<p>Column - The Answer to Prayer Is Full of Joy.</p><p> </p><p>“Until now you have not asked anything in my name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24)</p><p> </p><p>1. This happened after I gave an exposition of the Book of Romans in 1997.</p><p>I heard a story about a person who had never missed a mountain prayer  for over ten years, come rain or snow.</p><p>After listening to a few tapes outlining the Book of Romans, she cried for hours until her eyes were swollen, feeling that all her previous prayers had been in vain.</p><p>Due to the deep-seated resentment and bitterness she had harbored for so long, she was diagnosed with cancer and hospitalized.</p><p>At that time, she called me, who was abroad, to pour out her grievances. Since I had no way to help her, I received a realization from the Holy Spirit and told her to preach God's Word to herself when she was alone. She overcame her cancer and later even came to the mission field.</p><p>What I realized then is that the prayer of the Gentiles must cease before the prayer of God's children in Christ can begin.</p><p>Repentance is also different between a servant and a child.</p><p>The repentance of God's children is simply to return to their father's house, like the prodigal son in Luke 15. Servants, on the other hand, repent as if they are being punished, trembling in fear of being cast out.</p><p> </p><p>2. Prayer is also like that. The prayer of God’s children—those whom the Lord calls “you”—who have received the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) through the atoning grace of the cross, is different from the prayer of “them,” who peer around the cross, gazing at it.</p><p>If one were a Christian referred to in the second person within Christ, they would pray the Lord’s Prayer and seek his kingdom and his righteousness as their direct purpose.</p><p>However, the third-person pronoun ‘they’ whom the Lord refers to as Gentiles asks God for ‘something,’ so God is an indirect purpose to him.</p><p>Yet, all of the Psalmist’s prayers do not ask for grace, blessings, or prosperity from God; rather, they are prayers that seek and wait for “the Lord” with God as their direct purpose.</p><p>I am not trying to sound knowledgeable, but the Greek word for prayer is “proseuche.”</p><p>Therefore, prayer is nothing but moving toward God.</p><p>How dare you speak of prayer without approaching God?</p><p>Therefore, prayer is about understanding one's relationship with God, how to approach him, and what can be obtained by approaching him.</p><p>The Lord says that although we have not asked in his name until now, after the coming of the Spirit of truth, we should ask for the things within his name.</p><p>History is divided into before and after Jesus, but for Christians, the time before and after the Spirit of truth is vastly different.</p><p>We will not be able to see Jesus in a short while, but He testifies that when the Spirit of truth comes shortly thereafter, He will become our personal Savior and Christ.</p><p>Jesus testifies to his disciples that although they will not see him in a short while, when the Spirit of truth comes shortly thereafter, He will become their personal Savior and Christ.</p><p>By accepting Him, we receive forgiveness of sins and become justified, becoming children of God who have obtained eternal life.</p><p>Naturally, we are qualified to approach God.</p><p> </p><p>3. Such a Christian, abiding in Christ the vine, bears fruit simply by remaining attached as a branch.</p><p>The prayer of a Christian who has become a branch seeks only the Lord; they do not pester him to attach leaves or to bear fruit.</p><p>Believing in the fact that Christ has made us one with Christ, and keeping the commandments that we were one with him, they ask for whatever they desire within Him, and thus it is accomplished, bearing fruit.</p><p>The commandment that we were one with Christ means that the Father receives glory, and at the same time, we become the Lord's disciples.</p><p>By keeping the commandment that we were one with the Lord, we abide in his love, and the Lord's joy is within us, making our joy full. (John 15:5-11)</p><p>Joy is the very word we speak of because the breath of life within bursts forth outward.</p><p>The raw material for all blessings obtained in a state of union with Christ is life.</p><p>Life becomes peace, and peace becomes joy, becoming a transformation of essence.</p><p>That is why it is said that the outward sign of a Christian is joy.</p><p>To have no joy is to have no peace; to have no peace means not knowing the commandment to become one with Christ through the Spirit of Truth and to abide in his love.</p><p>Can various weaknesses and diseases cling to a person who is full of joy?</p><p>Aren't diseases caused by anger and stress?</p><p>Doesn't depression or panic disorder arise because there is no joy?</p><p>If so, the prayer of such a person is the prayer of a Gentile—asking for what they need when they feel stifled, essentially asking God for something.</p><p>This is the case with the prayers of those who shout "Jesus Resurrection, Hallelujah or claim to walk with Jesus."</p><p>Among such people, a "prayer fatigue syndrome" appears; they may only speak of having prayed a lot in the past, but they will not experience the true reality of prayer in the present.</p><p>If prayer is the breath of the soul, it is not difficult to imagine what would happen if one did not breathe within the Triune God.</p><p>One’s mouth is alive, but inside, it is a miserable state.</p><p> </p><p>4. However, one cannot rebuke the prayer of crying out to God out of frustration.</p><p>In doing so, one witnesses a scene so ecstatic that it is like the saying "catching a mouse with a cow's foot"—even to the point of fainting while uprooting a pine tree.</p><p>But even that is merely a sign; the prayer that obtains the essential gifts within the being of His name, while keeping the commandments united with Christ in the Spirit of Truth, is still far off.</p><p>Joy is only momentary; if one does not know the way to approaching God, one will either shout into the void again or speak in tongues, spitting out the language of one's inner self.</p><p>It may feel relieving, but it is not the joy given by the Lord.</p><p>Jesus, who came in the flesh, clearly said that because He was going to the Father, one would not see him in a little while.</p><p>However, He said He would send the Spirit of truth and that in a little while one would see him (John 16:19).</p><p>At that time, no one understood this message.</p><p>Only after the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost did they come to understand.</p><p>Therefore, while we have prayed like Gentiles until now, saying "Please give me, please," from now on, having become one spirit with Christ in the Spirit of Truth, He tells us to seek the list of the essence within his being.</p><p>Then the Lord appears within us (John 14:21), and through Him, our joy becomes full.</p><p>Therefore, rather than saying we have received something like in Gentile prayer, we come to call upon the name of the Lord at all times and pray to maintain the constant rejoicing, as the Lord grants the joy of salvation the moment He accepts our prayers.</p><p>The reason people do not pray is that they gain nothing. There is no reason to cease prayer that is full of joy.</p><p>To always rejoice, to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all circumstances is God's will for us who are in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16).</p><p>Since doing so is not our duty but God's will that is surely accomplished in Christ Jesus, the answer to our prayer in Christ is precisely joy.</p><p>It is proof that I belong to the Lord and what belongs to the Lord has become mine.</p><p>It seems it took me nearly 40 years to master this prayer.</p><p>For this reason, I recommend reading John chapters 14–16 100 times. It is even better to read it every day.</p><p> </p><p>Written by Pastor. Yohan Kim</p><p>Translated by Missionary Sookyung Chung</p><p>COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION</p><p>TO GOD BE THE GLORY</p>
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