Prayer Journal: August 13, 2026
15. Aug. 2025 World Young Adult Retreat
Theme: 『 Be the Leader of Three Ages! 』 (Genesis 45:1-5)
Lecture 1:『 300% First 』 (1Samuel 17:1-47)
Introduction
This time’s theme is “Become the leader of the three eras.” Before that, though, young adults don’t have much time left. But it isn’t too late either. You must do “300% first.”
The question is how to do this. You’ve probably heard a lot about this already, but what should I have done at 300% when I was your age? Honestly, it’s not easy to find. But I was entrusted with the children’s Sunday school. That’s how the answer came. Save the children’s Sunday school — nothing else matters, just save the children’s Sunday school, save it without any particular motive or purpose. To what degree did God give the answer? I looked for what the Members’ Small Group Meeting was, and because of the children’s Sunday school, a real work came out of it. That is what 300% means. You are young adults right now. You don’t need to worry about anything else. You don’t even need to worry about the future. Just make today 300%, unconditionally. Make myself 300%. There’s no need to ask beyond that. One day, I was entrusted with the middle and high school department. I didn’t choose it. Didn’t I have to save this middle and high school department? That’s all I thought about. I have to save the middle and high school students — with that thought, I couldn’t go anywhere else, and I went around to every middle and high school in the city of Busan. Starting from the ones near our church, walking, meeting the kids and connecting with them. That’s all I did. That was the only way I had. And then, the Youth Evangelism Association was formed, and now God has opened the way for me to be able to do the World Remnant Conference movement. It’s not difficult at all. At that time, among the pastors I knew, not a single one went to visit the schools. They worked hard at other things. As I see it, that was wrong. You have to save the middle and high school students, but the person in charge of the middle and high school department works hard at something else — nothing could be more wrong than that. Isn’t that right? Did I have something especially better than that other person? No. Did I have some special talent that drew the kids in? No. It seems simple, but everything — me, our students, the field, all of it — 300% is all contained in it.
By the time I had become roughly an associate pastor, I was put in charge of the young adults’ group. All I had to do was save these young adults. So I thought, all I have to do is save 24 young adults. Nothing else was needed. Since I was put in charge of the young adults’ group, wasn’t God telling me to save young adults? All I had to do was save them. How could I do it? Doing 24 would do it. Even I was surprised. Of all things, I had to save young adults, but it was a church with no young adults. This was a complete Nobody. This is how God works. The church had a conflict, and all the young adults left, following the associate pastor who left with them. It was quite a large church, so that had nothing to do with me. From this point on, I only looked for the golden fishing ground of young adults. So I didn’t have to go far. Right in front of me was a dormitory with several thousand young adults. Mainly there, I made 300 disciples. To the point where the atmosphere of the church changed — I did nothing myself. I only spoke to the young adults about the gospel alone. Even I was amazed to see it. This is how it happens — I realized everything through doing young adults ministry to the point of receiving a lifetime’s worth of answers. Nearly all the evangelism trainings that exist today are things I received grace on and saw back then. So this is the last thing that happened, but it’s all a young adults story.
This is what happened at the very end — the church session gathered and worried about something. Long ago, this is what the elders said. Pastor Kim had taken all the young adults out with him. And now it’s even more serious. These hundreds of disciples are 100% Pastor Kwang-Soo Ryu’s disciples — it’s more serious than before — if Pastor Kwang-Soo Ryu leaves, they’ll all follow him out — if we want to save the church even now, we should not put Pastor Kwang-Soo Ryu in charge of the young adults’ group but give him something else. Moved by that, our senior pastor decided to do just that. One day I was called to the session meeting, and they told me that since I had revived the young adults’ group so much, I should stop doing that now and go instead to Anchang Village, an unauthorized settlement, and go save the shamans there. I know exactly why they did that. But it doesn’t matter. It has nothing to do with me. I can do 300% there too. There, I came to confirm an unbeliever’s condition that would change the course of my life. If the church hadn’t done that, I would never once have gone to evangelize to shamans. I wouldn’t actually have known what it means to be demon-possessed, or what it means to have a spiritual problem. There, I discovered five types of unbeliever conditions. The sixth and final discovery, I made after coming to Yeongdo. God worked completely. There’s no need to worry. Just save them. The reason I’ve been telling my own story at length on purpose is to show that it’s not difficult. It’s actually easier than you think.
