Americans are riddled with anxiety. Many of you are full of anxious thoughts throughout the night. Many of us feel an impending sense of danger just around the corner. For some, this apprehension is about their jobs, their marriage and their children. Most of us think if we had a little more money, a life by the beach somewhere, or if we had less to do, then we'd have a better life. A more fuller and less stressful life.
When we turn to Christ and the Bible, we begin to see the value in a strong prayer life. Prayer is your way for you to experience a powerful confidence that God is handling your life for your good. Prayer is your way to experience a mighty confidence that God will turn your bad things out for your good. Prayer is your way to experience a great confidence that God will not let good things to be taken from you. And prayer is your way to experience a powerful confidence that God has the best things yet to come for you. Prayer can emotionally center you and balance you with the ballast of knowing God governs your life. And prayer can keep you from emotional whiplash in a really scary world.
I want to help you pray with confidence. Having taken a break to walk through the seven words of Christ on the cross, we return back to the Old Testament book of Daniel. I invite you to turn to Daniel 9 with me this morning. Daniel's story is in your Bible, so you'll always know hope. Hope in the Christian sense is the confident and certain expectation that the best is yet to come.
Did you know that when Daniel lived, God's people were parched for hope? Daniel identifies the secret of hope by developing a strong prayer life. I need Daniel to renew my hope.
Today's Scripture
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 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. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
"O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name" (Daniel 9:3-19).
I need Daniel to show me how to pray. Daniel has this model prayer for all believers everywhere.
Now, the year is right around 539 BC. Daniel is around 85 years old now. Daniel's life was much different than his parents envisioned for him. Daniel would have been a middle-schooler when he was taken by force from home and forced to go to Babylon. His homeland around Jerusalem was torn down into pieces of rubble – think of Ukraine right now and you get the picture. And now he's old man and he sees little progress that people are turning to God.
Daniel and Prayer
Rather than becoming depressed about this, Daniel prayed. Remember, Daniel had this habit of praying three times a day (Daniel 6:10). Throwing him in the lion's den couldn't even stop his prayers! Prayer was really important to Daniel. How important is prayer to you? Daniel was willing to lose his life in order to pray. How important is prayer to you? I need Daniel to show me how to pray. Daniel has this model prayer for all believers everywhere. Daniel 9 is one of the most remarkable prayers in your Bibles. Remember, Daniel was nearly killed because he insisted on praying. And in Daniel 9, he prays a prayer of national repentance that goes so high spiritually that you might get a nose-bleed from this sermon ?. But Daniel prays this prayer of national repentance and asks the Lord for the Hebrew people to return home. And God hears him!
There are five important elements to Daniel's prayer and at least, one result of prayer I want to show you. Again, I want to help you pray with confidence.
1. I Should Always Wed Bible Study and Prayer.
"in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years" (Daniel 9:2).
1.1 Studying Jeremiah
Daniel had been reading the Word of God. Specifically, Daniel had been reading the scroll of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah died in Egypt just a few decades ahead of our story with Daniel. Daniel's early life and Jeremiah's later life would have overlapped. People were making handwritten copies of Jeremiah's writings and they distributed really quickly to those in exile in modern Iraq. Again, Daniel had been studying prophecy of Jeremiah in particular. Daniel read about the promise of 70 years of desolation. And as Daniel read in Jeremiah, Daniel saw God's plan for His people that they would be in captivity for seventy years: "For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place" (Jeremiah 29:10).
God walked away from His people in hopes that His people would run to Him. Has God walked away from you, hoping you'll run after Him?
1.2 Exile
Daniel knew God's people failed to obey God and God punished His people. God tells the prophet Jeremiah this exile would last seventy years. And Daniel had been counting the years, and Daniel knew that certain things were going to come to pass. He let his soul soak in the thought of Jeremiah's prediction that the Temple would be raised back to life. He checked the calendar and realized that seventy years was up any day now. Quickly, exile meant that the Hebrew people would be forced to leave their nation. Daniel was exiled with others in 605 B.C. and it's now 539/538 B.C. Daniel, in reading Jeremiah, knows the end of God's judgment of exile on His people is coming to an end. Like a spouse might look at the clock and see it's 5:30 and say, "Any moment my wife/husband is about to come to work." Like a parent who knows the school bus is about to pull up and drop off their child, Jeremiah is eager with anticipation.
1.3 Daniel's Motivation
Daniel later prays these words at the end of verse 17: "O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate" (Daniel 9:17b). Verse 17 is his motivation. Daniel is distraught that the Temple is desolate and barren. He wanted to see God's people alive with praise for the one true God! So Daniel prayed with intensity and confidence! He wanted to see God's people alive with praise for the Lord! Daniel was excited to see God's kingdom advance.
I love the fact that even though Daniel was studying prophecy, he was really practical. So many people who study prophecy are so caught up in the future that they forget about the present. Remember that in the middle of telling us what to expect in the future, Jesus said, "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes" (Matthew 24:46). The study of the future should make us passionate about the present. In our day, Christians should be praying intensely, sharing the gospel frequently, and obedient to Christ habitually.
