Born in Iran, Maryam Rostampour Keller was fully immersed in the radical beliefs of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He had ruled Iran since 1989.

By the age of 7, she was daily uttering Islamic prayers and chanting, “death to Israel and the United States.”

But that all changed at the age of 17, when her sister was given a pamphlet entitled His Name is Wonderful.

The tract was a portrayal of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke. It was being distributed by a local Assemblies of God church near where her family lived in Tehran.

When Rostampour Keller read it, she was overwhelmed by God’s presence.

“It was the first time in my life that I heard that Jesus is the Son of God,” she recalled. “I heard about the cross, that He went to the cross for my sins. But none of the words sounded strange to me. That’s why when I got to the last page of the booklet, I was just crying. I was in my room for three hours. I was overwhelmed by God’s presence and His love.”

She started going to the church. Eventually, the pastor invited her to attend a house church and leadership theological school in Turkey.

At the school, she met another Iranian girl. After completing the course, the two returned to Iran to share the Gospel and lead a house church.

Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, when Islamic extremists overthrew the country’s monarchy, they have been gradually restricting religious freedoms in Iran.

In 2009, Rostampour Keller along with her friend were arrested by the regime.

They faced several charges. This included apostasy, as it was illegal for a Muslim to leave the Islamic faith. They were also charged with blasphemy and spreading the Christian faith.

Rostampour Keller and her friend were found guilty and sentenced to death.

“We spent 259 days in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison where we learned why Iran is classified among the countries where followers of Christ face the most extreme persecution,” Rostampour Keller said.

She eventually gained her release after public pressure from around the world forced the Islamic regime to let her go. She fled the country and now lives in the US, where she co-authored a book on her ordeal called “Captive in Iran”.

Rostampour Keller has closely followed the recent attacks on Iran by the US, that resulted in Ayatollah Ali Khamenei being killed in a missile attack. She is praying that this will pave the way for the return of the monarchy in Iran.

At a recent prayer rally for Iran, she called on Christian to pray for the country.

“That’s why I think our responsibility as the Body of Christ to stand with them in prayer is critical these days,” Rostampour Keller said.

While we look upon the Iranian conflict as a physical confrontation, Rostampour Keller says it is a spiritual battle. Because of this, the conflict needs to be won at the spiritual level.

This isn’t the first time that a spiritual battle has raged over Iran and where prayer played a role in the conflict.

Iran is situated on the land originally held by the nation of Persia mentioned in the Bible. Up until 1935, the country was actually called Persia.

We know from the book of Daniel, that there was a major spiritual conflict over Persia about 2,500 years ago.

Daniel along with thousands of Jews had been hauled into captivity by the Babylonians. Babylon in turn had been defeated by the Persians in a bloodless cue.

This spiritual conflict is mentioned in Daniel 10, when a Godly angel said he had been hindered from delivering answered prayer to Daniel by a demonic being referred to as the prince of Persia.

The Godly angel broke through after 21 days, when Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, stepped in to helped (Daniel 10:13).

That three week conflict coincided with the three weeks of fasting and prayer that Daniel had earlier entered into, because he sensed a “great conflict” was brewing (Daniel 10:1).

The Godly angel said that he would continue to fight the Prince of Persia (Daniel 10:20). The angel also added that he had taken a position beside the Kings Persia to assist and protect them (Daniel 11:1).

The Prince of Persia was a demonic angel who held a position of spiritual influence over the nation of Persia. After he had been dealt with by the Godly angels, God moved on the Persian kings. This resulted in edicts being issued allowing the Jews to return to the Promised Land.

So consider praying for Iran.