Prayer Journal: December 11, 2025
08. Mar. 2025 Core Training Service
Scripture Reading: Exodus 16:1-12
▣ Introduction
Thank you. Our world churches are worshiping together. Right now Immanuel Seoul, Ulsan, Changwon, Geoje, and several other regions are worshiping together. It would be good, in consultation with headquarters, to prepare things so that as much as possible we can all see each other’s worship in real time. During this worship, it should develop so that Seoul, Changwon, Ulsan, and other regions appear together, those abroad can join and be seen, and we can also show them what God is doing here. Then worship will become very vivid and alive to the field. Secular broadcasters are already doing all of this. And when I look into some other strange organizations, they are running broadcasting systems that surpass KBS. I will not name the group, but it is very advanced. Our church keeps lagging behind.
1. Hardship, sickness, poverty
So today, think about this once. What happens when you suffer too much? While you are living your life, when you face severe hardship, sickness, or things like that. There are also people who are extremely poor, who have nothing to eat.
2. The 10% who live well, the 90% who struggle (50% try, 40% give up)
According to statistics, whether in developed countries or developing countries, it is the same: about 10% of people live well. But 90% say life is hard. Even among people who live in America, which has the most money, 90% are struggling. They are struggling to such a degree that they cannot even give offering properly. Almost all are like that. Among them, 40% have just given up. It is the same for students. Only about 10% say, “I enjoy studying.” Ninety percent say, “Studying is hard.” Among them, 50% are still trying, but 40% have just given up.
3. The Israelites who again began to complain while walking the wilderness path
The Israelites were walking the wilderness path, and it had now been 75 days. The entire assembly once again began to complain. They even said this: “In Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, did we not eat meat well? At that time we ate all we wanted.” The whole congregation rose up. And they said this: “It would have been better if we had died there in Egypt. Why have you brought us out into this wilderness to die?” Such complaints began to explode.
▣ Main – In the midst of hardship
We can face times like this as we live. But in today’s passage there are some very important answers you must receive. Their thinking was completely mistaken.
1. Restore what was promised – When God called you, He had already prepared and promised everything
First, when God called you, He had already promised everything. It is just that they had not discovered it. “Restore what was promised.”
1) What has already been promised to you
What has already been promised and blessed is upon you.
(1) Exodus 3:7–20 – “Tell him to let My people go so that they may offer a blood sacrifice.”
In Exodus chapter 3, God clearly spoke to Moses. “I have seen the misery of Israel and I have heard their cry.” And He said, “Go to Pharaoh and speak. Speak to the people: ‘The Lord has said, Let My people go so that they may offer a blood sacrifice.’” Moses said, “The Israelites will not listen.” God answered, “Say that the Lord has spoken. Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘I will be with you with My mighty hand.’” He said, “That will be the sign.” He spoke very clearly.
(2) Joshua 1:3 – “I have given you the land of Canaan.”
To Joshua He did not simply say, “Go to the land of Canaan.” What did He say? “I have given you the land of Canaan.”
(3) Genesis 13:14–18 – “I have given it to you and your descendants forever.”
To Abraham He did not say, “Do this and that.” He said, “Look north, south, east, and west, and walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I have given it to you and your descendants forever.” What does this mean? Right now, in the wilderness, the Israelites are completely mistaken. They must hold onto what was promised.
(4) Exodus 4:1–23 – “Take the staff in your hand and go before Pharaoh. I will perform My wonders.”
God said to Moses, “What is that in your hand?” He only had a staff. “Take that and go. Go before Pharaoh. I will perform wonders through you.” It was already promised.
2. If you fall into unbelief and complaint, your physical eyes become bright and your spiritual eyes become dark – the Israelites, Adam and Eve
But everywhere the Israelites went, they kept complaining. If you keep doing that, your spiritual eyes become dark. When you keep falling into unbelief and complaint, the most serious thing is that your physical eyes become bright, but your spiritual eyes become dark. After Adam and Eve disobeyed, their physical eyes became bright. They realized they were naked. But their spiritual eyes went completely dark. That is death.
