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The Prince of Persia

It must be remembered that since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, Iran has spearheaded a different Islamic agenda to wipe out the State of Israel than what the Arab world practiced in the four different wars that they lost against Israel. From the beginning Iran boldly declared that the reason the Arab world had lost all of these wars was because they did not serve Allah wholeheartedly. They also said that it will take patience and a long term strategy to defeat Israel.

For 28 years Iran has slowly but methodically built up their military strength. Recently they have begun to declare that their goal to destroy Israel is soon within reach. The leaders in Iran and especially President Ahmedinejad have a clear religious eschatological vision and even believe that this year could be the year when the long awaited Islamic Messiah, called the hidden Twelfth Imam or the Mahdi, will appear to destroy Israel and rule the world. This Islamic doctrine is taught to all children in the public schools in Iran. According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website the world is now in its "last days." It claims that the Mahdi will first appear in Mecca, and then Medina. He will conquer all of Arabia, Syria, Iraq, destroy Israel, and then set up a "global government" based in Iraq, interestingly enough, not Iran.

It was Iran, who in 1983 through Hezbollah in Lebanon introduced suicide bombings into the Middle East conflict, and from that moment they have actually experienced continued success. It is an expression of the kingdom of death and darkness on a level that so far has not been defeated in prayer and we have not seen the crest of this wave yet. When Israel pulled out of Southern Lebanon in 2000 and Hezbollah took over the area it was heralded as the first Islamic victory over Israel in over 50 years of conflict. Hezbollah means "the party of Allah" and after the Israeli withdrawal Arafat shouted in Ramallah "We are all Hezbollah!" Immediately after that he made the decision to launch the second Intifadah, which erupted four months later.

The Israeli defeat in Lebanon in the summer of 2006 boasted Iran's Islamic agenda even more and has greatly emboldened both Hamas and Syria that Israel indeed can be defeated. Both are presently working feverishly to build up an arsenal of weapons with fortifications like the ones of Hezbollah in Lebanon, preparing for a new round of conflict with Israel, while Israel is still licking their wounds.

Iran has made it very clear that they will share their nuclear know-how with other states. We can assume that this also includes Islamic terrorists. Egypt is now also beginning to demand that they get nuclear weapons.

Winston Churchill called WW II the "Unnecessary War", because he said that if the world had taken Hitler seriously in the beginning when he made his outrageous claims, they could fairly easy have stopped him before he was able to launch the war which killed 50 million people. Today history is repeating itself with Iran and its president Ahmedinejad.


Prayer Targets for Esther Intercession

As opposed to the Arab world which has lost at least four wars to Israel, the Iranian Islamic agenda has so far not suffered one single defeat. This is a serious challenge for prayer. Yitchak Rabin declared long ago that Iran would eventually become Israel's most dangerous enemy.

We need to remember the words of Mordecai to Esther, "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Est 4:13-14)

We encourage you to pray for the restoration and salvation of Israel after every meal. Even if these prayers three times a day are short, they are still effective. They of course cannot replace other forms of more extended prayer, but they are a powerful complement. Remember Psalm 126,

"When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them.' The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

"Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."

Here are some prayer topics to agree on in prayer:

• Pray that Israel will be successful in prosecuting Ahmedinejad for plotting genocide!
"King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, 'Who is he? Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?' Esther said, 'The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman.'" (Est 7:5-6)

• Pray that Adonai Tsevaot, the Lord of Hosts, will give Israel supernatural strategies and wisdom to stop Iran's nuclear program!
"But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, 'Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him - you will surely come to ruin!'" (Est 6:12-13)

• Pray that Iran's plans to destroy Israel today will be stopped just as Haman's evil scheme was exposed and thwarted 2,400 years ago!
"So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai." (Est 7:10)

• Pray that Elohim will bless the Israeli Army and raise up military leaders with wisdom to defeat Iran and their allies Hezbollah and Hamas!
"The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those seeking their destruction. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them." (Est 9:2)

• Pray for Israel's salvation and restoration in our day!
"For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches." (Rom 11:15-16)

• Pray for revival in Iran!
"Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek your name, O LORD. .Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD - that you alone are the Most High over all the earth." (Ps 83:16, 18)


God bless you as watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem!

 

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