Today I would like to share the grace of God under the title, "The Life of Prayer and Thanksgiving."
Today's Scripture shows what Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Ħħ When we face various problems in life, we should not worry or be afraid but pray by going before God and also give thanks to Him. The life of prayer and thanksgiving is our fundamental life as Christians. No matter what happens, we must commit everything to God; this applies to everybody to put into practice.

Genesis 3:17 says, "To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life."

You know, the ground is the earth, isn't it? Wherever we go on earth, all are cursed. Everyone on earth is cursed and lives in pain as a descendant of Adam. What shall we do when we face various problems and troubles in life? We must commit them to God by prayer.

1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

As the Lord cares for us, we should leave everything to Him.

Matthew 7:11 says, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

God is a good God. Therefore, we ought to acknowledge that God is always a good God and cherish it in our hearts and give thanks to Him because He rebukes us for saying how God doesn't care for His own children as even the evil one cares for his own children. As we live with this good God, we must give thanks to Him in everything.

James 5:13 says, "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise."

Those who suffer are invited before God to pray. Don't be discouraged or give up, but come before God and receive His overflowing grace. "Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise." Therefore, God is sending us His invitation to prayer. Only when we come before Him with His invitation to prayer and begin to pray then God will work for us. To see the work of God, we must come before Him with our problems. The Spirit of God will take what we humans can't solve and change it.

In Luke Chapter 18, Jesus talked about the parable of a widow and an unjust judge. He said to them that they should always pray and not give up. Those who do not pray will be frustrated when they face troubles while those who always pray will overcome discouragement even in difficulties. Prayer brings victory.

Psalm 10:17 says, "You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry."

What does it mean that one is humble before God? To be humble before Him shows that one doesn't rely on human power or means but trusts on God only, coming through prayer! When Zerah the Cushite marched out against Asa king of Judah with a vast army of one million, Asa didn't come against his enemies relying on any human power but trusted God only. He prayed to God as follows,

2 Chronicles 14:11 says, "Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, 'LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you.'"

He prayed earnestly, saying, "I am weak and helpless. Oh, God, You are the only One who helps me." Then God answered his prayer and gave him a great victory over his enemies. The Lord always helps us when we come before Him with desperate prayer. If we do not pray, He won't help us at all. When we face difficulties, we must pray to God to help us through. When a vast army of one million came against Asa, he couldn't even think to resist them with his own tiny army. However, he worked up his courage to tell God about his desperate situation so He listened to his prayer and let him win the battle.

Next, we must live a life to commit everything we need in life to God with thanksgiving. Those who have real faith can give thanksgiving to God no matter what happens.

Psalm 23:4 says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."


Thanksgiving is what really matters in our life of faith. Thanksgiving is not conditional but a matter of faith. Those who believe in God must give thanks to Him in whatever situation they may be in.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 says, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

We can be joyful in God even if we have nothing and are empty-handed because God is our God. Even if we are empty-handed, we still have everything. It is because it is our hands that are empty but God still has everything with Him. Through Jesus Christ, God becomes our Father. God is our real Father in heaven. Therefore, when we rely on the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, God makes us born again and He becomes our Father. You must be born again to become God's children. Then He will take good care of us. God says, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven care for you!" When we give thanks and praise to God, He will give us dreams and hope. Even if we are discouraged and distressed, as long as we have thanksgiving and praise in our hearts, God will plant hope and dreams there. If these are planted in our hearts, they will bear beautiful fruit.

Psalm 42:5 says, "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior."

When we are distressed and painful, God gives us hope and dream. When we have dream and believe it and confess it with our mouths, the miracles of the Holy Spirit will come. We Christians do not believe in a mere religion. We do the work like farmers do, in our life of faith. We dream dreams and believe them and confess them with our mouths. We also fast and pray and even go up to the prayer mountain and pray earnestly. Then we can bear much fruit of faith.

Nonetheless, we must let our words be heard when we give thanks to God. God does not recognize our silent prayers without any mouth speaking. God wants us to pray with our mouth confession so as for Him and us to hear.

Psalm 50:23 says, "He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."

Here God wants us to express our thanksgiving with spoken words. Famous English poet William Wordsworth said, "If we do not express our thankful heart, it is like wrapping our present but not giving it." We must express our thanksgiving with our mouths. Our mouth confession has mighty power and furthermore our thanksgiving and praise to God has mightier power! If we unconsciously speak negative words, everything around us will become negative. If we always speak positively to be heard, there will be positive fruit in our lives. We must confess before God to be heard to Him and us.

When we pray and give thanks to God, the peace of mind will guard our hearts and minds. If we just keep our hearts and minds within ourselves, God won't answer us. We must not neglect to confess before God with our mouths instead of keeping our hearts desires and thoughts within us. When I first started my ministry, I didn't pray with my mouth speaking or confess to myself. Then God taught me, "My ear isn't too dull to hear. I always hear what you pray, but your faithful prayer should be heard to Me and you." Since then I have always prayed like this, "Father God, please heal me. Yonggi Cho, God will heal you!" I pray to God and confess to me with my mouth speaking. You should pray with mouth speaking. Then your words come out to guard your hearts and minds. When we pray and give thanks to God, the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. When various doubts begin to arouse in our hearts, God will hear our thoughts and solve our problems.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

When we pray much before God and our disturbing hearts and minds become calm and peace of mind and joy remain there, it will be the sign of God's answer.

Proverbs 16:32 says, Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city."

It is very hard to control our temper. That better a patient man than a warrior means that it is so important and hard to control one's temper. However, our hearts are so weak and vulnerable that we can't control worry, anxiety, anger or hatred on our own.

Philippians 4:7 says, And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Here the word, "guard" is used when military men defend their castle wall. It means that God guards us from the devil who tries to penetrate our hearts and minds. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit works through our thoughts, dreams, faith, and mouth confession.
Only when we confess our problems, the Holy Spirit works to fulfill our words through dreams and faith in them. While we are living in the world as God's chosen children, we should always be positive, have dreams and faith, confess with our mouths; then God will make us bear much fruit.

When we have the spirituality of the fourth dimension in our hearts and live with the fourth dimension, there is nothing we fear in this world. With the spirituality of the fourth dimension in our hearts we must move forward with prayer. Then victories will come to us one by one.