Praying for Japan

We have had two of our students spend summers in Japan serving as missionary interns.  I have asked them to share their thoughts about Japan and how we can pray for the people there especially now.  Here are Kelley Williams' thoughts:

The Japanese people are incredibly polite and kind, but they are not always very receptive to the gospel. The vast majority worship the gods of Buddhism, Shintoism, materialism, and success. The soil is hard and the fruit is rare, but God is definitely working. He has been in Japan long before now and I fully believe a great Japanese revival is coming.

This past summer, my fellow interns and I were completely broken for the Japanese. We wanted the people that God had taught us to love to know the One True God and Savior. We prayed that God would do whatever it took.   I do not think that the earthquake, tsunami, and current nuclear crisis is in any way a punishment for the Japanese worshipping false gods and idols. I believe He will use this to make Himself famous in Japan, Asia, and the rest of the world. That is what we prayed for anyway.

My favorite verses to pray over Japan are Isaiah 64:1-65:3. It starts off, "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountain might quake in your presence...", and ends with God saying, "I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me." Japan is not a nation that has been seeking God, but He is passionately pursing them with His grace and love.

Please pray that the strongholds Satan has had in Japan will come crashing down. Pray that as a tsunami brings water that damages, the Holy Spirit will flood Japan with joy and salvation. Pray for the workers in Japan, pray they would have divine appointment after divine appointment. Pray that the Japanese Christians will be shaken from their timidity and would speak boldly to their friends and family about their hope and peace in Jesus alone. Pray, pray fervently for a great Japanese revival to unfold from this tragedy. God is bigger than any force of nature and He will use this for His glory and renown.