There I was in the heart of Nikko Toshogu, standing in front of a pair of twisted copper strips that are said to contain the most powerful spirit in Japan. The outer buildings and courtyards of the shrine had been lavishly decorated with all kinds of flowers, birds and animals. I had envisioned the grandeur of heaven as a walked among all the gold and carvings and mammoth trees. But here in the inner sanctuary the decorations were modest. "How very like the enemy," I thought. "He promises so much, but in the end, there's really nothing there to satisfy. He has already been defeated. His only strength is in deceiving people to believe he is powerful."

Eight of us had come to prayer-walk on the grounds of the shrine. We had toiled up the steep inclines through the falling snow, and stopped to pray at all the places that seemed relevant. We stood in front of the three monkeys until our toes went numb. "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil." Even as American children we were taught about the monkeys, but we never knew they were designed to warn the Japanese not to hear, see or speak about Jesus Christ or His teachings. We prayed that their power to shut out the gospel would be forever broken.

Now we were inside. I had thought that here our courage to pray might waver, or that the priests would see what we were doing and stop us. I had forgotten that even though we were only eight, Jesus, the victorious King with all authority in Heaven and on earth, was with us. Just as we came into the sanctuary, the priest that had been attending the altar made a hasty exit in a flurry of orange robes. The eight of us stood in a line in the center of the room and began to pray. We prayed that the power of this spiritual ruler of Japan would be broken, and that the Japanese people would be free to hear and accept the gospel. No one bothered us, or asked us what we were doing until we all felt we were quite finished.

It was only toward the end of our prayer that I realized what was happening around us. There was a steady stream of worshippers entering the room from one end, and leaving from the other. All of them had come to place money in the offering box in front of the altar and worship the spirit in the copper strips. There was a sign by the altar instructing worshippers to clap twice, bow once, and then clap twice again. And there was plenty of room in front of us for people to approach the altar as they walked by, but no one was worshipping! Most of the people simply walked behind us and passed on without donating their money or clapping their hands. A few walked toward the altar, and then just stood there, looking embarrassed by what they were about to do, then walked out. One young man tried his best to clap, but kept stopping with his hands about an inch apart from each other. He finally gave up and moved on as well. In the 20 minutes or so that we were there, only two people managed to worship before they moved on!

Just as we walked out, I noticed the building was once again swarming with priests attending to the people, and making sure no one obstructed the flow of worshippers.

Is God real? Is He powerful? Does He care that we pray? You know it! But did our prayers have an effect? Ask yourself that question. Have you seen any changes in your own relationship with the Lord, or in the members of your church? I have. God begins His work by changing people from the inside, so the immediate results will not be measurable. We will know He is working when we see ourselves, and the members of our churches repenting of specific sins, and experiencing a deeper commitment to Christ. The explosive revival we all long for will come as a result of that personal repentance. We can't know for sure, but I believe there are small, personal revivals going on all over Japan as a result of the prayer meetings and prayer walks that occurred in March, and that those revivals will lead to church growth and new converts in time.

What is the next step for Free Japan? Many people have written and asked me that question. I’m really not sure. I envision another bigger and more visible campaign two or three years from now, but I think we have an enormous job to do in the meantime. I think a good percentage of the missionary community knew about Free Japan, but I didn’t hear about very many national pastors or lay-people who were involved. What can we do to reach the Japanese nationals with the idea of praying together with one voice for spiritual awakening, first in their own hearts and communities, and then all over the nation?

I tried calling each pastor in our city and inviting them to a meeting to discuss the matter. They were apprehensive, but three of them came to meet with me, and agreed to meet again. It's small, but it's a start. If we could have an inter-church core of national believers who pray and prayerwalk together regularly by the time we are ready for another campaign, and there was a prayer group of that nature in every major city-Wow! Maybe we wouldn't need a campaign at all! Does the Lord want a prayer group like that in your city? If so, is there something He wants you to do to get it started?

Debbie Penner