Radical Obedience: Ibrahim al Asiri

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:44-45 

NASB)

In obedience to the command of Christ to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we are taking one terrorist a week and praying for them. I recognize it seems a shocking and outrageous thing to do. Frankly, I would prefer to write a cute Maggie story. Regardless, these people have sworn to destroy us and they are our enemies. Loving them begins with prayer, just as Jesus said. Loving the terrorists does not mean we trust them nor that we invite them in with their bombs. Loving them, in my opinion (which may or may not count for much) involves praying for them to come to Christ. Once they come to Christ, more will be involved, but for now, praying is a good start.  Think of it as radical obedience. 

The terrorist of the week last week was Nasir al Wuhayshi. He is the head of Al Qaeda in The Arabian Penninsula (AQAP) and stated in a recent meeting of Al Qaeda leadership (seen in a video posted on YouTube) these terrifying words. "We must destroy the cross. The bearer of the cross is America."  This man has sworn to destroy the way of the Cross and those who bear it. We need to be praying for a Damascus road conversion (such as the apostle Paul had) and that his efforts would be thwarted. 

The terrorist of the week this week is Ibrahim al Asiri. This young man is likely the greatest bomb maker in the world. He is brilliant, dangerous, and extremely creative. He is a part of AQAP. That's right. The most dangerous bomb maker in the world works with and for the man who has sworn to destroy us. 

To illustrate how dangerous he is, we need look no further than the death of his brother.  Al Asiri recruited his own brother to be a suicide bomber, equipped him with a sophisticated bomb in his rectum, and sent him in to the Saudi security chief Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. He posed as a repentant militant wishing to surrender. When the rectal bomb exploded, the Prince suffered minor injuries but the bomber brother was killed. 

There are numerous other bomb stories that are equally horrifying. What you need to understand is that the sophistication of the bombs has steadily increased, as has the difficulty in detecting them. Even more alarming is that he is training apprentices. Although he cannot pass his brilliant creativity to them, he can and is passing along his vast knowledge of destruction. 

There have been reports of his injury and/or death several times, but none have been confirmed. Even if he has died, his apprentices have been taught by the master bomb maker and they are busy at their work. 

I am asking you to join me in praying for God to move, for al Asiri's conversion, and that every secret plan will be revealed, every bomb discovered, and all the planned destruction will be prevented. 

Friends, as an act of desperate self-preservation, we need to pray for this man. As an act of radical obedience we must pray for him.