In response to the shocking "theory of rape" being upheld by the radical Islamic State, Hillsong Church's co-senior pastor Bobbie Houston is calling on all Christian women from across the globe to pray at the same time each day against the evil acts being suffered by thousands of women and children in the Middle
East.

"Sometimes we can be overwhelmed by the enormity of these issues, but we are believing that as we pray we will see doors of opportunity and miracles open to make a difference for these women and children caught up in these atrocities," she wrote in her blog.

She referred to a recent article published by the New York Times, which revealed that rape is being conducted systematically against the Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq. The men who commit the brutal acts often kneel in prayer before and after raping the non-Muslim women, since their religion purportedly encourages them to do so.

Houston said prayer should not be seen as just the last resort in response to the horrifying acts committed by ISIS, since it can "change nations and heal lands."

"Prayer is a weapon that we can use to wage wars that look impossible in the natural," she said. She believes "a handful of women with compassion in their hearts, empathy in their spirit and prayer in their mouth could change the world. I believe that the Bible clearly teaches that prayer makes a way where there often seems to be no way."

She told the women to be specific in their prayers and pray for those in captivity to find the strength to survive and heal and get to know God's presence with them. Houston also asked women to pray for the perpetrators to witness and understand God's truth, and for government leaders to have the wisdom to deal with this situation.

She asked prayers for organisations that are working on the ground to miraculously find and rescue the women and children who have been captured.