A Call to Prayer in Ghana
At three o’clock in the morning, the call to pray began trumpeting throughout the town of Wa, Ghana, calling its citizens to gather to honor Allah. Though Christianity is the main religion of Ghana, this is not true for Wa, where 66% of those who live here claim to be Muslims.
As I ran the streets of this growing community, I was surprised to see the number of individuals, dressed in long robes, walking to their neighborhood mosque. It was early, and they were heading to spend time in prayer.
I do not identify with what Muslims believe, but I respect the level of their commitment to their faith. While running and praying through the town, I thought to myself, “How many Christians do I know who would commit themselves to wake up early, by 3:30 a.m., to pray?”
One person described Christianity as the “comfortable religion.” In a way, this is an accurate description. I have found great comfort walking with God. But has our cultural value of comfort clouded our commitment to the practice of spiritual disciplines, such as spending daily time with God through the practice of Bible reading and prayer?
Often I hear Christians state that they are too busy to take time to have daily devotions. And, since Christianity is based on God’s love, people explain that they do not want their faith practices to become legalistic, which, they claim, is the reason Muslims do what they do. They are just being legalistic.
But shouldn’t our love for Christ cause us to be even more committed to wanting a vibrant relationship with Him, which happens through the practice of spiritual disciplines? What would happen if our love for God propelled us to a greater commitment to daily, loving prayer? And what would happen if we spent more time praying for a world that desperately needs Christ as their Savior and Sanctifier?
These were early morning thoughts I had while running the streets of Wa.
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