3. God who fulfills exactly as He promised
(1) The ten plagues – The day of the blood sacrifice, the day of Exodus
So God turned the Nile and all the waters of Egypt into blood. Pharaoh was shocked. “Please quickly restore this.” When it was restored, he changed again. That is how Satan is, and that is how human nature is. Once things are restored, they go back to their old ways. So God sent the plague of frogs. Frogs came up everywhere. Then the plagues continued—gnats, flies everywhere. Up to that point Pharaoh was not moved. Then God began to strike the livestock. And He began to destroy their crops. In simple terms, it became an economic disaster. Only then did Pharaoh call Moses, “Please stop this. Go. But do not go too far. Go, offer sacrifices, and come back.” Once it stopped, he changed again. Later, even when locusts came and ate all the grain, even when thick darkness came over the land, he did not yield. But when the firstborn were struck, he surrendered. On the day they applied the blood and offered the sacrifice, they came out. It was exactly as He had promised. Already, when God called you, He had promised to take full responsibility for you. Right? But we keep being deceived.
(2) When crossing the Red Sea – The Egyptian army destroyed – “See the salvation the Lord will accomplish.”
And what happened at the Red Sea? God said, “Go and camp by the sea. Pitch your tents there. I will bury all the Egyptian army in the Red Sea.” He hardened Pharaoh’s heart and sent the army into the sea. It was all promised. Moses knew this, so he said, “Stand firm and you will see the salvation the Lord will accomplish for you today.”
4. When you face hardship
There will be times when you face hardship. Students may face hardship in their studies. You may face hardship in your work. Your life itself may be difficult.
(1) If you misunderstand, your physical eyes become bright and only your spiritual eyes become dark. When God’s Word is not seen, the future is not seen and you only see your present reality, so you go down a wrong path.
At such times, people misunderstand. In misunderstanding, their physical eyes become bright. “Look, back in Egypt, didn’t we eat plenty of meat?” That is a true statement. “We sat by the pots of meat and ate as much as we wanted. When the overseers were not watching, we sometimes stole and ate, did we not? If only we had died there, we would not suffer like this. Why did you bring us out here into this wilderness to die?” They were speaking very logically. They attacked Moses with very sophisticated words. This is what people whose spiritual eyes are dark do. How can they attack so precisely like that? “When we were in Egypt, did we not eat all the meat we wanted?” They stirred up the whole assembly. Today’s Scripture says, “the whole congregation.” Then only their spiritual eyes went dark. Now they could not see the future. When you cannot see the future, your present becomes completely dark. You no longer see God’s Word. Some people then go down a wrong path. Some people commit suicide. Some commit crimes. They fall into things. God had promised, “You will go to the land of Canaan.” He had promised, “I will bring you out of Egypt.” That is the first point.
(2) Restore what was promised – First open your spiritual eyes – The covenant does not change.
Restore what was promised. First open your spiritual eyes. If their spiritual eyes had been open, they would not have spoken that way. “Even if we die on this wilderness path, it is okay. Somehow we must live and we must go for the sake of our future generations.” That is at least a somewhat sober statement. That is what a more normal person would say. “When we were in Egypt, did we not eat all the meat we wanted?” That is a true statement, but that is not the kind of thing ordinary simpletons say—these are clever words. “Even if we die on the way, let us go.” That is a more normal statement, but even that is not the correct one. The right confession is, “Let us go to the land the Lord has promised.” The covenant does not change.
The first thing you must hold onto when you face hardship is this: restore what was promised. So open your spiritual eyes. Open the eyes that see the future.
2. Find what God has prepared – “Then you will know that I am the Lord your God” (verses 6–7, 12)
Second, in every hardship, what does God make you discover? He says, “Then you will know that I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt. Do not worry. In the evening I will give you meat, and in the morning I will give you bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt.” That is verse 6. And in verse 7, “In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord.” Verse 7 says that, and verse 12 says, “Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” What does this mean? He will make them completely realize what God has prepared—“You will know that I am the Lord your God.” When you truly want to pray in the midst of serious hardship, human strength is not enough.
1) Joseph – A witness before Potiphar, his brothers, and Pharaoh that the Lord was with him
This is what Joseph, who had suffered great hardship, confessed. What did he say? If an ordinary person said this, we might take it lightly. But Joseph said it as a witness: “The Lord was with me.” He showed this to Potiphar. He said the same to his brothers: “The Lord sent me ahead of you.” He said the same before Pharaoh: “The Lord will make the meaning of the dream known.” You cannot stop a person like this. When our Remnants truly succeed, they can say, “The Lord…” When we feel ashamed, we cannot speak that way. But when we have victory, we can say, “Because the Lord was with me.”