Now then, the person who did this (300%) most representatively was Joseph (Genesis 45:1-5). And the young adult who did this most representatively was David (1 Samuel 17:1-47). What both of these people have in common is that they changed the world in a place where there was truly no one to help them.
Introduction — So if we look at Joseph and David, don’t you already know them well?
1) Joseph — WIOS, OURS
You especially know Joseph well, don’t you? He didn’t do anything else. You all keep misunderstanding this. Just a little while ago, before coming here, I had a short meeting with our young adult Seo, who plays the violin. So your standard is probably that becoming a famous musician, winning many awards, and gaining fame means success. Of course, that’s not wrong. But that person’s life is too short, unable to escape spiritual problems, and it ends up being just one thing. You must achieve world evangelization, no less. And you must think far ahead, even into old age. You must even think about the time after you are gone. We hold that certain a covenant. So Joseph unconditionally did this. He had the WIO system. Simply put, this is the 300% by which young adults view today. What else is it? It is a system of the only way, uniqueness, and re-creation. This is the 300% of today that young adults must hold onto.
2) David
Now then, if we briefly look at David, what was he like?
(1) In Psalm 5:3, David was a man of the morning.
(2) In Psalm 17:3, David was a man of prayer who produced many works at night.
(3) In Psalm 23:1, he was a person who, in the midst of many scenes of death during the day, confessed that the Lord, who never wavers, is my shepherd.
Just with this alone, he completely brought about a work of history. Young adults must do this without fail. So don’t make it complicated. To do this, you need to have a certain eye. What kind of eye? The eye that asks: what is the covenant I must hold onto at this retreat? What is the 300% work at this retreat? All you need to do is find that. The answer will follow along with the rest, so that eye needs to open. I did 300% in order to hold onto and save little children, and one day this ended up being connected to world evangelization. Isn’t that amazing? It’s not so much that I did something in particular — this God has firmly held our whole life in His hands, hasn’t He? If difficulties come to you, we may feel difficulty in our hearts. But that is exactly when the greatest opportunity is created. That is what 300% means. Do you understand what I mean?
3) Answer, renewal, opportunity
When I went out into the field, I encountered problems. I quickly looked for the answer first. That is 300%. And we have so much conflict, don’t we? But even most pastors are mostly caught up in this kind of conflict with one another. Quickly find the point of renewal. It may look like nothing, but these things are 300%. You must not just wait. If a crisis comes and you just wait, it will be too hard to bear, won’t it be? No — if a crisis comes and I just sit there enduring it, it will be too hard. Find a definite opportunity. This too is an answer. There are three answers, and finding a definite opportunity is one of them. From today, our young adults must begin like this. What prayer did I pray today as I came here for this gathering? Without these young adults right now, the church dies, right? As long as you exist right now, the church can be saved. You will worry about many things regarding the future. Please, do not do that.
Main — Now then, let’s look at David for a moment. What Joseph could not accomplish, David accomplished a great deal of.
What did David do? ① Daily prayer 300%, ② calling 300%, ③ today’s event 300% — you don’t need to worry about the rest. This is Psalm 78:70-72. What is calling 300%? It’s 1 Samuel 16:1-13. It’s 1 Samuel 17:1-47. This is what happened to David in his young adult years.
1. Daily prayer 300% → “Psalm 78:70-72”
1) Poem (Word)
As you know, many psalms have already come out of this, and if you look at those psalms, David was already holding onto many words. In other words, he was holding onto an exact covenant. What is an exact covenant? These parts (in the introduction) are the exact covenant. If you hold onto only the exact covenant, the future will certainly be taken care of without you having to worry.
2) Praise
There, already, as a shepherd, he offered praise. To what degree was his praise? To the point that evil spirits would leave.
3) Skill
There, already, a skill — nearly 300% — had come out. As a shepherd throwing stones, what was he preparing? It is clearly recorded. If you look at Psalm 78…
4) Nation
While he was a shepherd, God was already cultivating in him the strength to save the nation. At this time, God had already planted it in him. Right now, God has already planted it in you. There is no need to worry.
