Culture Corner: What's Going on in Iran

Have you been following the stories coming out of Iran? Maybe you have or maybe you haven’t, but that is something very big happening on this earth right now. Sometimes we don’t want to hear bad things because we feel like there’s nothing we can do.

The good news, though, is that when we hear bad things going on in the world, we can take them to the Lord in prayer. We can intercede for those who are going through bad times or even being persecuted. “Intercession” is the act of standing in the gap for someone who can’t stand up for themselves through praying to God. It’s one of the most powerful ways to go to war.

Speaking of war - Iran is constantly in battles over leadership. They constantly wage wars because of the poor leadership they have had in the country. Over the past few years wars have stemmed from things like gas prices to the death of a woman for taking off her hijab. If you are in America, you are blessed - whether you believe that or not. In Iran, a woman can be killed for going out of the house dressed the wrong way. It’s a very hard place for a woman to be.

When protestors started revolting against the government in this most recent conflict, an internet outage was created by the government. This means that the government got rid of all internet in the country. Through this, they could stop people from communicating with one another and de-escalate a battle they did not want to fight. Furthermore, they began killing thousands of protestors. The real count is unsure because of the lack of reliability in Iran’s government regarding honesty.

This is an on-going situation and a country that you should pray for. As women of God, I encourage you to pray over the women of Iran. In recent years, I actually learned that the most unreached people group in the world is actually women. Why? Because there are places like Iran where women have very little rights and they can’t even speak to men. It makes it hard to reach these women for Jesus and requires lots of strategy and potential death.

When you say your prayers over the next month, I encourage you to pray that God’s will is done in Iran and that both women and men would come to Jesus. I’ll leave you with Scripture to remind you that ultimately God is in control:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid…”

- John 14:27