Prayer for Japan: Sins of Saul (Feb. 2011)

Dear prayer family,

Thank you for your continued prayer support and concern regarding my calling to Japan! Not only am I blessed by your care, but it's a critical part of the spiritual battle for the glory of God there in the souls of Japanese--the "air war," as my pastor once called it.

In keeping with the pattern of providing topical prayer needs, this month we'll focus on perhaps the two greatest obstacles in the Japanese heart to true repentance & faith. Both are exemplified in the pitiful life of Israel's first king Saul.

The first sin is pride, which is linked to the second: witchcraft/demonic involvement.

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...Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”

And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”

So Samuel said:

"Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He also has rejected you from being king." (1 Samuel 15:17-23)

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So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. But he did not inquire of the LORD; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. (1 Chronicles 10:13-14)

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1. Please pray that the Lord would break down the national pride of the Japanese. Not only must every material import, from McDonald's to electronics, be adapted to their tastes, but outside ideas and beliefs must also 'fit' with what already exists rather than be accepted on their own merits. In addition, there has been no apologizing for the war crimes and imperialism of the 20th century. May Japanese believers lead their country and people in humility, especially in seeking to bless other Asian people groups.

2. Please pray that individual pride would be brought low. There is considerable personal cost to truly follow Christ in this society; believers are often alone in their families and religion that goes beyond annual rituals is frowned upon as abnormal. May the gospel be preached and listeners humbled to repent & believe!

3. Please pray that fleshly pride would be confessed and repented of in the church. Japan is in desperate need of bold, holy and pure groups of believers...but the few congregations are more known for division and legalism than heart transformation by the Holy Spirit and submission to the Lord's revealed will in Scripture. May love and unity in the truth prevail.

4. Please pray against the rampant spiritual deception. Fortune-tellers and palm-readers at street stands near train stations in the evening are perhaps the most obvious indicator, but the enemy of souls is having a real field day deluding this land. From Western cults (Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons) to a slew of so-called "new religions" mixing a bit of 'Christianity' into Buddhist and New Age techniques, there are thousands of counterfeits. Pray that those bound by these lies would be freed by the truth of the true Jesus--just as in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6.

5. Please pray for Christians to renounce all ways of darkness. In a land where most can still think "To be Japanese is to go to a [Buddhist] temple on New Year's Day," compromise is a daily temptation. This--not marriage, as commonly supposed--is the actual context for 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, good verses to pray for the Body here as well.

6. Please pray for Jesus's victory over all demonic powers in the cross (Colossians 2:15) to be powerfully displayed.

7. Please pray for me to give up my attempts to earn God's or man's approval and rest in the grace given through Christ's life, death and resurrection--that as I do so, He would open up doors in the Nagoya area for ministry soon.


Your brother in Jesus ("humble in heart"--Matthew 11:29 NIV),

Kylan