The purpose of giving hardship in the wilderness is not only to restore the covenant, but also to restore what God has given. The most important thing is this: “I will show you that I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, who lets you see My glory every day.”
2. The evangelist’s confession – Seeing that God was with him through his mother (his mother’s prayer)
May this become your covenant.
As I always say, I did not learn faith from my father. My father always said what was right, so I could not learn faith from him. He always argued, always insisted on what was right, and he was very diligent. He would get up at 4 a.m. every morning. He was amazing. It would have been fine if he got up by himself, but he would wake me up at 4 a.m. too. It was exhausting. And at 4 a.m. he would go out. He was amazing. He thought I was studying until that time, but of course as soon as he left, I went to sleep. He was extremely diligent, but I could not learn faith from him.
I learned faith through my mother. I learned, “Ah, truly God is with us.” I really learned that. “Truly God is with us.” The entire neighborhood persecuted us for believing in Jesus. In those days it was like that. People had nothing better to do. We were believing in God, so why should our relatives persecute us? If it were now, I would say something, but I was young, so I stayed quiet. The people of the village persecuted us. It was ridiculous. So we children saw all of that. With no husband, raising four children—what do you think that was like? Yet God never once allowed us to become seriously ill. That was a miracle. It was my mother’s prayer. We never once experienced hardship because of money. That too was my mother’s prayer. At that time, I did not know anything about prayer.
3. The reason God leads through the wilderness – to show that He is with you
You must show the evidence that God is with you. Right? That is why He leads you through the wilderness, through what looks like hardship.
(1) Moses
So this was Moses’ confession as well.
(2) Joshua and Caleb – “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Joshua 1:5).
Even more importantly, this was also Joshua’s confession as he was to go forward. The next generation saw this. God said to Joshua, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” In other words, “You saw how I was with Moses while you served him as his assistant, did you not? In that same way I will be with you.” God gave that promise. Amazing things took place. This was true for Caleb as well.
(3) The covenant you possess will be passed on to your posterity and to others
The covenant you possess will be passed on to your posterity and to others. The fruit will be even greater then. You received and passed it on without fully realizing, but when your posterity rises holding that covenant, the works become great. In some ways, the first generation suffered, but the second and third generations see the works. Do not miss this.
When God called you, He had already prepared everything. That is the first point. The second is that although it looks like you are walking through wilderness and hardship, you are actually discovering what God has already prepared.
3. He gives what you must carry into eternity – The reason for forty years in the wilderness
Third and last: Why did they have to pass through the wilderness? Why did they take forty years for a journey that could have been made in a week? This is even more important. Whenever you face hardship, always think of these three things. First, “God has given me a promise.” Second, “In this field, God is proving that He is the Lord.” Then what is the third thing you must hold firmly today? “Why does He give hardship? Why does He make us go through the wilderness? Why forty years for a path that is less than a week?”
1) The test God gives – Exodus from darkness
Verse 4 today explains this: God says He is testing us.
There are two kinds of “tests.” There is the test Satan gives, and the test God gives. The “test” Satan gives is not called “test (test)” in English. Satan gives trials to make us fall. He is trying to make us fall. In school, when teachers give a test, it is not to make students fall; it is to increase their ability. That is why we call that a “test.” If the teacher never gave a test, could the students’ ability grow? So the word “test” is used in that sense.
What kind of test is this? It is good and important to come out of Egypt, but more important than Exodus from Egypt is Exodus from darkness. He will make them realize this “Exodus from darkness.” He will convey the blessing of being completely set free from darkness by God’s power.
2. The three feasts – Passover (the day you are set free by the blood of the Lamb), Pentecost (God with us by His power), Feast of Ingathering (guidance with the background of the throne)
Naturally they must pass through the wilderness. God will make them know the three feasts: On the day they applied the blood of the Lamb, they were set free. God will be with them with the power of Pentecost. He will guide them with the background of the throne in the Feast of Ingathering. This is certain. He will make them know this. It looked like hardship, but it was not. For those who perish, it is indeed hardship. But for those who hold the covenant, it is not hardship. Time is needed.
3. The ark of the covenant – The stone tablets (God’s unchanging eternal Word), the jar of manna, Aaron’s budding staff (God’s Word of life)
Even more, He had them make the ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were three items. Right? There were the stone tablets engraved with God’s eternal, unchanging Word. Today He gave manna and quail. There was also the jar of manna. Aaron led worship, but Aaron himself was not the important one. Worship is what is important. The Levites led worship, but the tribe of Levi was not what mattered. Right? God’s Word is what matters. So when Aaron’s staff was planted in the ground, it produced buds. “Look, this is what happens with God’s Word of life.” That staff was placed inside the ark. God was making them see all of this.