2. Calling 300% → “1 Samuel 16:1-13”
1) Covenant — Mission
At last, this David receives an important covenant as a man of God. This is when the mission was given. It appears. The exact word of God that would be fulfilled came out.
2) The Ark of the Covenant
Look at this moment. Everything important came out here. The Ark of the Covenant was mentioned, wasn’t it? During Samuel’s lifetime, the greatest event was the Ark of the Covenant.
3) The Temple
The Temple was mentioned, wasn’t it?
4) Oil
And then oil was poured on David’s head. He would become king in the future.
5) Power
From that day on, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him — from this point, power began to appear. This is all that’s needed. What he would do from then on, we cannot know. This is enough. If today you have held onto the exact covenant and grasped your mission, that’s it — that’s all. Never be deceived. If you are deceived now, you will end up like the adults. You must not be deceived now.
3. Event 300% → “1 Samuel 17:1-47”
1) Event — Israel’s crisis
Before going out into the world, an event occurs. There’s no need to worry about anything, and yet an event occurs. This is when your own timetable comes. A crisis came upon the whole nation of Israel, didn’t it? As you know, for forty days, in the Valley of Elah, Goliath mocked Israel, who believed in the Lord God. His height was about six cubits and a span — about 2 meters 90 centimeters — and, knowing his own strength, he said not to waste time and to fight him one-on-one. That was a huge crisis. The condition he set was: if you defeat me, we Philistines will surrender; if you cannot defeat me, Israel will surrender — a condition like that. Trusting in his own strength, this man used a strategy of sorts. The problem was that not a single person could step forward. Because they were losing…
2) 1 Samuel 17:18
It’s nothing special. At this point David was sent on an errand. He went on the errand and heard it. He heard Goliath’s words insulting the Lord and insulting Israel. When his father sent him, he told him to be sure to go, deliver the gifts the father had given, and bring back proof — and while doing that, David heard everything Goliath was saying. The opportunity had come. He made his decision. In a certain sense, this was no ordinary event. David spoke. He spoke to his brothers. He said he had to fight Goliath.
3) 1 Samuel 17:20-28
So his brothers got angry and cursed at him. They said he was originally somewhat arrogant, very wicked, and poured out curses like that. That appears in 1 Samuel 17:20-28. At this point, this is what David said: “Is there not a cause?”
4) 1 Samuel 17:32-37
So then, when David said he would fight Goliath, that word reached King Saul’s ears, didn’t it? At that point, what he said to King Saul appears. Very important words appear there, from verses 32-37. Saul asked him, since he was just a boy, how he could fight against that warrior. He said there was no armor that fit him — how could he fight? — but David said clearly, the Lord delivered me from the lion and the bear; I believe He will deliver me from this man who insults the Lord; and he asked to be sent. David was certain. His skill, too, was tremendous — skilled enough to strike a lion or a bear in a vital spot with a stone. And David firmly held God’s covenant. What’s important is that he had already been promised he would be established as king in the future — so what does it mean that he went out to this battle? There is an incredibly representative character in this. You are the representative figures who will fight against this age. Do not be afraid. Stop misunderstanding again and again. Do not be afraid. It isn’t just about forcing yourself to be brave, is it?
5) 1 Samuel 17:43-49
This is 1 Samuel 17:43-49. This is what he said standing before Goliath. He said something very important. What’s even more important is that when Goliath saw David coming, he cursed him in the name of his gods. This is not just idle talk. Even now, the spiritual battle is exactly the same. At that point, what David said was the opposite response to that. As Goliath cursed him in the name of his gods, David said that he came in the name of the Lord of Hosts — that was his answer to it. As Goliath cursed him in the name of his gods, David said: you come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord, whom you have insulted — he said many very, very important things. Goliath was no match for David. Please believe this. The forces of Satan are no match for you. Believe this firmly. He may look terribly frightening, but that’s all it is. On your path there will be many threats, things like Goliath. Just like David, don’t even flinch an eyebrow. You are destined to win. David won easily, didn’t he? Even if he fights again, he wins again. It’s not even a contest. Satan is no match for you — it’s not even a contest. Grasp this firmly. Darkness cannot overcome light. Falsehood can never overcome truth. The things of this world can never overcome the gospel.
