Prayer Guide – Week 31 (April 03-09)

This week we are praying for Hyogo and Nara

Hyogo
Hyogo is home to Kobe, the sixth largest city in Japan. Because of its thriving port, there has been substantial exposure to foreign influences, which has shaped the culture of its urban center. However, the rural communities are still grounded in older tradition and don't have much exposure to the Gospel of Christ.
The 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake killed around 6,500 people and destroyed much of Kobe. It was one of the worst earthquake disasters in Japanese history and many lives are still effected by it today.

Please pray for:

• The Holy Spirit to open the eyes of many in Kobe and its surrounding regions so that they can have the Joy of knowing their Creator.
• The existing Churches in Hyogo - that they would be strong in the Lord and abide in Him.
• Japanese believers in Hyogo to feel a burden for the lost and reach out to their communities with the Gospel, being led by the Spirit.
• God's Kingdom to come to Hyogo prefecture, so that they can know Jesus Christ and have everlasting life.

"Then you will see and be radiant,
And your heart will thrill and rejoice;
Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you,
The wealth of the nations will come to you...
...And I shall glorify My glorious house."
- Isaiah 60:5,7b

Nara
Nara twice served as Japan's capitol and as a result, boasts a rich cultural heritage. People in Nara today generally have a low religious interest, yet the region has the second-highest rate of people who believe in life after death.
The prefecture is 80% forest, so there are many towns and villages that are remote and without a church presence. Sharing the Gospel with the declining population of the mountain regions is perhaps the most urgent evangelistic need.

Please pray for:

• The Nara Evangelistic Association that meets six times a year - that they would cooperate and have the unity of the Holy Spirit guiding and encouraging them
• The 24 towns and villages with no church presence at all - that God would raise up workers to enter these harvest fields
• Those of the Tenrikyo faith, which is based in Nara - that they would come to know Jesus Christ and find acceptance and purity in Him

"I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, 'Here am I, here am I,'
To a nation which did not call on My name."
- Isaiah 65:1

Many people in Japan are searching for meaning, seeking any help to find answers to questions within them. We often hear of stories of Japanese people finding faith through searching for websites that help them find about God and are here introduced to Jesus.

One Japanese man came to faith purely by searching on the internet. He then made contact with a missionary to ask if he would baptize them.

This week let’s pray that Japanese people seeking for meaning would be directed by the Holy Spirit to websites that would really answer their questions.

Pray for those using the web to share Gospel friendly articles and messages to those searching

Pray that they will find ways to connect with Christians who can disciple then

Pray God would use the internet to bring many Japanese people to faith.

In Japan, April is the month of the start of a new fiscal year. Let us especially remember this in our prayers.

For children and young people entering new schools. Pray for those who will start their careers.
For Christians to hold the Lord's Word and be sent as ambassadors to bless the new land.
Pray that they will be able to face their new relationships, tasks to learn, and challenges in their new environment.
May we be used to lead the people we meet there to the Lord.
May we be protected from accidents and troubles, and may we have a good start.
May those who are relocating be able to connect with a church fellowship that is appropriate in the Lord.

That those who meet the Lord would be raised up in the midst of new beginnings.
May the Lord's life be delivered to those who are anxious and worried.
May the start of a new environment be the start of living a new life.