Urgent Prayer: Muslim on the Brink of Salvation

Today I faced both a heart warming and heart wrenching situation. A Muslim contacted me, those of you who know me well will know my passion for Muslims, to ask about Jesus. He began by asking, “can you help me?” I responded by asking him what it was he needed. In broken English this young Muslim man asked “how can I save myself?” I told him a little about Jesus. This man had such a keen interest in Jesus and the Bible. He was truly drawn to Jesus.

I told him that Jesus could save him and he asked me exactly how to be saved. These were all questions that I have dreamed of hearing Muslims ask. He was very excited to learn that he could be forgiven but his next statement was heart breaking. “My family will kill me if I do that.”

In case some of you don’t know, he wasn’t being dramatic or exaggerating. He truly fears for his life should he become a Christian. I honestly had no idea what to say. He could live to a ripe old age as a Muslim and be condemned to hell or he could accept Jesus, no doubt the best decision he could ever make, and die as a young man at the hands of his very family.

This young man didn’t let his fear stop him. With no Bible available he asked where he could get one and I directed him to BibleGateway so he could at least read it online. I encouraged him to read the Gospel of John and the Epistle to the Romans. I encouraged him to compare the God of the New Testament to Allah and Jesus to Mohammad in order to see which is the epitome of holiness.

What will he do? I don’t know. Perhaps he will decided to continue in the deception of Islam or perhaps we have a new Christian brother tonight. Either way, it highlighted something I had known but had never become real to me until that moment. People face great danger in the name of Jesus and we must never underestimate the sacrifice we may be asking of them. Jesus foretold of situations just such as this: “Father will be divided against son and son against father.”

This is the extreme to which the Devil has gone. He uses the threat of death to scare those who would come to the saving grace of Jesus further into isolation, desperation and despair. He even uses this guilt on us who choose to preach the dangerous message of the gospel. It was hard to witness to this guy, all the while knowing that if he took my words to heart it could mean his death. However, I had to take a little solace in God’s Word, when He said “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

What we ask may be dangerous. It may cause pain and in some cases even death. Christians all around the world die daily at the hand of tyrants, terrorist, clerics and even parents for the crime of simply being Christian. However, a life without Jesus Christ wasn’t a life worth living in the first place. Its true but its not easy.

We must have compassion for the plight of the unsaved. We must steadfastly hold to the message of the Gospel and share that faith with others. The Gospel is powerful. It changes lives and it scares the crap out of anyone opposed to it. They know that they are powerless against the amazing love of Jesus. Allah cannot compare. Muhammad, Krishna, Buddha, Joseph Smith or Charles Taze Russell cannot compare. Jesus is the only name that makes heaven, earth and the powers of hell shake.

Please pray for Mustafa. Pray for his salvation and his safety as well as for the safety for the persecuted church around the world (especially is places such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan).