I once heard a pastor share an interesting perspective on the movement of the Gospel throughout the world since the beginning of the Church almost 2000 years ago. Though we know that the Lord has been at work in every place on earth in one way or another for all these years, there is a movement we can trace of the work of the Holy Spirit in the earth.

Simply put, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as manifested in the birth of the New Testament Church on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), began in Jerusalem. The end of the world, as we know it, will also occur around Jerusalem, when Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives. So we can say that the Gospel began in Jerusalem and will end in Jerusalem, when the Lord will return to set up His earthly kingdom. So the Church began in Jerusalem and the Gospel, in general, began a march to the west, first going to North Africa and Europe over time. It eventually spread over to the Western Hemisphere, into the Americas.

For the last 30 years or so, there has been a mighty move of God in East Asia (including the Philippines, China and other parts of SE Asia and India). We can see the march of the Gospel going back to Jerusalem and, if this pattern of the "east to west" advance continues as it has, the only two regions of the world that lie between East Asia and Jerusalem (Israel) are Central Asia and West Asia. And, as it so happens, almost all the countries that are in those two regions are predominantly Islamic countries. In the advance of the Gospel, intense intercessory prayer is the first step in the Lord "establishing a beach-head" in an area.

Prayer for a region and/or a people dislodges the spiritual principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12), and demons that exist there. Those evil spiritual forces are what is blinding people from the Truth (Who is the Lord Jesus Christ), and hindering them from following the Lord.

Because of my own unique experience in ministering to Muslims over the past year and a half, I now believe that there is a prophetic significance for the Muslim people of the world in these last days. Biblically, and in the natural world today, the Muslims are a people that cannot be ignored and the Lord allowed it to be that way.

We can trace the Muslim peoples of the world to the Arab ethnic race of peoples, who are the physical descendants of Ishmael, the first-born son of our patriarch of the faith, Abraham. In reading the rather short biblical account of the early life of Ishmael, we can easily see some characteristics of him and his descendants to be. These characteristics give us much valuble insight into the Arab/Muslim peoples of the world today and enable us to know God,s strategy for reaching them today.

In Genesis 16: 1-12, we see the origins of Ishmael. He was the product of the union of Hagar, the servant/slave, and Abram (later Abraham), through the suggestion of Sarai and the agreement of Abram. Once Hagar was pregnant, her attitude toward Sarai was not good and she was asked to leave the home of Abram and Sarai. She was later told to return to Abram and Sarai by an angel of the Lord and, in the context of that angelic visitation, the angel spoke prophetically about the character of Ishmael. In verses 11 and 12 we see the incredible profile of Ishmael (hence, his descendants as well); that he would be a wild donkey of a man and he would live in hostility toward his brothers and vice-versa. Since the descendants of Ishmael were the Arab peoples, this spiritual characteristic was to be a part of their very make-up and character, and we can see this clearly even in history. Because of geography, the Arabs lived to the east of Israel and, in general, became isolated from other peoples of the world.

Later, we know that an Arab, Muhammad, started the religion of Islam. He, himself, was grieved at the polytheism (worship of many gods) he saw in Arabia and he sought to find out the truth about the one true God that he believed in. Sadly, his only contacts with Jews and Christians, through whom he was seeking to know the full truth, were with heretical Jews and Christians who had doctrines that were not Christ and Bible-centered.

Eventually, he himself went to Jerusalem to find out the truth, but he was rejected because of the funny ideas he had formulated because of his contact with heretical Jews and Christians. Afterwards, he became bitter and angry because of this and, at this point in his life, Satan came with the deception of Islam, which Muhammad embraced as the truth from the one true God.

Islam, which thus originated with the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, spread throughout the world, both by military conquest as well as by trade. Consequently, I now believe that the very spiritual characteristics of the Arab peoples have also been transferred to all professing Muslims, no matter what ethnic group they belong to (i.e. Indonesians, Nigerians, Malays, Filipinos, etc.).

To further clarify the spiritual and natural characteristics of the descendants of Ishmael, we must look at Genesis 21. There, in verses 8-20 in particular, we can see two other traits of the future Arab/Muslim peoples. Ishmael was sent out from his home by his father, Abraham. He was denied the inheritance of Abraham, though he was the first-born son. We understand why (Isaac was the son of promise), but in natural terms any person in that situation would feel hurt, rejected, and betrayed/abandoned. This would also be a spiritual characteristic of Arab/Muslim peoples.

However, the promise of God to the mother, Hagar, concerning her son, Ishmael, was that the Lord Himself would make Ishmael and his descendants into a great nation (verse 18). So we must analyze the 3 main characteristics of the future Arab/Muslim peoples: (1) They would live in hostility to those around them. In other words, they would have an "us vs. them" mentality towards the whole world. (2) They would labor under a spirit of rejection. (3) They would become a great nation. Clearly, we can today identify these characteristics VERY STRONGLY with the Arab/Muslim peoples of the world.

The descendants of Isaac, the Israelite/Jewish people, also were promised to be a great nation. However, the Lord said clearly, later, that He did not choose the Israelites because they were more numerous than other peoples or more righteous (Deuteronomy 7:6-8 & 9:4-6). In fact, the Lord said that they were a stiff-necked people (Deut. 9:6).

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul, an ethnic Jew and formerly a Pharisee of the Pharisees, says that the Israelite/Jews "displease God and are hostile to all men" (1 Thessalonians 2:15). So, scripturally, the descendants of Abraham, through the lines of Isaac and Ishmael, would be hostile to all other peoples in the earth. Simply put, they would be the hardest peoples in the world to get along with! And the rejection and persecution that both peoples would endure would further isolate them, both in mind and in heart.

As mentioned, since the time of Ishmael, his descendants were essentially isolated geographically from other peoples (living in the hostile desert environment east of Israel). Since Islam was introduced to them, they were further isolated by religion. And so the stage was set for the sons of Abraham in the world.

Now we fast-forward to our present time. The Church of Jesus Christ is anointed to carry out the work of Jesus in the earth. The Lord promised to make great nations out of the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael, and that He has! Both groups cannot be ignored.

Some may wonder why so much material wealth (oil, in particular) in under the ground of Arab/Muslim countries. The answer is simple: because the Lord planned it that way! The Lord did not want the world, and especially the Church, to ignore these peoples (Muslims now number almost 1 billion people in the world). God Almighty loved Abraham and his sons. How about us, the Church?

In fact, for hundreds of years, perhaps a millennium, the shameful fact is that the Church contained much anti-semitism (anti-Jewishness) in it, even among famous Church fathers. This was not the heart of God (reading Romans 9-11 should clarify for every believer what God,s heart is concerning the Israelite/Jews). Thankfully, in the last 30 years or so, there has been a remarkable work of the Lord within the Church, giving many in the Church a deep and abiding love for Israel and the Jewish people, and understanding the purposes of God for Israel in these last days.

But I now realize that there is something missing from the Church,s focus for these times and that is concerning the descendants of Abraham's other son, Ishmael, and his natural and spiritual descendants, the Arab/Muslim peoples of the world.

Through a profound experience I had with one Muslim man in Northwest China, I now believe, through the inspiration of the Lord to my heart, that the Lord is calling the Church worldwide to approach the worldwide Muslim community in the same way that I approached this one Muslim man.

I became friends with this man and shared my life with him for more than a year. I had prayed to the Lord for Muslim friends in that area and when this man approached me to do language exchange with him, I took this as an answer to my prayer. So, we embarked on a unique relationship together. I eventually learned, over time, that this man was a devout, pious Muslim man.

However, I also learned he was on a spiritual journey. He respected me for my faith and realized I was equally serious about my walk with God. He was very interested to know more about Jesus and the Bible, but he seemed entrenched in his belief that Islam was really the true way to reach God. At several points, as much as I wanted him to also follow Jesus as I did, it really seemed he could go no further in his willingness to see any other path but Islam as the true way to go.

But I wasn"t worried about that. I knew my part was to love this man unconditionally and continue to "live Jesus" before him. I wasted no opportunity to share truth with him, as I knew it. He was honest with me and I was the same with him.

During my final semester in China, our relationship passed beyond a certain point and we really entered into a deep love for each other. On my part, the love came from the Lord. On his part, the love of God that flowed through me to him broke down any reservations and walls that would have come from the generational curse of rejection that every Muslim labors under.

On my part, I was committed to loving this man regardless of whether he ever became a Christian or not. I had done all I could do; only the Lord could change his heart. I believe that my very commitment to him was validating the message and truth that he knew I stood for.

Finally, during our last language session together, I purposed to find out where he really stood with the Lord. I asked him directly if he thought one could go to heaven on good works alone. He basically said he didn't believe so, which is a huge admission for a Muslim to make. Then I asked him if he thought we needed a savior. He said yes and later admitted that only Jesus Christ fit the qualifications as a savior for mankind.

He then told me the incredible story about how he had a dream back in 1997 in which a multitude of people from his ethnic group stood around him. Suddenly, one person told him, "Look, there's Jesus!" He then, in the dream, looked toward heaven and saw Jesus, very tall with long hair and wearing a sash around His body.

I told my friend directly, "Don't you know that God is telling you that Jesus is the path to heaven and eternal life?" He admitted that he believed that God was, indeed, speaking to him. However, he admitted that he still wasn't able to commit himself to following Jesus, but that he still was undecided (in the middle).

As much as I wanted to bring him to a point of decision to follow Jesus (especially since that would be our last session together), I knew it was pointless to expect something of him that only the Lord could change his heart to do. So I gave him an English New Testament (he said that, once he learned English better, the first book he wanted to read in English was the New Testament) and prayed for him (he had tears in his eyes when I prayed), committing him to the Lord. I also left him with a written "sinner,s prayer" and encouraged him to pray that whenever he decided to follow Jesus.

I made arrangements to turn him over to a missionary friend of mine who would continue meeting with him to do language exchange and share his life with. So we left China.

Upon arriving here in the Philippines, the Lord led me to go on a fast. A week into the fast, I got a letter from my missionary friend, and he was very discouraged with our Muslim friend. He said that it seemed our Muslim friend was further from the truth than ever! Just a day or two before, our Muslim friend told my missionary friend that the Koran was right and the Bible was wrong, that Muslims were right and Christians were wrong (in their beliefs).

My missionary friend wondered if he was wasting his time meeting with our Muslim friend, but I wrote back and encouraged him to not quit on our friend, especially because of the dream our friend had back in 1997. I also knew that my Muslim friend deeply respected my missionary friend for his knowledge of the Bible and I also encouraged my missionary friend with that.

To my missionary friend's credit, he pressed on and purposed to continue to meet with our Muslim friend. In just a week's time, his persistence was rewarded. In a week, during the 2nd week of my fast, I received the incredible news from my missionary friend that our Muslim friend had become a Christian; that he committed himself to following Jesus!!

Something was broken in the spirit realm over our Muslim friend from one week to the next! The very day that my missionary friend led our Muslim friend to the Lord, there was a major battle in the spirit over the soul of our Muslim friend (my missionary friend was very ill the day of meeting our Muslim friend and the symptoms did not leave him until AFTER our Muslim friend prayed to commit his life to Jesus!!!).

In the days following this incredible news, the Lord began to speak to me through the experience of our Muslim friend who was so dramatically changed within one week's space of time. How does a man go from one week professing Islam to be the truth to the to the next week asking my missionary friend, "What must I do to follow Jesus Christ?"

Two truths come through loud and clear: (1) The Lord gave me and my missionary friend the grace to love this man with God,s unconditional love, regardless of whether or not he came to the Lord during our time with him. (2) Intercessory prayer, including fasting in this case I believe, was needed to break whatever spiritual strongholds were over our Muslim friend for him to come to faith in Jesus. The latter is dealing in raw spiritual power, and without this, the ultimate victory would not have come in our frien',s life, no matter how much we loved him unconditionally!

And so, I begin to tie this all together to state what I believe is now a key for the Lord's work in these end times. We've stated previously that, Central and West Asia (containing all Islamic countries, for the most part) are the next areas that need to be "broken open" for the Gospel before the end of all things occurs in Jerusalem and Israel.

As stated, the pattern for the work of the Lord to penetrate any area of the world, and people group, is first for intercessory prayer to ascend to heaven on behalf of that area/people. Militarily, this is the "bombing phase" that "softens up" an area and allows next for ground forces to occupy an area. For the Church, intercessory prayer (and fasting) is the initial "spiritual bombing" that dislodges spiritual powers from their previous positions of authority and opens the door for the ground forces of the Church (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, Bible translators, literacy workers, & others) to occupy areas of the earth and bring the kingdom of God to that area.

We are commanded in Scripture to pray or the peace of Jerusalem (welfare of Israel, spiritually and otherwise) {Psalm 122:6}. However, I believe the Lord is now calling the Church to seek Him to give them His heart for the other "sons of Abraham and Ishmael"-the Arab/Muslim peoples of the world. Two things will change the spiritual climate in Islamic nations and peoples: (1) Christians loving Muslims with God's unconditional love and (2) Fervent intercessory prayer by Christians to tear down the spiritual strongholds that are holding Muslim peoples in bondage to sin and religion.

