One of the primary ways God is drawing Muslims to Himself is through simple Bible studies that highlight passages of scripture from Creation through the Resurrection. The Waha app contains many story sets that have been translated into dozens of languages. Throughout the 30 days we will pray through these story sets that reveal Jesus, the Word made flesh.
As you read these familiar passages, prayerfully imagine what it would be like to read them for the first time – to see the wisdom, power, beauty, and authority of God and to be drawn to trust in Christ and yield your allegiance to Him.
Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
The suffering servant described in this passage was despised, rejected, and familiar with pain. Yet it is with His wounds that we are healed. He was silent when He was oppressed, taken away, and killed. He was neither deceitful nor violent. Yet it was God’s will that He be crushed, for He bore the sins of many and makes intercession for us before the Father. Isaiah’s prophecy would be fulfilled in the life and death of Jesus hundreds of years later. God was intentional in His plan for redemption.
Humans sin; we all go our own way. A Holy God could not tolerate our sinfulness and our relationship with Him is broken. One result of this brokenness is the suffering and pain we experience in this life. However, we have hope because God had a plan to send His servant to bear our sins for us. He sent Jesus to intercede for us so that relationship might be restored.
Khadija cried out, “God doesn’t see. He doesn’t care. My children are mocked at school. My husband has abandoned us. We sleep in the car. I can’t get a job because of lies that are being told about me.” Khadija’s cry reflects the pain of those who feel unseen and abandoned.
O Jesus, thank you that you do see, and not only do you see, you understand. You have been rejected, lied about, mocked. You lived homeless and were a refugee as a baby. Thank you for carrying our sorrows. You not only know the sin of the world, but they were all laid upon you on the cross. Thank you, Lord, that you received each lash of the whip, each tearing of the thorn, each nail, knowing that these very wounds would heal us. Please Lord, let Muslims see that you are not a God who remains far away waiting for them to rescue themselves with their self-righteousness. You came, knowing that we were sinners and helpless, and you suffered so that we could live. Please Lord, may Muslims see this irresistible love.
Approximately 700 years before the Word came to earth as Jesus, the Spirit inspired the prophet Isaiah to write clearly about the One who would come to redeem us.
Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
There is only One who has never sinned. He chose to live as a human on this earth, understanding and carrying our pain, even unto death. He made a way for us to come right into the throne room of the King where we find grace to help us.
Thank the Lord for the incredible privilege we have to enter into His throne room to intercede on behalf of Muslims, not because of anything we have done but solely because of His grace.