The Spiritual Battle that Could Decide the Fate of the Mideast

ERBIL, Kurdistan – Officials say the current military effort to kick ISIS out of Mosul could take months. While that's happening on the ground, a growing prayer movement contending for the spiritual fate of the Middle East is spreading throughout the region.

At several houses of prayer, Christians are praying for God's plan to be fulfilled in perhaps the most volatile place on earth.

"We're just seeing an increase of hours of prayer meetings both from believers, local believers, (and) also people outside praying for the Middle East and coming here to pray as well," Fabian Greche, co-founder of the Mesopotamia House of Prayer in northern Iraq, told CBN News.

In the Bible, it is known as Assyria.

Greche says they're praying for the fulfillment of Isaiah 19:23-25CloseIsaiah 19:23-25 In that day Egypt and Assyria will be connected by a highway. The Egyptians and Assyrians will move freely between their lands, and they will both worship God. And Israel will be their ally. The three will be together, and Israel will be a blessing to them. For the LORD of Heaven's Armies will say, "Blessed be Egypt, my people. Blessed be Assyria, the land I have made. Blessed be Israel, my special possession!" OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) : "In that day, Israel will be one of three, with Egypt and Assyria – a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of Hosts shall bless, saying, 'Blessed is Egypt my people and Assyria the work of my hands and Israel my inheritance.'"

"So in order for that to happen (in) this region in the Middle East – all Muslim countries to be a blessing on the earth – we need to become a habitation of the presence of God," Greche explained. "And in order to be a habitation for the presence of God, God is building the altar of prayer and worship, and this is exactly what we are seeing in these prayer meetings."

With so much carnage in the region, the fulfillment of these verses may seem farfetched. Greche says in light of all the bad news, it's important to know where to look.

"We are to look to Jesus, to look at God's promises in His Word, so we would be influenced by Him and not by what happens around us in this world," he said. "We easily get affected by darkness around us. It affects us but if we look at Jesus and at His Word, we see that God wants to pour out His Spirit.

"He's coming back for a Bride and he will have one in the Middle East," he continued. "And so we need to simply look to Jesus, not be influenced by bad news, and hear good reports of what Jesus is doing. It stirs our hearts. And gives us hope to believe for more."

This week, the Mesopotamia House of Prayer is hosting believers from 15 countries for 100 hours of continuous prayer and worship for the Middle East.