Jesus said, “Until now, you could not ask God for anything, but from now on, ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” This is the promise He has given us. Before we knew Jesus, we had nothing to do with God. Naturally, we could not receive His help, nor could we ask anything of Him. However, by believing in Jesus, we have become children of God. Therefore, we can now receive His love and His help. Just like the title of today’s message, we have truly received “A New Identity.”

This is not just something we feel subjectively; it holds true as a reality. So, as we live on this earth, we can actually exercise our new identity. The area where we can experience this new identity most clearly is “prayer.”

My beloved, among us until now, when we faced difficulties, we probably sought help from people or tried to work even harder on our own, only to run into a wall and feel disappointed. Some might even have felt frustrated and made poor choices. Also, we are always anxious, aren’t we? Even when we make an effort, how lonely and anxious is it when there is no one to help us? Because we lack confidence, we cannot clearly decide on something, say “I must go in this direction,” and move forward with conviction.

However, after we come to know God in Jesus Christ, everything is completely different. We can pray. Through prayer, we can receive God’s help. Who is God? God is the Creator of the heaves and the earth. He is the one who even now sustains our every breath. When we sleep at night, we continue to breath. We breath even without trying. Also, our hearts continue to beat. We don’t need to struggle to keep our hearts moving. It happens naturally. In the same way, God has opened a way for us to live even without our own striving. And He has opened the way for us to take and use the resources in heaven. That is prayer.

Now that we come to church and believed in Jesus, we can receive God’s help through prayer. Prayer is not for pouring out our frustrations just because we feel overwhelmed. Prayers are not simply complaining about our situation, either. Prayer is actually receiving God’s help.

Whom does a little child receive help from? They receive help from their parents. What a parent gives to a grown-up child is different from what they give to a little child who asks for something. When they are young, if they say, “Buy me some candy!” their parent might buy it for them. However, if a grown-up asks for candy, a parent won’t give it to them. Candy isn’t something a child absolutely needs. But the parent gives it because the child wants it. Why? Because as children grow, they need to experience their parents buying what they desire; also, because that’s just how little children are, the parent gives in when they ask for candy.

Our God is the same. A mature person asks for more thoughtful things. They pray to fulfill God’s will and receive answers. However, those who have just started coming to church are still like infants spiritually. Even so, we can ask for anything at a child’s level. In some ways, just as parents generously give various things to their young children, we can experience God’s answers to our prayers in a very sweet and detailed way. So, even if it is not something incredibly spiritual, or we are not saying, “I will do something great for the church,” as long as we are not committing a sin before God—if obtaining it benefits our spirits and further helps us confirm our relationship with God and rely on Him—then ask. God will give it to us. It is good to have many experiences like that.

Looking back, there are so many things that make me think, “Wait, did I even pray for something like that?” For example, when the bus wouldn’t come on my way to school, I would even pray, “Please make the bus come quickly!” Of course, I didn’t always get a satisfactory result every single time. Nevertheless, I prayed about even those little things. And of course, I didn’t hold it against God just because the bus didn’t arrive quickly. He had a reason. Could God not send a single bus right away? Of course He could. But God has His own plans, and He cannot think only of me, can He? Always, the way God works is truly wondrous.

Since we are talking about buses, let me share a testimony related to transportation. When I was a college student, my home was in a place where I had to transfer buses several times to get to school. The distance wasn’t that far, but because the bus routes were so complicated, I had to wait a long time if I missed just one bus. So, I struggled quite a bit. Then one day, it was the very last day for me to quickly go to the local community center by late afternoon to renew my ID card. If I didn’t make it by that time, I would be in a situation where I had to pay a fine. So, I absolutely had to go.

I could have just gone after finishing my classes, but that morning on my way to school, I had prayed, “God, I will definitely evangelized to at least one person today.” After class, I had about an hour and a half left, and as I was leaving the school gate, the thought suddenly hit me: ”Ah! I promised to evangelize today.” But if I were to go back in, find someone, evangelize, and then take the bus, there was no way I would make it to the community center near my house in time. That would mean losing dozens of dollars in fines. At that time, that was a huge amount of money for me. But what should I do? If I didn’t have faith and didn’t seek God’s work first, I would have gone straight to the community center, right? But there is a word God gave us: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” So, of course, I had to prioritize God’s work. I hurried back into the school and looked for people sitting on benches. Usually, it’s hard to find someone to talk to, but that day, I happened to see just one person. They listened well, so we even exchanged phone numbers and finished with a prayer to accept Jesus.

