He Washes Us Clean

Muslims believe that you can only approach God in just the right way. If you want to pray, you must first wash your hands, feet, and head. You must then face a certain direction and recite certain words combined with prescribed actions. A woman cannot pray if she is on her period or has her head uncovered. They also believe they are made unclean for prayer by touching a dog or a pig. If these rules are not followed exactly, Muslims believe that God will accept neither them nor their prayers.

All these restrictions and regulations sound eerily similar to the Mosaic Law, which the Jews lived under before Jesus. It did not make them clean either, but it showed them just how impossible their efforts to be clean before God were. When Jesus came, He fulfilled the requirements of the law, and we are now washed clean by His blood. Because of Jesus, we can now enter the sanctuary of God.

Muslims are offended by our reliance on Jesus to approach God, preferring to think that this is something they can achieve themselves. Cleanliness, in general, is such an important issue in Islam that they refuse to entertain the idea of a God who would come among the unclean; let alone One who would cleanse people Himself.

Prayer

Lord, as Muslims go about their rituals to cleanse and prepare themselves for prayer during this Ramadan, open their eyes and show them that these efforts are in vain. Please answer their longing for You by showing them that You love them as they are. Reveal that, by the blood of Jesus, You can wash them clean to always enter into Your presence.