Intense. Powerful. Reverent. This night is the pinnacle of the year’s spiritual journey. Crowds will gather for worship while others join online. They will fast. Millions of prayer requests will rise to heaven while sermons echo. Thousands will recite verses and give gifts to the poor. Destinies, they believe, will change.
From sunset to sunrise, this all-night prayer vigil will span the globe. Asian peasants, African heads of state, American athletes, and Middle Eastern royalty will participate. This is Laylat al-Qadr, otherwise known as the Night of Power, the highlight of the holy month of Ramadan.
Like members of their worldwide faith community, our village friends believe the angel Gabriel began delivering divine revelation to their prophet on this night in A.D. 610. According to their holy book, heaven’s gates will be open on this night and believers will be surrounded by angels. God’s mercy and blessings will abound. More angels will descend to Earth than the number of rocks on our planet.
God seekers from over 40 language groups where Pioneer Bible Translators works will be involved in this global prayer event.
The Night of Power is a time of repentance from the sins of the past year coupled with pledges to live faithfully throughout the next year. Devotees believe that doing good deeds and giving up sleep to pray will result in all prior sins being forgiven. Their theology teaches that the God they worship will, in grace and mercy, give his faithful, submissive servants the unique blessing of having the sins of a thousand months (a human lifetime) pardoned on this one night, the Night of Power.
To say this night is different would be an understatement. It would be ludicrous for Aboubacar or any of our other West African friends to miss this opportunity! Seny and Alpha will join others to pray for their dreams to be realized and their worst nightmares avoided. They will pray for their rice crops and political stability in their region. Momo will intercede for his sick father and ask for his son Aly to get into university. Each worshiper will add personalized requests to their formal congregational prayer rituals. Each believes that the decree deciding their fates for the coming year will be handed down on this night.
God-seekers from over 40 language groups where Pioneer Bible Translators works will be involved in this global prayer event. They expect their God to act on the Night of Power. They want to hear from him and experience his forgiveness. They are asking him to change their destinies.
They understand God differently than we do. But during this critical time, they are undeniably spiritually sensitive. Our God is not deaf to their requests. He can and will respond mightily and miraculously to those who seek Him diligently, many times through dreams. Westerners tend to discount dreams as a way of receiving spiritual guidance. But that is not so for people in many other locations.
It certainly is not so for those who participate in the Night of Power.
On this, their holiest day of the entire year, we plead with you to pray for our dear friends, for those near you who follow this prophet, and for the millions of lost ones who will keep the prayer vigil.
This year’s Night of Power falls on April 5.
If we were in our West African village on April 5, I would be supplying Nescafe and sugar to the worshipers. I’d happily provide the caffeine they need to keep them alert to Jesus moments.
You get to offer more — much more — than a cup of sweet coffee. You have an opportunity to pray for God to change their destiny.
Please pray on the Night of Power. It will not leave the faithful indifferent. Fervent prayer never does.
- Pray that God will open the eyes of those who are seeking on this night so they will see the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).
- Pray that they will recognize the futility of attempts to gain God’s favor through rituals or special prayers or reading their holy book. Pray that this realization will give them hunger to search for Truth.
- Pray that Christ followers living among people who are observing the Night of Power will be bold in sharing the Good News of salvation during a time when their friends are especially mindful of their sins and their need for forgiveness.
- Pray that the true character of Jesus will be revealed to worshipers in visions and dreams. Pray that God will demonstrate His love and power through signs, wonders, and miracles.
