Prayer Guide – Week 4 (October 16-22)

This week's prayer focus is Shimane and Okayama Prefectures

Shimane

Being one of the least populated areas in Japan, family ties are particularly strong in this prefecture. This causes some resistance to the Gospel.
The Izumo Taisha Shrine holds a powerful influence on the religious climate of the region. Once a year, it is said that the 8 million gods in Japan travel to this shrine. Thus, in all other parts of Japan, October is known sometimes as Kannazuki (神無月), or "the month when there are no gods." However, in Shimane, that same month is known as Kamiarizuki (神有月), or "the month when the gods are present."

Please pray for:

• Spiritual strongholds in this region to be annihilated
• The Gospel of Jesus Christ to be heard and understood by all in Shimane
• The few Japanese Christians living in the prefecture, that they would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to reach their neighbors

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." - Colossians 1:13

Okayama

Curiously, the people of Okayama claim to be more mentally and spiritually fulfilled than any other prefecture in the nation. This region has given rise to various religious leaders throughout Japan's history, both Buddhist and Christian.

Please pray for:

• A knowledge of the deep for Christ to spread through the hearts of Okayama
• The 46 towns and villages without a church presence, that they would be reached by the Gospel
• The 17 missionaries serving in this area, that they would persevere and bring many people to know Jesus
• Japanese believers in Okayama, that they would be bold and filled with faith

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
- Acts 4:12

John Piper a well-known author/preacher and founder of Desiring God has written a prayer for Japan that we invite you to pray this week.

Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.

O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we could be swept away. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.

And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.

Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.

Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.

May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures' pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.

In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.

Deal tenderly now, Father, with this nation of Japan. Woo them. Win them. Save them.

And may the floods or any natural disasters Japanese people dread- make it a blessing that breaks upon their head. O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.

In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.

• Pray for Christian families to cherish worship, live a life centered on the words of the Bible, and pass on to their children a life of faith in the Lord.
• Pray that hurting families will be led to the church.
• Pray for Christian families to be used as witnesses.
• Pray for the ministry of helping couples and families, such as marriage courses.