Jesus’ disciple John said, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”*
Over the years, Jesus’ disciples have learned to do what he did. And of course one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ life was a commitment to prayer.
Here’s what a few others have said about how to pray:
“…I learned as never before that persistent calling upon the Lord breaks through every stronghold of the devil, for nothing is impossible with God. For Christians in these troubled times, there is simply no other way.” – Jim Cymbala
“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” – John Wesley
“To stand before men on behalf of God is one thing. To stand before God on behalf of men is something entirely different.” – Leonard Ravenhill
“The prayer that sparks revival begins long before the countryside seems to awaken from its slumber in sin. It starts when men fall on their knees and cry out to God. That’s where true intimacy with God takes place and we begin the journey of being transformed into the image of Christ. And as men are transformed, the course of a nation can be changed.” – Wellington Boone
“The true spirit of prayer is no other than God’s own Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the saints. And as this spirit comes from God, so doth it naturally tend to God in holy breathings and pantings.” – Jonathan Edwards
“I am perfectly confident that the man who does not spend hours alone with God will never know the anointing of the Holy Spirit.” – Oswald J. Smith
“Any church may have a mighty man of God for its pastor, if it is willing to pay the price and that price is not a big salary but great praying.” – R.A. Torrey,
The Power of Prayer
“At the heart of every revival is the spirit of prayer.” – Arthur Wallis
see 1 John 2:6
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Peace be upon you.
Prayer, is a deep supplication to the lord who I call Allah, and Jesus pbuh called him Elah or Elohim, and not God. If You look through the bible it shows you how Jesus pbuh and the rest of the prophets prayed. See it’s not just prayer alone, it’s prayer and fasting that helps the soul. plus when I read the Bible, as a Muslim, I see how many times a day they prayed and how many times they fasted. If one say they follow Jesus pbuh, then you must do what he does. for instants:
Mark 9:29
And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing but by Prayer and FASTING.
Psa 35:13
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing [was] sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
Dan 9:3
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
I can go on and on. So prayer alone just don’t cut it. For now in these times, I don’t see Christians especially in America fasting. I see some do it for 7 days, but I know Jesus and Moses to do it for 40 days, just like Muslims do it for 30 days. But the 7 days they do it is incorrectly done. They think they are fasting drinking water but don’t touch food. let your own Bible dictionaries tell the truth as I post them and you can check what I said out.
Christianity.
From The Dictionary of Biblical Theology the definition of fasting is as follows:
Page 166
Fasting consist in depriving oneself of all food and drink, and even sexual relations, for one or more days, from one sunset to the next.
From the Bible Encyclopedia page 717 it states:
Fasting, from the complete of partial abstention from food and drink, and sometimes sexual intercourse, has in the Old Testament the character of self humiliation, as the Hebrew term fro fasting indicates: sum= innan nefes, “ bow down the soul”.
Islam, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam states:
Page 83
Fasting in Islam is required during Ramadhan, the ninth month of the Muslim Lunar calendar, during which all Muslims are required to abstain during daylight hours from eating, drinking, or engaging in sexual activity. Through heightened awareness of their bodily needs, Muslims come to greater awareness of the presence of Allah/God and acknowledge gratitude for Allah’s/God’s provisions in their lives.
The word Saum in Arabiah is the same as Sum in Hebrew, it means to BURN also as bow down the soul! Muslims fast just like The Children Of Israelites did back in the early times. We start our fast at the break of dawn to the sunset. Even in the Israelite culture they used the lunar calendar also, not solar as the western culture does. As I study the Hebrew More I am seeing a lot of things Christians are not doing and are not following Christ.I don’t blame the followers up to a certain point but I blame the preachers and scholars who lie, but I have your own books to prove everything.
Peace.
I would love to keep a healthy discussion
Rahim,
The Bible verses you gave show us that it is indeed a good thing to fast, as well as to pray. However, there is no command from God in the Bible for all followers of Christ to fast.
We pray and fast because Jesus Christ has saved and forgiven us of all our sins by dying on the cross, and we love Him!
We pray and fast out of our love for Him and out of our desire to glorify Him in all things, not because we have been commanded to do so… because in fact we have NOT been commanded to fast.
What about you as a Muslim? Do you pray and fast because your love for Allah flows forth from your heart? Or do you do it because you know if you do not, then you might be judged by Allah as a sinner.
This is the major difference between our two faiths.
We obey God because He has ALREADY saved and forgiven us of all our sins through his death on the cross and resurrection.
You obey God so that you can earn your own salvation one day AS A RESULT of your own “good works”.
Eugene
Rahim,
I also wanted to point out one other thing:
Muslims view the Laws of God as something that they must keep in order to be good enough to be accepted into heaven.
Christians allow the Law of God to show us our sin so that we can repent and put our faith in Jesus Christ alone, the one who died for our sins.
“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law {comes} the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:19-20
“But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.Therefore the Law has become our tutor {to lead us} to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
Galatians 3:22-24
In case you think that Christians can then keep on sinning because they have already been forgiven, then read on:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be {in the likeness} of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin”
Romans 6:1-6
So we become Christians when the Law shows us our sin and we repent and put our faith in Jesus Christ. Then, we choose to obey Him in love because of what He has done for us.
You can never be justified with God by what you do. If you trust in your own good works, God (even Allah) would find you guilty. Only Jesus’ death and resurrection can justify us and save us before a holy God.
Dear brother’s and sister’s in Christ
About fasting and prayer in Islam, let’s not forget how Mohammed teaches about fasting and prayer.
Muhammad’s prosperous with Khadija his first wife gave him enough time to mingle with the people in the market places and know their ideas and beliefs.
It was there that khadija and her Ebonite cousin. Bishop Waraka ibn Nofal, trained and prepared Muhammad for prophet hood.
The Ebonite’s did believe in the deity of Christ. They kept the Law of Moses and believed in the Torah.
This is the fact and history about how Mohammed learns about prayer and fast.
But we need to remember we not argue about the concept but the way we domnstret it
Muslim believes you need to face Mecca in the Arabian so God can accept your prayer.
Muslim believes you need to clean your self before you pray, so God can accept your prayer.
Muslim believes if you missed any Daly prayer for any reason you need to double your prayer next time.
Prayer in Islam and fasting have roll and regulations its reachul, not spirtchul, As Christians God accepting us by what we have in our heart also we can communicate with him any times with out roll and regulations. Also I can pray to God any time, any where, I don’t have to fallow guide line for that.
A Muslim consciously draws himself nearer to Allah’s sphere of influence and power, yet he does not actually establish personal contact with him.
The Muslim’s desire to pray in the spirit of the Quran .
Thanks for sharing!
Read my book “Jesus Christ that Unknown” (downloadable) and get to the real mind of Jesus that the Church failed to enter through centuries. There you will find your salute and discover the Father usually called God.
Sincerely
Hadi Eid
Author