An urgent call for prayer from a dear friend in ministry and a prophetic author (used by permission).
“Once again, the country where Esther, Daniel, Nehemiah and Ezra lived, and where Parthians, Medes and Elamites received the gospel in Acts 2, is uppermost in our hearts. Continue to pray for sizeable numbers of Iranians to keep turning to Christ in that nation, despite the colossal cost so many converts have to pay: being constantly watched, discriminated against and, in many cases, much much worse. For example see this report.
Pray for believers to be protected in their bodies, minds and spirits, and for these horrendous practices to be brought to an end. At the same time remember to pray for those who are broadcasting Christian programmes to Iran, many of whom are experiencing enormous spiritual warfare.
…The Straits of Hormuz have become a serious flash point. Despite entirely understandable Western reluctance to launch military action (which could easily fail to achieve its goal and lead to a regional war), the risk of conflict remains high.
During our time of prayer … I described how there have been certain moments in history when fateful decisions have led to immense loss of life. (For instance, the pride and stubbornness that led to the onset of the First World War; the refusal of France and Britain to act when Germany first began to rearm itself and reoccupied the Rhineland in 1936, not to mention the more recent intransigence of Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi that led to such suffering).
At the same time a lady experienced an incredible pain that suddenly shot down her leg into her foot – so much so that it made her leap off her feet. The word that came with it was ‘shot yourself in the foot’.
I understand this to mean that we need to pray against decisions being made that will effectively be as bad shooting oneself in the foot. The word “ESCALATION” comes to mind if we do not do so.
I thought it might prove helpful, therefore, to recap on some of the salient background points to the present tension. Let’s try to approach this section though from the point of view of prayerful concern rather than politics!
1) Iran has vigorously threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz if the EU (and America) go ahead with proposed oil sanctions against it. The brief thaw in relationships that developed between Iran and the US in the aftermath of the earthquake in Bam in 2003 has long since faded. Specific proposals to collaborate more closely with the US at that time (e.g. against the Taliban) if Iran was allowed to be the undisputed regional power were firmly rebuffed.
2) America will not countenance the closing of these Straits. Any attempt to block them will lead to retaliation. To this end the Americans have dispatched a battle carrier group from the Far East to the region to join the American Fifth Fleet. The British are also deploying warships.
It is by no means inevitable that America will go ahead with imposing sanctions, since this would most probably spike the price of crude oil, with the accompanying risk of recession – not a popular move to take for a President in search of re-election. On the face of it, that should be the end of the matter – but one has to allow for the possibility of ‘hawk’ elements pushing for military action on the one hand, as well as the risk of ‘fateful incidents’ taking place that provoke great crises.
With this in mind, it would be unwise to dismiss as mere posturing the warning of the use of force by the British Defence Minister recently, whilst in America. The military option is still on the table – not least because of the Pentagon’s extreme concern at Iran acquiring nuclear arms. (Iran has declared that it has now produced its first nuclear fuel rod: a significant milestone).
Pray for President Barak Obama, Prime Minister David Cameron and all leaders who are involved in these and other issues.
3) The covert war against the Iranian nuclear mission continues unrelentingly. Apart from the cyber warfare Stuxnet virus that targeted their nuclear programme in 2010, yet another top Iranian nuclear physicist was assassinated on January 11th this year (see report).
The President of Iran makes a strong point of being completely committed to the return of the Mahdi – as do all who are appointed to his Cabinet. The Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule on Earth, in association with (or in order to prepare the way for) Jesus’ (Islamic) rule. This is an important concept in Shi’a eschatological thought that, if you are not familiar with it, you might like to visit here to discover what Islam (and in particular the Shi’ites) believe about the ‘Twelfth Imam’, who is awaiting the time God has decreed for his return.
It is hardly surprising that the West is playing up Ahmadinejad to be another Hitler, in much the same way that Anthony Eden depicted Nasser – but it is worth remembering the mess that the Suez Campaign ended up in. However, the Iranian government is about more than just Ahmadinejad and can also be pragmatist! In their relationships with atheistic China and Putin’s Russia no reference is made to the Mahdi, because it is not in their national interest to do so. Bating the West (by not preventing the attack on the British embassy in Tehran for instance) and making a great show of playing up the Mahdi plays well to their ideological convictions. It is also worth remembering that the people running Iran are victims and veterans of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), in which at least 300,000 of their own people were killed (another 500,000 wounded), including many by illegal chemical weapons – and nobody in the West lifted a finger against Saddam at that time.
These rulers are in charge of 70,000,000 people and are concerned to make sure such a thing could never happen again – which means having something more powerful than chemical weapons in their armoury. It does not mean they are bound to use it if they do acquire it.
Perhaps we can pray that the Lord will use one of the Islamic Hadiths to point people towards the One who really will return to Earth in power and glory. This declares that, ‘There is no Mahdi except for Jesus, son on Mary.’
4) We can assume that Israel remains alert to the possibility of pursuing strikes against Iran’s nuclear capacity. Previous strikes in Syria and Iraq proved successful. Attacking the Iran facilities is a different proposition.
Iran is planning further military manoeuvres in February, but America and Israeli troops will shortly be coordinating closely in their largest ever joint military exercise. Code named “The Austerity Challenge 12” it is designed to improve the capability of shooting down incoming missiles – a particular challenge for the land of Israel, as well as for American ships, now that Iran has successfully test fired missiles that can apparently operate below the level of radar detection.
See this )www.eurasiareview.com/07012012-us-israel-to-challenge-iran/)amongst many mentions on the web.
In 1980 the Lord spoke to me about the city of Qom. I had never heard of the place before, but it is a large city of about a million people – situated a hundred miles south west of Tehran. It is one of the world centres in Shi’a Islam. Because Iran has now begun medium level uranium enrichment at a heavily defended site close to Qom it is clearly a most important centre.
Iran is greatly mistrusted in the region by many of its surrounding nations, but the Iranian people are desperately hungry for spiritual reality. God is doing a wonderful thing in the Persian-speaking world – please keep pressing in in prayer!
The Lord may well be leading you, of course, to pray for completely different topics; the important thing is to be in the thick of the action He is placing on your heart. Take a look around and let themes come to mind – it doesn’t cost anything and it can bear eternal fruit! As an old Japanese proverb puts it, “You will never see the sun rise if you keep looking to the West.” The Lord hears and heeds the intentions of our heart. May He bless and inspire you in the adventure.”
God bless you
222 Ministries
