Folk Islam Meets the Power of Prayer

As the woman served the team coffee, OM team member Rebecca* asked if their family wanted prayer for anything. The woman’s eyes brightened, and with uncommon honesty she explained their struggles.

“We are always working so hard for the harvest,” she said, “but are never seeing the results of our efforts.”

A team from Transform (an OM outreach to Mediterranean peoples) heard this prayer request as they trekked the villages of Kosovo. For one week in July, 22 believers from around the world set out by foot to deliver Albanian New Testaments house by house.

While they walked, the teams kept their eyes open for opportunities for deeper spiritual conversations and prayer. When this Egyptian family opened their door, the team sensed this was a wider opening for Jesus’ work.

After Rebecca’s question, the woman continued to share the difficulties facing her family: “We have tried to arrange a marriage for our son many times, but even though the girl’s family said yes, in the end they said no, which is not normal,” she said. “And our family cow, which is a big part of how we provide for our family, suddenly died yesterday.”

Since the problems were of an unusual and inexplicable nature, she believed their family had been cursed through folk Islam. In Kosovo, folk Islam is a superstitious faith interwoven with traditional Islam. It is often seen in practices like fear of “the evil eye,” or reading coffee cups to see the future. It can also be used as a way to try and curse others.

Rebecca described how folk Islam is dangerous, and urged the family not to practice it. Then she shared that Jesus’ power is stronger than folk Islam, and that the family can find freedom through the power of Christ.

The team then prayed for the family to be freed from the curse of folk Islam. As they left, the women had tears in their eyes and were visibly touched by the prayer. The team left the family with a New Testament in their own language, as well as a DVD of stories about Muslims who had dreams of Jesus.

Dark forces do exist and can have a powerful grip through the practices of folk Islam, but Christ’s power always proves mightier.

Pray that this family and others from the Transform outreach would be touched by the Word of God and the stories from the DVD. Also pray that other families who practice folk Islam would turn to the salvation and forgiveness of Christ. Pray for Christian workers in Kosovo and across the Muslim world to battle dark forces with wisdom, and utilize the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer.

*Name changed