The conclusion has already come out, hasn’t it? So then, you are young adults. You must open your eyes to see church history. What has happened in church history? Again and again, efforts to eliminate the gospel keep appearing. It gets eliminated. And when it does, a very convincing excuse is given. An excuse is given so that no one can object to it. “We must keep the feasts and laws of Israel handed down from our ancestors” — that’s how it goes. And so the gospel was lost. That is Satan’s aim. But the one who realized that gospel and carried it forward was Joseph. A work of history breaks out right away. Of course a work of history happens. Because of Joseph, the world was saved. Then the gospel is lost again. This is the battle. The gospel was lost once again. The people of Israel were turned into slaves. Pharaoh used his cunning. Israel kept growing stronger, so he thought, we must eliminate them — so when baby boys were born, they were killed, and the men who remained were made slaves. That was Pharaoh’s far-sighted scheme. This is when a man named Moses appeared. Go and offer a blood sacrifice without any explanation — that’s a command they couldn’t understand. The church, in whatever way, keeps producing strategies to keep you from knowing the gospel. They defeated Egypt and won the victory. Countless miracles took place. And because of that, the gospel was lost again. You saw so many miracles, didn’t you? And because of that, it was lost again. We are a great nation, why? We came out of Egypt — good. We crossed the Red Sea, we saw ourselves cross the Jordan, we tore down Jericho too — good. Because Satan knows that if he takes only Christ away from you, he has taken everything, he kept at it, and so Israel became captives once more. Isn’t that tragic? Then they became a vassal state of Rome. Later they even became a wandering, scattered people. In the end, it is through you, the 0.1% who hold the gospel, that God is accomplishing world evangelization.
Conclusion: “Save them, unconditionally!”
This is the answer young adults must remember. Save them, unconditionally. Save what?
1) The church
Save the part you’ve been entrusted with. Save the church, unconditionally. There is no reason needed.
2) People
And you must save people, unconditionally. You must remember this without fail. Save people. Young adults…
3) The field
Wherever our young adults go, save the field there. Looking at the young adult years of the seven Remnant, every single one of them, without exception, saved the field unconditionally. They saved people. And they saved the church. You are the main figures who will save these three things.
Joseph became prime minister at your age. But no matter how much you look at Scripture and check the books, who would have been most afraid when Joseph suddenly became prime minister? Joseph suddenly became prime minister. Who would have been most terrified? Potiphar. Right? Who would have been even more terrified than Potiphar? Potiphar’s wife. They must have trembled, right? But according to Scripture, Joseph never once tormented Potiphar or Potiphar’s wife. His brothers, seeing this, were shocked. They trembled. This is what he said at that time: it was not you who sent me, not you who sold me, but God who sent me ahead of you. In the midst of that crisis, David proved that salvation is not in the sword, but in the hand of the Lord. Hold onto this conviction. The answer will follow.
Sometimes I find it amazing to see a plane carrying as many as three hundred people flying through the air. When it shakes while flying, I pray so hard that prayer just pours out of me. How does it rise into the sky? Of course it was made through science, but it was something someone thought of first that was then made real. Someone had the thought that they had to build an airplane. The firm conviction you hold right now creates the future. You must remember this without fail. So the moment you grasp the exact covenant, it has already begun. There is no need to worry about anything at all. Young adults will have many worries. But once you step outside, it isn’t like that. Reality — that’s exactly what deceives you.
Say nothing else, just open this eye (300%). And when you go out, open this eye (the conclusion) as well. A work of history will happen without fail. Before becoming a leading figure of the three eras, a young adult must first make himself 300%. This afternoon, I will confirm once more with you the covenant you must firmly hold onto. I will pray now.
Prayer
We give thanks to God. We give glory to God, who has called young adults who will save our church. We give thanks to God, who has called our young adults, who will surely save the field. Today, open our eyes so that we will not be deceived at all. Let today be the day we grasp the covenant that today is the greatest day. Let today be a day of thanksgiving, and a day of praise. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.