Each year our church makes available a limited number of copies of VOM’s “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World” to be used during Ramadan. This year was no different. And though we’re nearing the end of this specific prayer focus, I wanted to address a question I get annually: “Why?”

To help me answer that question I’ve asked our pastoral intern, Timur Nesbitt, who was himself a former Muslim as a young boy, to share his insight. But don’t miss the obvious answer personified for us—Timur himself. It was years of praying and intercession that led Timur to see the “light of the glorious gospel of God in the face of Christ” in a state-run orphanage in a closed country, a place where only one boy at the time was a believer. Yet, through this, God drew Timur to himself and saved him. Undoubtedly prayer was the key that unlocked the door to reaching Timur, the best and first action of so many faithful warriors for so many years.

There’s more detail than I can share here (you can read the full story in my book Different), but suffice it to say that the best answer to the question is the actual name of a former-Muslim-now-believer. That’s why we focus on prayer for Muslims especially during Ramadan—so that they might be saved! Admittedly, the enemy can lock us out of countries and places, blocking us from having a physical presence at times. But he cannot stop prayer! It invades and pervades any place and any time with the full power of heaven. So we pray, for we are most mobile on our knees.

Here’s a personal word of testimony from Timur:

Most of us know that Muslims around the world celebrate Ramadan in June and July. Ramadan is a part of the five pillars of Islam where Muslims fast during daylight hours but can eat during night time. As a former Muslim, I want to encourage my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ to join me and pray—and even fast—for our Muslim friends and neighbors. I believe it is such a great opportunity for Christians to love Muslims around the world by praying for them.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the apostle Paul calls Christians to “pray without ceasing.” As a Christian, I realize that prayer is a powerful tool to reach Muslims. So why not pray for Muslims to see the true God, even as they pray to their god? We know that we pray to the true and living God who hears our prayers through Christ Jesus our Lord. But not all have this knowledge. So pray for them! Yes, pray for Muslims who do not know Jesus as Lord or God as Father this Ramadan. The Lord loves the prayers of His saints. So join me in giving God what he loves, and pray every single day in this time period for the Muslim world so that they would come to know our good, sovereign, and holy God through the gospel of Christ.

In fact, here are some prayer requests to get you started as you pray for Muslims. And you can utilize VOM’s guide as well. (Click here to see the online version.)

• Pray for your Muslim friends and neighbors here in the States that they would meet a genuine, authentic, bold Christian.
• Pray that Christians in the US and around the world will be friendly and humble, serving their Muslim communities as opportunities arise in the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Pray for Muslims to know salvation in Jesus Christ alone.
• Pray for Muslims in The Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, and East Asia to seek truth, and that God will continue to reveal Himself to them through dreams during this month.
• Pray that God will send Christians to work in areas and countries with high Muslim population so that there is a light in these places of intense darkness.