Radical Obedience: Hamas and Khaled Meshaal

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. (Psalms 122:6 NASB)

Khaled Meshaal, a Suni Muslim, heads the Hamas organization, which was originally an off shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, and has the liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation as its goal. This is a Muslim organization with three main branches, or wings: Social Welfare, Political, and Military.  According to Wikipedia, "Israeli scholar Reuven Paz estimates that 90% of Hamas activities revolve around "social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities". Social services include running relief programs and funding schools, orphanages, mosques, healthcare clinics, soup kitchens, and sports leagues.^[57]" Needless to say, the social welfare activities have made Hamas very popular with the Palestinians. 

It is not the social welfare programs that are the problem. The military branch excels at covert operations and have targeted groups that they consider moral deviants, pro-Israelis, and random unarmed civilians.  They view suicide bombings and summary executions as acceptable options, and celebrate the idea of martyrdom.  Criticism of Hamas has not been tolerated, and has resulted in execution for those dissidents who are brave enough to speak out against them.  

Although the claim of only 10% of their activities as military sounds nice, those activities are acts of terrorism, which is by definition "using violence and threats to intimidate or coerce". Being 90% humanitarian does not excuse the 10% of this organization that is purely terrorist, nor Khaled Meshaal, who heads this organization.  

The current conflict between Hamas and Israel is a perfect example of the tactics of these terrorists.  They have shot rockets into Israel and dug tunnels from Gaza to Israel "with our fingernails", with the plan being to send terrorists in disguise through the tunnels to infiltrate into Israel.  The Jerusalem Post is reporting a statement by Mushir-al-Masri, a spokesman for Hamas, who says that Israel has not discovered even a fraction of the tunnels, that they will build many more, and that, despite their losses, they are recuperating and will liberate Palestine from Israel.  

Terrorism is inexcusable.  

No matter what your objective, terrorism is inexcusable.  

No matter how many soup kitchens and schools you support, terrorism is inexcusable.  

With that understanding, please pray this week for Kahled Meshaal, who heads Hamas, and those who lead with him.  Admittedly, praying for these terrorists is not easy.  The prayer that never fails, however, is the one that we would do well to pray here.  Thy will be done. Whatever God wants in their lives is what we should want. Because His Word says that He is not willing for any to perish, we should want that, too.  For that reason, repentance and transformation should be a part of our prayers for these men.  

There is one more thing we can pray in this situation.  There is clear instruction in the Scripture to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem."  In these days when there is such threat of violence and destruction toward Jerusalem, we can pray with confidence for the peace of Jerusalem, knowing that it is the will of God.  

The Terrorist Prayer List

The morning of 9/11, a patient called to cancel their appointment. "America is under attack," they said.  We quickly set up a television and watched in horror as the Twin Towers began to crumble, our sense of security crumbling right along with it. As the death toll mounted and the news of the terrorist plot unfolded, an interesting thing happened. At the same time that there was a turn towards God, there was an intense anger towards our attackers and a desire for vengeance that was pervasive. 

Like many communities around the country, ours had a prayer service and my church was the host church. People were asked to lead prayer for government leaders, for the injured, the missing, the families of the victims, all those affected. When one of the organizers discussed the program with me, we talked about the importance of praying for our enemies. Someone would have to lead the community in praying for Ossama Ben Ladin and his band of terrorists. 

As it turned out, that someone was me. I don't know what that prayer did for anyone else, but it reminded me that we are not powerless. As disciples of Jesus, we are servants of the Most High God. We can approach Him in prayer with confidence about anything, including terrorists attacks and the terrorists that carry them out. 

Praying for the terrorists did something else. It humanized the terrorists and helped me to see them as sinners in need of mercy and grace, just like I am. As the years have passed, I've prayed for terrorists off and on when a particularly heinous situation occurred. 

Not long ago, my boss said something about praying for the terrorists, and I was surprised. "Aren't you praying for the terrorists?" he asked. "Well, yes. I pray for terrorists, but not every day."  Then, the Nigerian schoolgirls were abducted, and I began to wake up saying, "Lord, have You released your girls yet?" Praying for the terrorist abductors has been a consistent part of praying for those girls.

Today, the subject of terrorists came up again several times. Three Israeli teenaged boys were on the way home for Shabbat when they were abducted by terrorists. Nothing good is likely to come of this, and once again, I find myself praying for terrorists. 

As I've considered the terrorist prayers, I've begun to wonder what would happen if the body of Christ began to pray consistently and regularly for specific terrorists. After 9/11, there were playing cards with the names and pictures of suspected terrorists. What if we had a "worst terrorists in the world" prayer list and prayed for them on a daily basis? Do you think God would move in some way? I do. Scripture tells us He will. If the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, and it does, then we can pray for terrorists, confident that God will intervene in some way. He might even draw them to Jesus so that they become disciples and fishers of men. 

I will never be a soldier or carry a gun and hunt down terrorists. I will never be the one at the front of the line protecting our nation from harm. I can, however, be at the back of the line, on my knees, praying for God's protection and mercy. I can be the one who, through prayer, helps to bring the lost (including the world's terrorists) to Christ.  

As a matter of fact, you can also be the one doing battle in prayer. Who's with me in this? Will you step up and pray for the redemption of the most violent, deadly terrorists in the world?

Start now by praying for the terrorists who have abducted those Israeli boys. Can you make a difference in this? Yes, indeed, so start praying and don't stop. It's a big job but someone needs to do it, and it might as well be us!