Five times a day, the call to prayer rings out around the world. It’s the daily soundtrack for 1.8 billion Muslims—and a repeated reminder of the religious obligations instituted by Muhammad, whom they regard as the greatest prophet of God.
In the early days of Islam, Muhammad and his followers considered using a bell or horn or even fire to gather people to pray. Then, two of his followers reported having the same dream, in which they were taught an invocation that praised God and affirmed Muhammad as a prophet. This invocation soon became the official Islamic call to prayer.
In Islam, daily ritual prayer is one of five major spiritual tasks Muslims must perform to have any hope of reaching heaven.
But since reaching God through human efforts is impossible, He has reached out to us instead. Through the mercy of Jesus Christ, He came to us, looking past our failures and extending His arm of salvation to us. This is grace, and it forms the basis of our trust in God as a Father who hears His children (1 John 5:14) and who delights to respond to our needs and requests (Hebrews 4:16).
And so we eagerly devote ourselves to prayer (Colossians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:17), trusting not in our righteousness, but in God’s great mercy (Daniel 9:18). Please pray with us:
- For Muslims to be freed from their efforts to earn salvation on their own.
- That men, women, and children across the Muslim world will hear the Gospel and embrace Christ as Lord and Savior.
- For more laborers to go and share about Jesus’ free gift of eternal life.
Original article: https://www.frontiersusa.org/blog/the-call-to-prayer
