree, and are ready to take on the battle against the 'great satan', America and NATO. I asked the leader how many guys he had in his final class, and he said: 1,300. This is an amazing mission field! They also ask for Bibles, books and computers. Together with the Bible Institute we already brought them hundreds of Bibles, and I believe many more will follow. We want to reach 300 Quran schools!"

"Recently I visited a leader of the Islamic Jihad. I told him that so many Muslims come to Jesus because they've seen Him in a vision, a dream, a revelation. He looked at me with such a hunger, that I stopped talking and prayed with him that the Lord Jesus would give him a fresh revelation of the Peacemaker, the Son of God. At the end of my long evangelical prayer he said: 'Amen!', straight from his heart. I thought: 'Just one more step. Lord, you have to give him a revelation of Yourself. I did what I could do'."

What can we do ourselves?

"The solution is to make Jesus Christ king of our lives. To ask Him: 'Lord, what do You want me to do?' To submit our whole life as a voluntary service to Jesus Christ. This gives incredible peace, where-ever we go."

Source: Anne van der Bijl
-----------------------------------------------
(c) JOEL NEWS, 2010 | republication only with full credit line www.joelnews.org

Muslim woman encounters Jesus through a dream

God is revealing Himself to the Muslim world through dreams and visions. When Muslims are questioned on this phenomenon, many of them reply that they have encountered Jesus in their dreams.

One of the recent stories is of an Egyptian lady who stopped a Christian man on the street. The woman said, "You are the one!" The Christian man didn't understand what she was talking about. She told him, "[In my dream] you were walking with me and Jesus, and you had that same striped shirt on, those glasses, those pants and those shoes. Jesus was telling me He loves me and wants to have a relationship with me." In her dream she asked Jesus, "What do I do?" And Jesus told her, "Ask this man tomorrow when you see him."

Pray with us that more Muslims would encounter Jesus through dreams and vision.