This was what turned our Muslim friend in China to the Lord. He was a token, I believe, a sign from the Lord to me of what He wants to do in all the Muslim nations of the earth. Remember we discussed that, humanly speaking, the sons of Abraham, the Israelites/Jews and the Arab/Muslims, would be the most difficult people to get along with, and love, in the world. Hence, they are now the greatest test for the Church of Jesus Christ in the last days. What test? A test for our hearts! God loves the sons/descendants of Abraham. Do we? Do we see them through the eyes of the Lord, and Scripture, or through the eyes of the news media, current events, or even our own experiences?

The Lord will NOT allow the Church to bypass loving and praying for the descendants of Abraham, both through the lines of Isaac and Ishmael, before He returns to this world. But we cannot do this by living a lukewarm, self-centered, form of Christianity and just being religious. We can only do this if we are walking in intimacy with our Lord and our hearts and character are being formed and changed to be like His.

So I believe that Christians the world over are being called to love Muslim peoples with His unconditional love wherever we have opportunity. We must love them, as the Lord gave me the grace to love my friend in China. We love them even if they don't become believers. We love them even when they view us with suspicion (at first), thinking that we may be out to convert them. We love them no matter what we think of the Islamic religion. We love them no matter what other professing Muslims have done to Christians or anyone else in the world (let's remember that untold crimes and horrible deeds have been done using the Bible or even Jesus as the justification for them). We love them simply because God loves them and Jesus died for them. He loves them no less than us.

And we pray! We pray against the spiritual forces behind the religion of Islam that have enslaved the sons of Ishmael for untold generations. The Muslim peoples are not the enemies of Christians; no people are (Ephesians 6:12). The enemies of us are the spiritual forces behind Islam and every other religion; the forces that seek to enslave people in a "form of godliness, but denying the power" of Almighty God. We cry out to the Lord to open the eyes of all Muslim peoples to know the truth of Jesus. And we declare to the very spiritual forces we resist, on behalf of Muslim peoples, that they have no right, authority, or license to touch us or anyone or anything that pertains to us.

It's stated in 2 Peter 3:12 that we can "look forward to the day of the Lord and speed its coming." I now believe we can hasten the return of the Lord by loving Muslims with unconditional love and praying for their souls. Intercessory prayer for Muslims will hasten the work of the Lord in Central and Western Asia. Our prayers for Muslims will further facilitate the prayers we pray for "the peace of Jerusalem", for how can there be peace for Israel if the Muslim peoples of the world do not surrender their lives to follow Jesus?

Galatians 4:29 clearly states that the descendants of Ishmael would persecute the descendants of Isaac. That can only be changed if we love both the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael and pray for both peoples to know the Lord!! May our generation catch this vision for the Muslims worldwide and may we, as followers of Jesus, know the heart of God for Muslims in the last days!!

Prayer for the Muslims
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I speak to every principality, power, ruler of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places, and every demon withrespect to the religion of Islam. I declare you torn down from the place of poweryou have held over professing Muslim peoples worldwide. I say you are bound,rebuked, and forbidden from operating in those peoples' lives. You are releasedfrom your assignment. Go to dry lands (empty places) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Take your hands off of, and loose the people you have oppressed and
controlled for so long.

Heavenly Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, open the spiritual eyes of all professing Muslim peoples in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Humble them and cause them to hunger for spiritual truth. Cause them to turn to Jesus. Reveal in totality who Jesus is to them and draw them to the cross of their Lord, Savior, and Messiah, Jesus Christ. Have mercy on them and pour out your unconditional, agape love upon them to the extent of saving them from sin.

Finally, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I declare that the heavy, oppressive, suppressing, and debilitating spirit, which is the nature of all principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places, and demons with respect to the religion of Islam have NO RIGHT, AUTHORITY, OR LICENSE to touch me, or anyone or anything that pertains to me. All such evil spirits are under my feet in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I've been given power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt me or anyone or anything that pertains to me. All such spirits are subject to the authority of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and must bow their knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray, AMEN!!!!!

Andrew Gackle, married to Shirley Liao Gackle since 1990. Began full-time vocational ministry in 1988. Has been particularly focused, by the Lord, toward people from Asia, with a special focus on the Chinese, Filipinos, and Muslim peoples of Asia. Has served as a pastor or traveling missionary since 1988. Has been serving, with Shirley, as intercessory prayer missionaries at the First Assembly of God, St. Joseph, Michigan since early March of 2004. E-mail address is: abesarah@esend.org Physical address is: 1401 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022.