Sitting in my Muslim friend’s living room, we chatted about how Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, had just started. Meanwhile I could hear someone muttering in the room next to us. It was my friend’s grandmother, Fatima, praying.

I got up and I stuck my head in the room to greet Fatima, who sat on a prayer rug with a string of beads in her hands. Her eyes welcomed me and she smiled at me without stopping her prayers.

“Hello, sayida,” I said, calling her by a term of respect for older women. “How are you?”

“Uh, uh,” Fatima grunted, nodding as she moved her lips in silent recitation of the Quran.

“How is your health?”

“Uh, uh,” she replied.

To each of my questions, she responded in the same way.

During Ramadan, many conservative Muslims pray more than the five required daily prayers. Some men and women sit for hours, passing strings of prayer beads through their fingers as they recite verses from the Quran. Some even refuse to interrupt their prayers to speak, like Fatima.

“Conversations” like the one I had with Fatima remind me of the incredible joy of Christ’s freedom. As disciples of Jesus, we are not bound to religious rules that dictate the timing or frequency of our prayers.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace… (Ephesians 2:13-15)

By bringing us near to God by His blood, Jesus Christ has freed us from the grip of religion. Because of Christ’s work, we have access to our righteous King and can pray anytime and anywhere.

What a privilege to live in this freedom and to share it with people who so desperately need Jesus’ peace. May we be effective messengers sharing His love and freedom to Muslims bound by the rules of their religion.

• Praise God for hundreds of Frontiers field workers who are sharing the Gospel with Muslims.
• Pray for Muslims like Fatima, and ask God to interrupt their extended times of prayer by showing them the truth of Christ.
• Ask the Lord to free Muslim men and women from the grip of religion and to show them the way to freedom through Jesus.

**This account comes from a long-term worker. Names and places have been changed for security.**

Original article: https://www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/the-grip-of-religion