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.
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
God is deeply moved by human suffering. Even though He knows the end from the beginning, He weeps over the pain His children experience in the temporal loss.
This passage teaches us that death is crushingly difficult for humanity to accept. Deep down, we know that death is not right and that it is not a part of God’s original design.
Every human knows the breathtaking pain that comes when a loved one dies. Often, grief is compounded by regret over harsh words spoken, evil actions taken, or missed opportunities that can never be recovered. Among Muslims, expressions of grief vary from culture to culture. Some cling robotically to repeated phrases of praise to God, reminding themselves of His mercy. Others express grief through acts they consider righteous, hoping to improve the deceased person’s chances in the afterlife.
Rahma became a Christian as a young adult and soon faced intense persecution from her family. Her Bible was confiscated, and her brother beat her. A decade later, when her father was dying, she returned home to be with him. One day, she prayed over him and shared much of the Gospel message in that prayer. Though he drifted in and out of consciousness, he woke long enough to say, “I’ve heard this before.” Rahma later discovered that he had secretly kept her confiscated Bible, read it, and treasured it deeply. Eventually he died.
As the family prepared his body and began the custom Muslim burial rituals, something extraordinary happened: a short time later, he rose and removed the shroud from his own face. In the weeks that followed, Rahma confirmed that her father placed his faith in Jesus.
Like Lazarus, Rahma’s father died a second time. Yet, also like Lazarus, because of his union with Christ, he had the sure hope of eternal life. Pray for Christians in this place to boldly share the hope they have in Christ and for their lives to reflect they are not enslaved by the fear of death. They know Christ’s victory – and it changed everything, including how they live now.
Father, we thank you for Jesus, who shared in our flesh and blood so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
Free men and women all over this land from the slavery of the fear of death.
Along with followers of Jesus from all over the world, may many in this place join in singing ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting?” Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we pray for brothers and sisters in this place to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord their labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:55-58)