Prayer for Japan

Prayer for Japan

Father of mercies and God of all comfort, you are in absolute control of every shake and every wave that happened last week. You command the waves to stop where they will and they obey you. You command the sea and wind and they instantly heed your word. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and untraceable ways. We pray that you would comfort the grieving Christians and future Christians who are in Japan hurting now, with the comfort that you alone can give. We pray that you would draw near to them in a special way that they would know that you near to them through Christ. In Jesus you tasted pain, loss, and the cup of wrath. You know what it's like to lose it all, feel abandoned, and overwhelmed by sin and its effects on one's life.

We pray that you would provide for the needs of your people and those who are not your people. Father you love them all and cause the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. We cry for mercy for Japan. Not for what they deserve. But mercy. We pray that you would have mercy on them and cause them to repent from their sin and trust in Christ. You desire all men to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth and you certainly can open blind eyes and unstop deaf ears to see and hear of the glory of Christ and his cross.

We are not better than they. You call us to weep with those who weep. But you also call us to weep over our sin. We humble ourselves under your holy majesty and we repent. We too could be swept away and deserve no better than our fellowmen in Japan. You don't treat us according to our sins or repay us according to our iniquities. If you do we'd be undone. We deserve to be overtaken by earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear radiation seeping into the atmosphere where we live. We deserve your judgment and wrath. We have taken you lightly. But you call us to repent, for judgment will also come upon us in a moment. We deserve to lose our homes, cars, loved ones, and neighborhoods. So help us to grieve for our sin even as we mourn for the pain and loss, millions of losses, of our fellow humans.

We pray for the Christians there and the Christians who are going there to love their neighbors well and meet needs even as they shine the light of the gospel and seek to explain it in words. We pray for the money of Christians used to bless those in need there, that it would be stewarded well and maximized for the most good that can be done. We pray that you would work this together for their good as you purposed for the display of your glory.

In Jesus' merciful name, Amen.

(I was helped by John Piper's prayer for Japan)