Importance of Intercession
“And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:27-28 ESV
What is the Spirit doing? Interceding. Why did the Father send Jesus? To intercede on our behalf. There is an ongoing intercession in both heaven and on the earth. When we come into alignment with this intercessory reality and with His will, our intercession has tremendous power to change nations & situations. We want to encourage you to join us in partnering with God’s will in interceding for the upcoming Kurdish referendum tomorrow. Intercession is not a light thing, but it carries tremendous power to effect change in the earth!
A Brief History of the Kurds
In the Middle East today, there are 25-30 million Kurdish people primarily scattered across the nations of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, & Iran. They the largest people group in the world without a nation-state. After World War I in 1916, the Kurds were promised a nation-state in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Unfortunately, the Turkish War of Independence, that began in 1919, led to this agreement being rescinded. The Treaty of Lausanne was enacted, and left the Kurds with nothing.
The Kurds have suffered great persecution for the past many years. In Turkey, the Turkish people attempted to wipe out any use of the term “Kurdish”. The Kurds were not even allowed to speak their mother tongue in public. In Syria, the Kurds were not allowed to have passports and could not leave the country. They also were not allowed to work in any government positions. In Iraq, during the regime of Saddam Hussein, the Kurds were forced into concentration villages, and around 200,000 were killed by gross extermination & poisonous gas attacks.
After Gulf War in 1990, the Kurds were given land that was a “safe haven”, but it quickly turned into a battle field of the Kurdish fighting against the Kurdish. After the second Iraq war in 2003, when Sadam Hussein’s regime was toppled, the Kurds came together and strengthened their hold in Northern Iraq. Since this time there has been de facto ruling in their own area with some level of autonomy from Iraq. Tomorrow, September 25th, 2017, they decide if they want to become their own country.
Knowing the Times & Seasons
“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.” – Acts 17:26-27
Over the past few years, the Kurdish region has become the focus of prayer for many Christians around the world. Uniquely, in the year that the Kurdish people seek to establish themselves as a nation-state, the Kurdish Bible has been completed. We do not hope in Kurdistan becoming a nation-state, but rather we hope in the Kingdom of God. Often times the natural precedes the spiritual realities. Something is going on right now in the natural that points to what is coming in the spiritual.
“In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”” – Isaiah 19:23-25
The region of Assyria mentioned in Isaiah 19 very closely resembles the region the Kurdish people are located today in the Middle East. Isaiah 19 speaks of a time that Israel, Egypt & Assyria will come together. It’s unique that the only nation in the world backing the Kurdish referendum is Israel. In Isaiah’s day this would have been an unheard of reality! There is no chance we would have seen Israel aligning with Assyria. The Lord is doing something we should pay attention to by bringing these two nations together in this time.
God sets the allotted times and boundaries for the peoples of the earth. We believe that this referendum is a signal that God is about to fulfill the work & the prayers of many from the Body of Christ who have labored in this region. This could be the appointed time that God is setting the boundaries for Kurdistan.
Prayer Request Points:
>> Pray according to Acts 17, that if this is the time for the boundaries to be established for Kurdistan, that it would be so.>> Pray for unity in the Kurdish government. The current President Barzani said that he would step down from presidency if the Kurdish referendum is passed.
>> Pray for unity in the church in Iraqi Kurdistan. That they would put aside their divisions, and they would be an example to the government.
>> Pray against military action from Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and the Regime of Syria.
>> Pray for all the Christian relief workers, house of prayer workers, & church planters to be unified.