The Power of Pray
Prayer that has Power
Daniel 9:1- 11:1 (excl. 9:24-27)
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Good Morning.
We are going to be finishing up the final 4 chapters of Daniel over these next 2 weeks.
There are 2 more visits that Daniel has with messengers of God to give detailed prophecy regarding events that are important to Israel and to us and that have some very specific information regarding the end times, so you will definitely want to be here next week, if you have any interest at all in the end times events that are to come.
But this morning we are going to start in Daniel 9 ( you can turn there)
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I want to start by looking at Daniel’s devotional life and his prayers and consider how these played a part in him experiencing the powerful work that God did in and through Him and in the powerful revelations he received.
So, let’s start out and just read the beginning of chapter 9 together.
Daniel 9:1-4a
9 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:
Pray
Ok, I want to get this chapter in its proper context.
We start out learning that this is taking place in the first year of Darius’ reign so this might be around the time of Daniel being thrown to the Lion’s.
If you recall, Daniel along with 2 others, have been put in charge to administrate the kingdom, but Daniel shows himself so superior, that the King is about to make him the sole ruler of Babylon under the king himself. The other leaders don’t like this, so they devise a plan that makes it illegal to pray.
Daniel doesn’t obey that law and prays to God anyway, but God ends up rescuing Him and he is put in charge of Babylon.
Stress & Responsibilities of Leading
Now for those of you who run a business or are in management, or just try to run your house day in and day out, you know that when you are in charge of something, there is a lot of responsibility and along with that can come a lot of stress!
I know for me, I am sometimes wondering how I am going to get everything done and when the load is really heavy, I have to confess the first thing to go is my prayer and devotional life.
But if you recall back to Daniel during chapter 6, he made time to pray 3 times a day.
And not only that, we learn here that he has been studying the Scriptures.
Daniel 9:2 says he “understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet”
How could he fit those things into his busy schedule?
Well, Daniel had a view of life and had ordered his life and priorities so that he knew God and drew close to God. And in the passage this morning I want us to see several things that Daniel did, and that we can do, that I believe helped him to experience the power of God.
And the first thing we learn about Daniel here is that he had a desire to learn the truth of what God had already revealed.
If we are going to experience the power of God through prayer, then we need to
Desire the Truth
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Now, I don’t think any of us have a desire to believe lies, but Daniel’s desire for the truth caused him to take action and sacrifice other things so that he might find and know the truth.
Daniel knew God was the source of truth, so he spent time seeking God through prayer and studying God’s words given through the prophets.
In fact we learn in these first verses that he was reading some of what Jeremiah had prophesied. What exactly was he studying to gain this understanding of God’s truth?
Well, it was most likely what we know as Jeremiah 29. Listen to these words from Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, 10-14
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1 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. …
So Jeremiah 29 gives us the words of God that He wanted the exiles to know and understand. It goes on in verse 4 and says:
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4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." …
Wow. This really gives some insight into why Daniel was such a valuable servant to the kings of Babylon. His goal was that they might prosper in obedience to the Lord’s command and that the exiles, of which he is one, might prosper as well.
Then it goes on in verse 10 and says:
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10 This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
So Daniel was studying what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah and he realizes that the 70 years of the exile were almost upon them and he is doing just what the Scripture says. He is seeking God and calling upon God in prayer.
Daniel desired to know the truth and takes action to find it and obey it.
Do you have that kind of desire for truth?
Like I said, I don’t believe that any of us have a desire to believe lies, but do we have a desire for truth that will seek it out and live it out? Do we have a desire that causes us to act in ways that will help us grow in truth? Daniel sure did.
We see that even more in Daniel 10:1-3 and 12,
Daniel 10:1-3, 12a
10 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
2 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. 3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
As Daniel fasted and prayed, an angel came to him and said…
12 … "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding…
Daniel had a desire for the truth and to gain understanding that caused him to seek it out. If it meant fasting, he fasted. If it meant praying, he prayed. Whatever it took to help him get focused on learning the truth, that is what he did.
Bible study groups
Are you taking action to seek truth and to gain understanding?
We will be kicking off our fall Bible study season in September. Make a commitment to join a Bible study or connection group so you can grow in your knowledge in the truth like Daniel.
Transition
Not only did he take actions that would help him grow in understanding, like studying God’s word, but the steps of fasting and mourning are acts of humility as well.
Daniel humbled himself before the Lord.
If we want to experience God’s power through prayer, then we need to
Humble ourselves before the Lord
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And in fact that is what the angel says to Daniel is part of the reason that his prayers were heard.
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In Daniel 10:12 – the angel says, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
Daniel humbled himself before the Lord.
He came in submission and his outward actions were acts of humility.
Peter tells us to
1 Peter 5:5-6
clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Are we placing ourselves in submission to the Lord and his will for our lives no matter what that looks like?
Are we worried how we look before others rather than how we look to God?
Daniel, a man of great power and influence, who was on the fast track of power in Babylon, did not put how he appeared before others ahead of humbling himself before the Lord.
Apply
Are we worried about what someone else may think about us, as we bow our heads in public to give thinks in recognizing that the Lord is the provider of our food?
If we were to humble ourselves before the Lord, I think we would be better able to vessels of holiness and of being used by God as well as be better able to experience God’s mighty power through us!
Transition
But Daniel’s humility shows up not only in his actions, but in his prayer as well.
We see that Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9 is full of confession and repentance.
If we are going to experience God’s power through prayer, we need to
Confess and Repent of our Sins
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Listen to what Daniel prays in
Daniel 9:4-15
"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame — the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O Lord, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. "Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. 15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong.
Here is what we don’t read in these verses.
I know we did this, but there was a good reason….
