On the first Sunday of the new year, I asked our congregation to join me in a prayer for the nearly two billion Muslims around the world. Here is that prayer.

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today to lift up to You the nearly two billion people around the world who follow Islam. You created each one of them. You know each one by name. You love each one with an everlasting love.

We ask, Lord, that Your Spirit would move across the Muslim world — in the homes, the mosques, the hearts of men and women and children who are searching for You, whether they know it or not. May they encounter the living God. May they encounter the risen Christ. May they know the peace that passes all understanding.

Give us, Lord, the love for Muslims that You have. Give us the courage to reach out, to build friendships, to listen before we speak, and to speak the truth in love when the time comes.

And may Your kingdom come — among every people, every nation, every tongue — including the great Muslim world.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

— Dr. Terry Jones