Prayer Guide – Week 24 (February 13-19)

This week's prayer focus is for Yamanashi and Nagano Prefectures.

The mountains surrounding most of the prefecture have led the people of Yamanashi to have a strong sense of community.
This sense of intimacy between family and friends is the strongest the nation.
There are a number of denominations present in Kufu City, Yamanashi's capital, but rural villages have a very limited number of churches.

Please pray for:

• The 32 towns and villages with no churches, that God's people would be obedient in love by bringing them the Good News.
• The believers in Kofu City, that they would have a burden for the people of their own city and prefecture, leading them to go out and reach the lost.
• God's love to rest upon the hearts of the people of Yamanashi and that many would come to know their merciful Creator.

"Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you." - Isaiah 60:5

Nagano
Nagano is home to the Japanese Alps and possesses much scenic beauty.
It is a popular destination for vacations due to its many mountains.
It is ironic that despite this amazing display of God's creative work, the prefecture has the lowest percentage in Japan of people who believe in life after death. How will they hear about the One who created these mountains?

Please pray for:

• Northstar Alpine Lodge, a vacation destination that hosts youth camps and other activities in order to share the love of Jesus with its guests. Please pray also for other Christian camps that exist for this same purpose.
• The Japanese of Nagano to seek out the Creator of their homeland's beauty.
• Jesus to draw many to Himself from this prefecture.

"For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." - Romans 1:20

Jesus the night before he died prayed these famous words in John 17:21 “I pray that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Please pray this Jesus prayer over the Japanese Church.
Sadly, in some places, there remains a deep division between Churches.
Pray believers would seek to live out the command of Jesus living in unity.
Pray this may be worked out in Churches

• working together locally
• Christians praying together
• Christians supporting and encouraging one another

Recently at a gathering in Okinawa over 40 Church leaders came together in unity.
There was healing and confession of division between denominations.
Pray for more of this move of the Holy Spirit to bring unity.
Pray the Church would be as one as we prepare for the release of the Holy Spirit

Pray for evangelism to happen together with Christians so we can show local non-believers this unity.

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Psalm 133:1

They suffered great earthquake damage.
Please pray that the Lord will give us help for our lives. Pray that the Lord's love will be delivered to those who are suffering in their hearts.
Pray that the Christians who are serving in Islamic affairs will be filled with the fragrance of the Lord and used with the love of Christ.
Pray that those who have lost loved ones will receive special help.