After I finished, I checked the time and saw there were only 40 minutes left. It was obvious I wouldn’t make it. I couldn’t possibly get there before the community center closed. I thought, “Oh, what should I do? Should I just go tomorrow?” Just then, as I walked out of the school gate, a car was pulling out. But it got caught at a red light and stopped right at the gate. Back then, since the buses took forever to come, I would sometimes knock on the windows of stopped cars and ask, “Could you please give me a ride to the nearby station?” So I said, “Please, just take me to the nearby station!” and the driver told me to get in. We reached the station, and just as I was about to get out, I asked, “I’m heading in this direction; if you happen to be going that way, could you give me a lift?” The driver replied, “Oh? I’m going that way too.” So we kept going. Since I was in a car, it was so fast! When we reached that point, I asked again, “Where are you headed? I’m going all the way to the left.” He said, “Oh? Me too!” So we went further. I said, “I live in an apartment near this neighborhood, how far are you going?” He replied, “I pass right by there.” So that car dropped me off right in front of community center. When I checked the time, it had only taken 25 minutes. Usually, it takes an hour and a half by bus. Because of that, I was able to go inside and take care of everything immediately.

Isn’t that amazing? It was an answer to prayer. I just prayed, “God, I will seek Your kingdom and righteousness first, so please help me with this.” I didn’t even pray intensely. Since I had made a promise to God that day, I just offered a simple prayer: “God, I will keep this promise, so please help me too,” and then I went in. Yet, such a wonderful answer to prayer took place. At that time, I hadn’t been a believer for very long, but as these answers to prayer piled up one by one, my life of faith became so joyful.

Since I met Jesus at the end of my junior year of college, I had one more year of school left. During that time, my heart’s desire was to serve as a teacher in the university department at the church at least once. Then, an opportunity came for me to serve as a teacher during a retreat for GBS—Group Bible Study. At that time, my peers were all busy preparing for their careers. While a part of me also felt the pressure to find a job, I thought, “Shouldn’t I serve as a teacher in this college group at least once before I graduate? Since God has bestowed such grace upon me, shouldn’t I serve Him?” So, I decided to take on the role of a teacher for my final retreat and began preparing for it.

Because of that, while others were busy with job preparations, I couldn’t focus on mine. At that time, I prayed just as I had before: “God, I will seek Your kingdom and righteousness first, so please take care of my problems for me.” After praying like that, I later went to a job recruitment agency to submit my application. I was sitting outside, holding the documents in my hand.

Just then, someone inside called out, “Mr. Ki-Taek Lee, please come in!” So, I went in with documents and sat down. The interviewer across from me started asking all sorts of questions. After checking my family background and other details, he asked, “By the way, why did you leave your previous company?” I had never worked a job in my life—I was just about to graduate. So I replied, “I’m just now graduating from university. What do you mean, a previous company?” Then he asked, “Aren’t you Mr. Ki-Taek Lee?” “Yes, I am.” “Wait, but is says here that you’ve worked at a company before?” At that moment, I realized the interviewer was holding a set of documents that I hadn’t even submitted yet. “Oh? I haven’t submitted my documents yet,” I said. Surprised, he asked, “Wait, then whose are these? Is this not Mr. Ki-Tak Lee?” It turned out he was holding the documents for a Mr. Ki-Tak Lee. That person had already submitted his papers and was scheduled for his first interview that day. As for me, I could have just mailed my application, but because I was a bit clueless, I had gone there in person to hand it in. And when they called for, “Mr. Ki-Tak Lee,” I thought it meant me and walked right in.

After we had a good laugh for quite a while, we ended up talking a lot. He said, “I’m really impressed with you. I’d love to have you on our team. There’s a second interview with the department head next Monday, and I’ll put in a good word for you beforehand, so make sure you come. There are many people waiting for their interviews right now, but you’re the one I want. Since you’ll be working with me anyway, just prepare your answers well. He’ll be asking these questions, so you just need to answer like this.” He even gave me a full heads-up on everything.