Lord, we made a few mistakes…
Lord, you know what our sins are…
There is no rationalization of Israel’s sin or Daniels sin.
There is no minimizing of the sins as just little mistakes.
There is no generalization but actual specifics
We have rebelled against you (v. 9)
We have not sought your favor (v. 13)
We have not obeyed (v. 14)
And Daniel’s and Israel’s sins are in contrast to the righteousness of God.
You are great and awesome.
You keep your covenants.
You are righteous (v. 7)
Daniel’s entire prayer that we read is 15 verses and 11 of those are confession and repentance.
Is that what your prayers look like?
Or does it look more like this…
Lord forgive my sins…now Lord please hear my requests.
And then the rest of the prayer is spent with a list of things we want God to do.
We need to spend more time confessing our sin.
Maybe there are some sins we don’t even recognize. Instead of just seeking forgiveness for what you may not even recognize as sin, why not be like David in Psalm 139 and say:
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Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Lord you look inside me and reveal anything that is offensive to you that I don’t even know about so that I might be able to confess it and repent of it.
You can’t turn from something you don’t know is not a sin. Ask God to reveal it and confess it and turn from it.
Transition
After Daniel spends time confessing and repenting, it is then that Daniel turns to
Petitioning God according to his will and word
If we are going to experience God’s power through prayer, then we need to
Petition God according to His Word and His Will
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Daniel 9:16-19
16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
Daniel has read what the prophet Jeremiah wrote for the exiles about 70 years of exile and now Daniel prays like it tells them in Jeremiah; for God to do what He has already said in his word for His own glory.
Daniel is free to pray this with boldness and authority, because God has clearly spelled out what His will is.
Much of the time when we are petitioning God, we are focused on what we want instead of what glorifies the Lord, and we pray that God’s will conforms to our will.
This doesn’t mean that we can’t pray for things that are not specifically revealed in Scripture, but we must be trusting in His will above our own.
Jesus prayed for the cup to be taken from him, but even in this human desire, he recognized that what he wanted was the will of the Father over his own desire.
Is that you?
Do want God’s will or your own to be done? Do you want your will to conform to God’s or God’s will to conform to yours?
Daniel prayed and trusted in the Lord’s will in his life and experienced God’s power.
Transition
But I have a question about some of the text in Daniel 10. When the angel comes to Daniel, he tells him that he was sent from the first day that Daniel was praying, but Daniel prayed and fasted for 3 weeks, until the angel showed up with the answer to his desire for understanding of the vision.
And we learn why it took so long in Daniel 10:12-14
Dan 10:12-14
12 Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."
Now the prince of Persia I take to mean was a demon, a fallen angel, that was influencing events in the physical realm with the king of Persia, stirring him up to attack, but Michael, the arch angel, comes and helps the angel that is speaking to Daniel, to battle this fallen angel so the angel that is speaking could come to give Daniel understanding.
A glimpse of the Spiritual War
Here we get a glimpse of the Spiritual warfare that goes on in the spiritual realm and can see how that affects the Physical realities we experience.
Now I don’t know the answer to this for sure, but Daniel was praying and humbling himself with fasting and searching the Scriptures after he received this revelation regarding a great war, for 3 whole weeks.
What would have happened if Daniel just prayed for a day?
Or for that matter 20 days?
What if he would have quit praying?
Would the angel have still come at this time?
Did Daniel praying have any effect on the spiritual battle being waged?
Do we battle only in the physical realm and the angels only in the spiritual realm, or can we too, engage in spiritual battle? And if so, how?
Listen to what Paul tells the Ephesians in 6:10-12
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Ephesians 6:10-12
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Our struggle is the same struggle as the angels are fighting.
It is not against the politicians we disagree with
It is not against the boss we think is a jerk and out to get us.
It is not against those who we believe are hindering us from enjoying life
Our struggle is against the spiritual forces of evil!
Well how do we wage this battle?
Paul goes on and tells us to put on the armor of God.
Ephesians 6:13-18
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13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
The armor of God is all about truth and faith and battling with God’s word and praying!
These are all the things Daniel did.
He desired the truth and lived righteously in peace trusting God by faith and praying!
Daniel did not battle against his enemies who wanted him dead.
Daniel did not battle against pagan kings who did not live or rule in godly ways.
Daniel exercised the power of God in the spiritual realms and the effects of that battle were experienced in the physical realm.
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If you want to experience God’s power in the physical realm, then you need to exercise God’s power in the Spiritual realm, fighting the spiritual battle,
We need to be like Daniel, seeking after God’s truth and exercising God’s power through prayer to battle the spiritual forces of evil.
I think one of the reasons that the curtain is pulled back so we can get a glimpse of this spiritual battle is so that we might be encouraged to keep on praying. To be persistent in our prayer.
Even when it seems like we have been praying and we aren’t seeing any effects or answers to that prayer here yet, through our prayers, we are waging spiritual war in the heavenly realms!
That sure puts a new perspective on our prayer life.
This is why it is vital that we commit to prayer all that we are doing.
Prayer vigil
This is one of the reasons we are having our prayer vigil. We don’t need to be just making plans in the physical, we need to be waging battle in the spiritual realm.
Won’t you join the battle?
Be committed to praying. Sign up to pray during our vigil as we commit the church, the needs of the body and our ministries to the Lord.
As we begin our fall ministries, Satan and his demons will be looking to attack. Let’s be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power by praying in the Spirit and waging war where this battle will actually be won or lost, in the spiritual realm against the forces of evil.
When you leave here, sign up to band together with God’s people and pray and exercise the power of God in the spiritual realms so we might experience God’s power in our lives and through this ministry.
Let’s pray.
