“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1 Peter 3:7,NIV)
God, who created man and woman to become one flesh, commanded husbands to honor and protect their wives as weaker partners and heirs with them of the gracious gift of life. Yet Satan seeks to destroy this design of family by using religion, culture, traditions, and customs to oppress women and drive them into suffering and even death.
Harmful practices such as child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), and honor killings are still widely carried out in African and Middle Eastern Islamic countries, causing countless women every year to endure pain and death. Because these practices are deeply entrenched in religious and cultural traditions and are often carried out by family members or acquaintances, they are rarely exposed. Even developed nations face difficulties in creating effective systems to protect women trapped in these customs and to punish perpetrators severely.
Harmful practices against women such as child marriage and FGM violate women’s and girls’ rights to health and physical safety, while exposing them to the dangers of early pregnancy, childbirth-related deaths, and domestic violence.
Child marriage refers to minors marrying before the legal age of marriage, usually forced by parents to receive dowries or to maintain cultural and religious customs. According to UNICEF, there are currently 650 million women worldwide who were married before the age of 18. Each year, 12 million girls are forced into unwanted marriages, with one in three living in Sub-Saharan Africa, where populations continue to grow.
FGM is the partial removal or injury of female genital organs for non-medical reasons, intended to control and oppress women. Many in Northern and Central Africa suffer under this practice. According to a 2020 UN report titled The World’s Women: Trends and Statistics, at least 200 million girls and women have undergone FGM. Somalia has the highest prevalence, with 98 percent of women affected, followed by Sudan and Ethiopia at 90 percent, Egypt at 80 percent, and Nigeria at 50 percent. Although 31 countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia practice FGM widely, the custom also continues in North America and Europe. Most of these countries legally prohibit it, yet the procedure persists due to deeply ingrained social norms.
Honor killings refer to the murder of a family or community member by others within the group, under the pretext of protecting the family’s or community’s honor. Such acts are justified by the belief that perceived dishonor legitimizes murder. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), around 5,000 women worldwide are killed each year in the name of honor. However, no country in the Middle East or North Africa officially reports the number of such cases. While some nations have enacted laws to punish perpetrators of honor killings or operate shelters for victims, progress remains slow and change has been minimal.
》Prayer Point
1. God regards every person He created as precious. Yet humanity, having turned away from Him, has used false beliefs, greed, culture, and religion as excuses to oppress and drive women into suffering. Let us pray that evil practices such as child marriage, female genital mutilation, and honor killings will cease, and that women who suffer under them will be respected, protected, and restored.
》Scripture Prayer
Song of Songs 1:1-4, 9-17 (NIV)
1 Solomon’s Song of Songs. 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is more delightful than wine. 3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the young women love you! 4 Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers. We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!
9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses. 10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels. 11 We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver. 12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. 13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. 14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi. 15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves. 16 How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant. 17 The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.9 I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses. 10 Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels. 11 We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver. 12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. 13 My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts. 14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi. 15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves. 16 How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant. 17 The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. God created man, and for him He made woman as a helper, that the two might become one flesh and form a family. Husband and wife belong to each other, and the husband’s love is meant to be his wife’s covering and banner. But Satan seeks to destroy the family, using religion, tradition, and custom to oppress and exploit women. Let us pray that women will be restored in Christ to their original God-given identity—to be honored and loved in the home and in society, and to fulfill their calling of serving their families with love.
2. God testifies to the relationship between Christ and the Church through the relationship of husband and wife. Just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, so husbands are to love their wives, and wives are to honor their husbands. Let us pray that families, restored through this gospel of mutual love, would reflect the glory of Christ and His Church.
3.The Church, the bride of Christ, is called to share in His suffering and His glory as the Lord says, “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come with me.” Let us pray that the Church will resist Satan’s lies and schemes through the truth of God’s Word and prayer, driving out the “little foxes that ruin the vineyards,” and be restored as a community of soldiers carrying out the mission of proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God, embracing sinners, and giving birth to new life.
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