3:45AM. Her alarm went off softly. She had set it up at a low volume because she didn’t want to wake up her squadmates. She opened her eyes and pulled out her hand out of her sleeping bag. She reached out to the right side of it and softly hit her phone to stop the alarm. She could also hear him, the guy who is doing the morning call. “Oh my stars! This call to prayer IS super loud! Our host was not kidding!” A “muezzin” is what they call him she thinks. After hitting the snooze button, her first instinct was to go back to sleep. She tried looking around for her eye mask to see where it went: “Ugh! What’s the point of wearing this thing if it won’t stay on my face?” Then she touched her head and felt it: “Oops! My bad! I fell asleep without pulling it in my eyes! Haha!” Then she remembered why she decided to wake up that early: “Oh, I did want to record the morning prayer call!”
It was her second or third day in Indonesia. It’s hard to keep track when she was feeling so jet lagged. She was staying at one of her squad leaders’ parents’ house. Right next door, there was a mosque with three speakerphones on the roof facing three different directions allowing the call to prayer to be heard at great distances. And let me tell you, you could not miss that call even if you wanted to, alright!
Anyway, she had been hearing the call to prayer that was made to the Muslims in the area all throughout the day yesterday. 5 times: one at 4:00AM, one at noon, one at three, one around 4:00-5:00ish and the last one around sunset. With this being all so new and fascinating to her, she thought it would be cool to catch and record all 5 instances (hello! overachiever here!) when these calls to prayer are made with the hopes of share with people at home.
Yes, she could use some more sleep. However, she reached out again and grabbed her camera and started to slowly make her way out of her sleeping bad. “Gosh! These things make so much unnecessary noise! Hope I won’t wake up my squadmates.” After she got up, she looked around: “Ok. They seemed all sound asleep still. Good!” Then, she silently made her way to the door. She firmly grabbed the handle; slowly turned it to open the door and made sure she quietly closed it behind her too. She walked through the kitchen/dining room and then open the door and got on the patio.
It was still dark outside. The main source of light was the light from the bulb near the door that lead into the living room. “Ooooh a little chilly! I should have grabbed my sleeping bag liner to wrap around myself!” You would think Indonesia = super HOT all the time. Yes. And No. In the mountains, the temperature gets cooler especially in the morning and late in the evening. She pulled out a chair, sat down, turned on her camera and pressed the record button.
As she was recording the early morning prayer, she thought the right thing to do would be to pray for them too. As she attempted to do so, millions of thoughts started running through her mind. One of them being she still couldn’t wrap her head around: the fact that the Muslim people would wake up so early to pray! The dedication they were showing man! Especially, since she had just found out yesterday that the call to prayer and the prayer that follows are done in Arabic. A language that the people don’t even know, understand nor speak! She was really shocked when she heard that! The Lord spoke to her and said: “If some of my people/followers had half of the dedication that the Muslims have to pray to me! Man! The things I could do for them and on their behalf!” “Hmm,” she thought, as she started to reflect on the times where she could have put more efforts into spending time in God’s presence.
The Lord accompanied that thought with this verse: “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place” 2 Chronicles 7:14-15
She then began to feel super thankful. Thankful to be serving a God who is accessible 24/7.
And He understands ALL languages. After all, He created them (Genesis 11). She also began to feel thankful to know that anyone can speak to Him freely and openly at any time during the day or night in their native, second, third, fourth language or a mixed of all languages they know: He will totally hear you and understand you! Plus, she remembered that His word does say to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). So, you know prayer is a thing for God! Thus, in her eyes, it should be a given that as true believers, our dedication to prayer (which is one of the ways we communicate with our loving Father) should be just as hard core as the Muslims. By no means does she mean that one must wake up at 4:00AM to pray. Unless that is your thing or better yet you have been convicted by the Holy Spirit to do so; then for sure, go for it! After all, Jesus did wake up early in the morning to pray when he was on earth. She also does not imply that we should specifically pray 5 times a day. However, she believes that it should be a thing where we as believers love Him so much that we can’t spend a second without talking to Him. It shouldn’t be a thing where we pray to Him out of fear (the unhealthy kind), out of performance, or because it is something that they grew up doing.
Therefore, she thought she should urge her brothers and sisters in Christ who are reading this blog to join her, to press the reset button on their prayer life; the fruits of a life devoted to prayer can be some seriously amazing things. Don’t believe her? Make sure you check out the next blog for a sneak peek!
Btw, that girl was me 
!
I love you so much for reading! You’re awesome! Thanxies so much!
A few things:
- My first month in Indonesia is coming to an end! I can’t believe it! It has been an amazing experience so far. I worked at a tutoring center and we help the awesome man of God who is running it in anyway he wanted us to. I can’t disclose too much to protect my host!
- I am $5,704 away from being fully funded! I am also $1,087 away from making my second deadline due February 28. Please consider partnering up with me on this journey and prayerfully make a donation by hitting the “Donate!” button at the top right corner of this page
- Anything you would like me to pray for you: feel free to write it up in the comment section, or contact me directly via Facebook or IG (@sincerelystcyr) or send me an email: [email protected]. I love y’all!
