Lord, we bring Afghanistan before you. We have seen for many, many years the destructive forces of the enemy at work in that nation. But we believe in the prophetic vision of Isaiah for Afghanistan, that they will join the nations in ascending the mountain of the Lord (Is. 2:1-5). You will teach them your ways so that they may walk in Your paths. We believe that they will no longer train for war, but that their swords will be beaten into plowshares, that their weapons of war will become instruments of peace and flourishing. We believe that there will be many, many Afghanis in the throne room of God in heaven, worshipping Jesus in their own language and joining with the nations in praise to the Lamb (Rev. 7:9).
Jesus, we declare that you are King over Afghanistan, and that the Taliban must bow to Jesus. We believe that the cross of Jesus turns enemies into friends, and that your blood is powerful enough to reconcile and redeem even the most hardened terrorist. We ask that you turn terrorists into apostles, just like you did for Saul. We ask that you interrupt their journeys of intent to do harm with visions of Jesus, just like you met Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).
We pray for the people of Afghanistan, that those who do not know you and are ravaged by fear and violence would find refuge in the shadow of your wings (Ps. 57:1). Jesus, appear to them in visions and dreams, and let them find salvation in You. May they turn to You in their time of need and find hope for the future.
We pray for the persecuted church in Afghanistan. We declare that they will overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, that they do not love their lives so much as to shrink from death (Rev. 12:11). We declare over them that the Lord is the stronghold of their lives and that those who are bent on doing violence to them will stumble and fall (Ps. 27:1-3). May they find courage and peace like Stephen did in the book of Acts to declare the Gospel boldly in the face of persecution (Acts 7). Even when they feel the sentence of death hanging over them, may they trust in You, the Resurrected Lord who raises the dead. Deliver them from deadly peril, and may they set their hope in You (2 Cor 1:9-11). We know that even death and persecution cannot stop the Gospel of Christ and the work of your Spirit, and that a crown of victory awaits those who persevere to the end (Rev. 2:10).
We declare that you are the God who rebuilds ruins. You are the one who brings beauty from ashes, and we declare that you are not done in Afghanistan or in any nation of the world. You are still moving, you are still working, and you are still restoring the nations to experience the fullness of the Kingdom of God. So we stand in the gap, we partner with you in believing for something new to happen in these nations. Our weapons are not the weapons of war, but the weapons of the Spirit. We declare that You are King over all.