Special Request for September: Flavoured Dates and Prayer Dates

Did you know there are many kinds of dates, not the calendar or romantic ones, but the edible ones? My favorite grocery store’s holiday display with rows of varieties and flavours of dates amazed me yesterday – all available for evening and pre-dawn meals during the upcoming Ramadan. The timing of this celebration changes yearly and for 2008 it begins on September 1st and ends September 30th or October 1st, all dates dependent upon the sighting of the new moon.

This is also a time when Christians should pray for our neighbours, friends and even our enemies who claim a very different faith. Often different is a negative, but we can learn from one difference in their religion: Good Muslims stop and pray publicly five times daily and they will spend extra time in prayer during the month of Ramadan. Several times each day as I sit at my desk, I hear the Call to Prayer of a nearby mosque and I use it as reminder to pray for those it is calling to prayer.

A friend who has a special heart for those who celebrate Ramadan shares: “It's that time of year again … it is time for the Muslim's holy month of prayer and fasting. Around the world many are in busy preparation and anticipation of the announcement that the month of Ramadan has officially begun. While I was in the midst of the Muslim world … this time of year was exciting and everyone looked forward to this month of sleepy days and active nights … this is an important month … to lift up our prayers for the Muslim people and for those working among them. Ramadan is a month of increased outward dedication but it is also a time when many realize the emptiness of ritual. It is a time when workers have increased opportunity to share meals with and speak words of truth and light into the darkness … Please join me in prayer … take a specific time or day of the month of September to fast and pray for the Muslim people … I am planning on hosting a 'Prayer Tea' with other women during the month … pray for those living around the world in need of a witness.” My friend ends her letter with Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

As I read the news this week, watching for special articles for you, I found “Famine looms in the North…” (Daily Nation, 8/27/08, p.32). Written to inform readers of the increasing “HUNGER THREAT” in northern Kenya, the lack of hope of the residents led me to prayer. “Terrible … acute hunger and thirst in their faces … emaciated villagers line up, each family getting 20 litres (litre is a little more than a quart) of water for the week … water they share with their weakest goats … amid scorching temperatures … ‘Fear is always there’ … among the 1.2 million Kenyans in northern Kenya … little hope … ‘watch in despair.’”

This article ends with haunting comments that should lead Christians to prayer: “Already 60 per cent of the population need food and water. Remember the fasting month of Ramadan is coming and we might witness tragic scenes if this condition persists … We’re awaiting our fate. I’m sure death is just around the corner.” Not only are these hopeless people dying, they are among the tribes, languages and people who have not heard and accepted the proclamation of the eternal message of our heavenly Father (Revelation 14:6). They also need our Saviour’s “living water … welling up to eternal life” (John 4:10, 13)

I ask, NO, I plead that you take time during September to pray for those in our world who need to know of our Saviour’s love and hope. Write Revelation 14:6 and Hebrews 11:6 on a card and use it to guide your prayers while the Muslim world celebrates Ramadan. Take time to view, hear, experience and pray through the YouTube listings. Search on the internet for information on Ramadan and use what you learn to strengthen your prayers. Take time to join those celebrating Ramadan in praying that they will come to know the “truth and light”. Pray that they will come to know and accept the eternal message of our Father. Bert
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YouTube/Muslim Call to Prayer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nOxHn-rDW8
YouTube/Ramadan Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG0uhRIxOe8
For more about hosting a prayer tea: http://btw.imb.org/
Daily Nation, 8/27/08 p.32 “Famine looms in North as livestock begins to die” – http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/464086/-/tk9k0w/-/index.html
For more about Ramadan:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/ramadan1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan