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A Family Fasts

27 May 2017 | Day 1

A Family Fasts

I remember the first day that I started fasting. I was only about 7 years old but I was excited to be treated like an adult. Ramadan was during the school holidays that year so it meant I could sleep during the day if I needed to. Mum woke me at 3am to have breakfast before the sunrise. We ate yoghurt and a spicy omelette with chappatis and drank lots of chai.

As the sun was rising, we prayed the first prayer of the day together, side by side, my mum and I. I somehow felt more connected with her that day than ever before or since.

Photo by Magalie L’Abbe | Flickr | Creative Commons

Then we went back to bed and the fast had started. For the rest of the day we played and I helped my mum cook food for the Ifthar meal at sunset.

I looked forward to the days when we sat altogether and it felt like a feast that connected us and it made me feel that we were a real family. On a Friday, my father would invite some of his friends to eat Ifthar with him and then the men would sit and eat in the other room and we women would have to wait for them to finish before we could eat after a long day of fasting.

See also  Pray for Muslim Women

During this month, the house was quieter during the day – we were often too tired and hungry to talk to each other. We would often be praying, reading the Quran or sleeping and watching TV. There was more tension during the day also, especially as we grew more tired as the weeks wore on. But we were all in our own quiet ways seeking to do what was right before God, do our duty and seek His blessings during this month more than at any other time in the year.

How to Pray

  • For those who are cooking meals even though they are fasting that as they prepare food they will have a revelation of Jesus as the Bread of life.
  • For families to meet Jesus in this month as they eat and pray together – that they will know Him as the One who gives living water so they will never thirst again.
  • For peace in families and between family members as they look to God for blessings.
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