January’s vlog: encouraging prayer for Muslims

Steve Bell from the Mahabba Network team talks about being a prayerful network and the latest that's we’re focussing on this year.

Each month a 3min vlog-clip will be released to unpack issues raised in the Network Update; as well as respond to any questions you have. We know the whole Network will benefit from these. But we feel the vlogs will be ideal for use in local group meetings too. Please increase the impact by forwarding vlogs to anyone in your circle of friends who may be drawn to the Mahabba vision through them.

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Transcription

Hello there, Steve again and speaking to you on behalf of the Network leadership team.

The mantra is taking hold that we exist in Mahabba to see ministry among Muslim people become a normal part of church life.

And so we're coupling together these blogs with our monthly update, network update, and we're unpacking how we intend to achieve the goal of this normality coming into church life.

And first on the list is that Mahabba encourages prayer for Muslims and Christians so that we can see the nation's saturated with effective witness among people of Muslim background.

And Mahabba was conceived in prayer, birthed in prayer. And John Wesley said, whenever God intends to do something, he sets his people apraying.

And I'm excited to be living at a time when God is doing just that. And really, it's unprecedented the level of prayer, excuse me, around the world that's going on in these days for Muslims, and Mahabba is part of that.

So let me just be a little bit of a news reader. I've got a list of eight ways in which the Network are doing it.

First of all, we now have about 70 prayer groups. Prayer and action groups.

Number two, a monthly prayer Zoom is now underway that folk from around the Network can join in remotely. And we pray together from different sectors of the network.

Number three, the Network leadership team praise and they're people of prayer.

Number four, our Discourse chat room is regularly updated now with fresh fuel for prayer for both within the Network and wider.

Five, every Friday at midday, our website carries a brief prayer point, thought and prayer for Muslims during their Friday prayer, the Juma'a prayer at the mosque.

And six, the Network drives prayer events, such as one that was recently held in London with George Verwer at All Souls Langham Place.

And seven, we're developing links to supply prayer fuel for the intercessory networks, and we're enabling them and encouraging them to face the facts without fueling the fear of Muslims.

And lastly, number eight, Ramadan 2020 is approaching and it starts on 24th of April.

This year, we are pointing people to the 30 Days of Prayer booklet. But we're now focusing specifically on providing free of charge, something that only Mahabba is providing and that is a daily kind of brief focus to help anchor the 30 Days into the British situation.

So it's enriching that experience and it's called Lovefast.

And so do look out for that one as well.

This year, why not get your local group to join in at the Night of Power ('Laylat al Qadr' in Arabic).

And we now have a kind of a guidance sheets with ideas and how to devise a programme either for a half night of prayer or a full night of prayer.

And that is a terrific opportunity. So do think about that you as a local group, and those of you that are in local groups would actually offer this to a local church who maybe looking for assistance to do something more practical.

And then lastly in the theme of prayer, I'm researching at the moment.

The two sisters, Peggy and Christine Smith, who prayed and the Hebridean revival swept the northern Isles of Scotland. Peggy was 84 and blind. Christine was 80 and doubled up with arthritis. But they gave God no rest. And they took hold of his promise. 'I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon dry ground.'

And we're looking not only this Ramadan not only Friday by Friday with the Juma'a prayer, not only in our prayer groups, but we are believing, acting, reaching out and training and resourcing to see the redemption of that house of Islam. One Muslim heart at a time.

God bless and see you next month. Bye

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