4. Tabernacle-centered life – teaching worship and prayer as the secret to victory in forty years of wilderness
That was not the end. He made them know what was inside the tabernacle. For forty years He taught them the secret to victory through tabernacle-centered life: worship and prayer. Right?
5. Deuteronomy – Pass this to the next generation so that it becomes their imprint, root, and nature (Deuteronomy 6:4–9).
That was not all. He completely imprinted it on them. That is Deuteronomy. The name “Deuteronomy” means to imprint. Just as when you engrave (申) and (命), it is set there permanently.
God had them enjoy three amazing things during the forty years in the wilderness. Since He had already given them the covenant to take complete responsibility when He called them, they only needed to find it. “In every place, they will know that the Lord is God.” So He prepared manna, quail, and many other things. Those things themselves were not the main point. The truly important things were separate. Right? “You have been set free from darkness.” What are the three feasts? What really is the ark of the covenant? Why is everything tabernacle-centered? He was teaching them this. Of course they had to learn it. “Pass this on to your posterity.” So at the end, in Deuteronomy, He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your strength. Love the Lord your God with all your heart. Have you not seen everything until now? Pass what you have seen to your children. Tie it on your hands.” You always see your hands. “Write it on the doorframes, so they will see. Put it where they can see it even when they lie down. Let them see it as they walk along the road.” In other words, let it become their imprint, root, and nature.
You must hold onto this blessing. Whenever you face hardship, hold onto the promise. Hold onto what God has prepared. Even more importantly, He is already giving you what you must carry into eternity.
▣ Conclusion – The answers we are to receive
What are the answers you are to receive today?
1. Restore the three feasts
Restore the three feasts. They already had them.
2. The miracles in the wilderness – restore evangelism
Why did He perform miracles in the wilderness? To restore evangelism.
3. Tabernacle-centered life – restore the three courtyards, the three-day weekend age, and the holy meditation age
Why tabernacle-centered life? Prayer is important, but it is to restore the three courtyards.
The Bible emphasizes worship so many times. It is to restore the three-day weekend age. The main purpose of the Sabbath points to the three-day weekend age. Why did He tell them so insistently to teach this to their children? To restore the holy meditation age. With this, you go out into the world.
※ Persecutors, attackers, great powers, dictators, and the wicked have never truly won.
Now open your eyes and let us take a look. Up to now, persecutors and attackers have never won—not once. Right? Great powers have never truly won. This is the evidence.
In the past, when you went into the mountains, there were rabbits and tigers. Who is stronger? There is no need to ask. The tigers catch and eat the rabbits. Then by now, the mountains should be full of tigers. Right? But there are no tigers, and there are many rabbits. Even in nature it is like this. Not once has a war hero truly been blessed. Not once has a nation that attacked others truly won. Never. When enough time passes, they have lost. Right? If we cannot realize this, it becomes very serious. God’s covenant does not change. If the attacking nations do not realize this, the nations they attacked later grow even greater.
When Martin Luther proclaimed the gospel, the powerful medieval church—the old church, the Roman Catholic Church—attacked him. But as time passed, what did God do? He made Catholicism into a heresy in people’s eyes and made the Protestant church larger. We must not misunderstand—at that time God used America to raise Protestantism. To grow the Protestant church. Now Catholicism has lost to Protestantism, because the Protestant church is larger. Things passed on like this, but not once has the wicked side truly won.
Nearly all dictators who killed many people ended up committing suicide. Right? Nietzsche even said, “God is dead.” He was a pastor’s son. He even studied theology. And yet Nietzsche said, “God is dead.” He himself went insane and died in a mental hospital, screaming. In broad daylight he would scream that it was dark.
Once I went to Dong-A University, and the Christian student groups had probably written this. There was a piece of paper posted that said, “God is dead. – Nietzsche.” And underneath it, someone else had written, “Nietzsche is dead. – God.” Which one is more correct?
Unbelief can never overcome the covenant. Today, throughout the day, recover these three while you pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer. May today truly be the most gracious day. May it become a new day of grace, a day of gaining strength, and a day filled with God. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.