<p>Column - Pray Differently from Until Now</p><p> </p><p>“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:24).</p><p> </p><p>1. They have become polished like a roadside field by familiar vocabulary of faith, so when the knowledge of truth obtained through the Bible is presented, they feel uncomfortable and even resist.</p><p>If they form factions and do not follow the truth but follow unrighteousness, God responds with wrath and anger (Romans 2:9).</p><p>Even though tribulation and distress are clearly visible in their spirit, they feign ignorance.</p><p>This is superficial faith (Romans 2:28).</p><p>Therefore, considering only the outward appearance of the flesh important, they put on a fashion show to be seen by people rather than receiving God’s praise, where the function and role of the spirit are outwardly manifested through circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29).</p><p>If you feel uncomfortable with what I write, I hope you will examine whether the place where you stand is inside or outside of Christ.</p><p>2. Jewish prayer is truly a prayer from the womb.</p><p>It is habitual and almost a duty based on the mental of the law.</p><p>Furthermore, if one has resolved not to commit the sin of not praying like Samuel, one feels guilty if one does not pray.</p><p>When I was an infant, if I missed dawn prayer even once, I felt uncomfortable all day long.</p><p>This was the case when I could not pray without rest.</p><p>Since there is no eternal life outside of Christ, one can only offer Gentile prayers.</p><p>Is it not unrelated to the list contained within the name of Christ?</p><p>For instance, it would be ridiculous to plow the ground in the wilderness and pray for the early and late rains to come.</p><p>The wilderness is a place unrelated to water.</p><p>The early and late rains come only in the land of Canaan.</p><p>3. The Word (John 1:1) came as the Son of Man, was crucified, and rose again.</p><p>After returning to the Father, He sent the Spirit of truth in his name.</p><p>From that time on, the Lord became Immanuel.</p><p>Through the Spirit of truth, we are in the Lord, and the Lord is in us.</p><p>The Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us of this mystery (John 14:26).</p><p>Because we love the Lord, we keep this unified commandment, receive the Father's love, and taste the Lord's manifestation.</p><p>Consequently, we become a dwelling place where the Father and the Lord are together (John 14:23).</p><p>We have become a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). As a temple, naturally, sacrifices are offered, sins are forgiven at the throne of grace, and the glory of God is seen.</p><p>It is a place of mercy. It is the Mount Zion of today (Hebrews 12:22).</p><p>The subjects whom the Lord referred to as "you" in the Gospel of John are the very church, which has been received into the Lord's body and has become one body.</p><p>The Lord tells them, "Eat my flesh and drink my blood."</p><p>They are bodies attached to Christ, the Head.</p><p>If so, if we consider what our bodies are currently demanding of the Head, we will be able to grasp the meaning of the command to pray in the name of Christ.</p><p>The body, in an organic relationship with the head, constantly craves necessary signals and hormones.</p><p>If these are supplied smoothly, it feels refreshing.</p><p>4. Therefore, to pray in the name of the Lord (in My Name), rather than the prayers of the past, one must become one with Christ through the Spirit of truth.</p><p>Becoming united like the vine and the branches, and dwelling within it, the Word of the Lord must also dwell within oneself (John 15:7).</p><p>Then, one simply needs to ask according to the Word that dwells within.</p><p>If Christ is the light, ask for the light; if Christ is the life, ask for the life; if Christ is the power, ask for the power; if Christ is wisdom, ask for wisdom. If the Word of the Lord is contained in your heart, acknowledge it as it is. That is precisely prayer in that name.</p><p>How can joy be filled within me if one asks for something outside?</p><p>Joy is filled within because there is an answer to prayer within.</p><p>There is no religion without prayer.</p><p>Even Buddhism chants the Buddha's name 염불(念佛), knowing that a human becoming a Buddha is like putting sand in a pot and expecting it to become rice.</p><p>Literally, it means praying to change one's thoughts.</p><p>The prayer that the Lord spoke of, which is different from the prayers of the past, requires the labor pains of childbirth (John 16:21) accompanied by repentance—crucifying oneself with the Lord and living again with Him—in accordance with the words of the Lord who came as Jesus: "In a little while you will not see, but in a little while you will see Me" (John 16:19).</p><p>Only then will it be possible to pray, "Ask, and your joy will be complete, even though you have not asked in My name until now."</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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