So do you think I got the job or not? It seems like I should have, right? I went back the following Monday and had an interview with the department head. As expected, he said, “You’re just as good as I heard. Great! Let’s work well together.” But then, he threw one last question at me. “By the way, how much can you drink?” Without even thinking, I replied immediately, “I don’t drink alcohol.” “What? What do you mean? You don’t drink? Why?” “Oh, I’m a Christian.” “What? I’ve seen other Christians drink.” “Well, some do, but I don’t.” “Have you always been a non-drinker?” “Yes!” “Hmm…Don’t you know this is a sales position?” To do sales, people usually have to drink while working. “You’re in sales, but you can’t drink? Wait outside for a moment.” And just like that, the conversation ended.

So I waited outside for a while. After a bit, the department head called in the manager. They talked for a long time, and when the manager came out, he asked me, “Hey, what’s going on? You don’t drink? Why?” Then he went back inside. After another long discussion with the department head, he came back to me again. “Let me ask you just one thing. If we’re all at a company dinner and the CEO pours a drink for you, what are you doing to do?” How do you think I answered? “I will politely decline and have a soda instead.” He went back to relay that answer. They consulted each other again for a long time. I guess they were reluctant to let me go. He came out once more and asked: “Let me ask you one more thing. If you’re at a meeting with a client and they offer to pour you a drink, what you will you do then?” “It’s the same. I will tell them I don’t drink and have a soda instead.” He went back inside again. Finally, he came out and told me that the results would be out next Monday and they would contact me then, and he sent me home.

After finishing all, I told someone about what had happened. This was my very first job interview. That person said, “You fool! You should have just made something up. You could have said you drink and then just not done it when the time came.” That person was a Christian, too. Of course, I could have just lied about it like that, but I didn’t want to do that.

So, do you think I got a call or not? No call came. Then, do you think I resented God? No, I didn’t. I thought to myself, “It must be what’s best for me.” Although I had prayed for God to let me get that job, in the end, it didn’t happen. However, I believed that this was God giving me what was truly good for me, and I considered even that to be an answer to prayer.

Since things had turned out this way, I prayed even more. “God, I’m sure I’ll face many situations like this in the future. Please give me a job where I don’t have to worry about drinking at company dinners. Let it be a job where I can earn at least a certain amount each month and is within a reasonable commuting distance from my home.” I continued, “It doesn’t matter what kind of work it is. As long as these conditions are met, I’m even fine with manual labor. I’m not looking for a career for self-fulfillment; I’m only doing this because my body needs to eat and live so that I can maintain my spiritual life. So God, please hear my prayer.”

A short while later, a job opening was posted at a social welfare center. They were hiring only one person. This was actually the same place where many of my peers had gone to take the entrance exam while I was busy preparing to be a retreat teacher on my own. It is the best welfare center in Korea. At that time, they hadn’t hired a single person. This place has such high standards and great benefits that if they don’t like the candidates, they simply don’t hire anyone. And yet, I applied there. My GPA was 3.0. If it had been even 0.1 lower, I wouldn’t have been able to apply at all. I hadn’t studied much before, but after I met Jesus, I studied hard and managed to scrape together that minimum score to submit my application. Who would have thought I’d stand a chance? Even those who had studied abroad had been rejected.

And yet, I was the one who got the job. It turned out that the people working there were all people of prayer. Some were children of pastors, and others had even attended and later left seminary; it was a Christian social welfare center. As a result, there was no pressure to do things like, “Go ahead and drink,” or “What are you doing?” My prayer has been answered.

Likewise, when we align our hearts with God, He hears our prayers and answers them, making our joy overflow. No matter how small the matter may be, rely on God. Then, He will lead you step by step. However, there is one thing we must remember: if we have a heart that seeks first His kingdom and His righteousness—rather than our own benefit—the Lord will take care of all our other needs. Even if an answer does not appear immediately before our eyes, it may actually be something better for us. Therefore, I bless you in the name of Jesus that you will trust the Lord and pray with a heart that fully relies on the Lord and finds rest in Him.

Our God Father, we thank You for giving us this new identity—that although we did not know You before and could not receive Your help, we have now become Your children in Jesus Christ and can seek Your help. Please help all of us to live a life that pleases You and prospers in You by receiving Your help. Especially for those who are struggling with loneliness in their lives, let them know the presence of Immanuel, the God who is with us. Fill them with happiness from heaven so that all their loneliness and suffering may be completely covered by Your grace. We pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.