1.4 Prayer and Bible Study
"Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes" (Daniel 9:3).
Daniel prayed with resolve — he set his face. He prayed with reflection — he looked upon God. There is no way that you can separate Bible study from prayer. Let your study of the Bible cause you to pray and let your prayers cause you to study your Bible. Daniel's prayer begins with the Bible and his prayer is saturated with the Bible. Phrase after phrase comes right out of the Scriptures. There are allusions to Leviticus (26:40) and Deuteronomy (28:64) and Exodus (34:6) and Psalms (44:14) and Jeremiah (25:11). Jesus told us that "If you [continue] in me, and my words [continue] in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:7). Prayer and Bible reading go hand in hand. Bible reading is God speaking to you. Prayer is your talking back to God.
1.5 Serious Prayer
"Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes" (Daniel 9:3).
He turned his face, or he set his face toward God in prayer. Daniel prayed with resolve—he set his face. He prayed with tremendous reflection—he looked upon God. I hate to say, and so much of my prayer is casual prayer, prayer that comes with almost a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. God is calling us at this late hour to pray with serious concentration. Daniel fasted as he prayed. Fasting is going without food and/or water and other pleasures for a spiritual purpose. The lack of progress in God's kingdom troubled Daniel. He prays these words: "O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate" (Daniel 9:17b). Daniel read about the promise and he saw the lack of progress so Daniel prayed with intensity. My dear Christian friend, the Bible is your prayer book.
1. I Should Always Marry Bible Study and Prayer.
2. I Should Always Begin My Prayer with Praise
"I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, 'O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,'" (Daniel 9:4).
Again, Daniel gives this model prayer in the middle of his book. Daniel wants us to pray with confidence.
2.1 The Names of God
Daniel calls God by three names in the first part of his prayer; Yahweh at the beginning of verse 4 (marked by all caps "LORD" usually in your Bibles), Adonai translated "Lord" is next, and then lastly, Elohim which is translated simply as "God" twice. Again, he uses these three names as layers of praise to the Father above. Yahweh is the personal name for God. Adonai means "owner or ruler." He layers together the three names to call our Heavenly Father, Yahweh Elohim Adonai. Putting these three together, you quickly understand that Daniel believes Yahweh Elohim Adonai to be the one true God who directs everything in the world. Next, He calls God "Awesome," and this word means "one who inspires fear." I wonder if you have called God "Awesome" in your prayer time recently. Daniel took the time to praise the Lord in the opening part of his prayer. And you should do the very same.
2.2 The Popularity of Prayer
Every faith has some form of prayer. Muslims stop whatever they're doing five times a day to pray, as you'll hear the wailing cries of prayer callers in many Asian cities. Incas and Aztecs went so far as to sacrifice humans in order to attract their gods' attention. And millions of people who attend A.A. meetings pray to a Higher Power to stop their addictions. More people this week will pray than will drive a car or go to work, according to Gallup polls.
2.3 I Should Always Begin My Prayer with Praise.
Jesus taught us with these words, "Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9). Hallowed" means to honor as holy. Holy is the Bible's word for all that makes God different from us. The very first words of this prayer tell us of God's complete perfection. The Psalmist tells us to, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker" (Psalm 95:6)! God is the most uncommon and extraordinary being there is. In His presence, the very angels cover their faces and their feet (Isaiah 6:2).
2. I Should Always Begin My Prayer with Praise.
1. I Should Always Wed Bible Study and Prayer.
3. I Should Always Confess My Sin When I Pray.
"we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 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." (Daniel 9:5-6).
Daniel pours out his heart to the Lord. And he does this by confession.
3.1 My Sin
Six different aspects of Israel's sin are set forth in verses 5 and 6. Israel had "sinned," "done wrong," "acted wickedly," "rebelled," "turning aside" from Yahweh's commands and laws and had "not listened" to God's commandments.
3.2 Multiple Indictments
Todd Alan Stricklin had a pistol in his hand as officers showed up at his place in response to calls about a domestic disturbance. When officers demanded that he drop the weapon, he refused. As Deputy Matthew Locke approached him to put cuffs on him, Strickland fatally shot the officer. He later ran in the woods before Tennessee State troopers took him into custody a few hours later. Stricklin is now indicted with dozens of charges, including First Degree Murder, Aggravated Kidnapping, and Domestic Assault. Like Stricklin, your sin isn't just one thing. Instead, you have multiple indictments. Again, Daniel used six different words or concepts to emphasize this: "sinned," "done wrong," "acted wickedly," "rebelled," "turning aside" from Yahweh's commands and laws and had "not listened" to God's commandments.
3.3 Sex
God has given you His instructions on sex but we have binged on pornography. God tells us men are to marry women for a lifetime and we trade partners like cards in a Friday game with friends. God tells us homosexuality is wrong but our culture is redefining ourselves apart from anything God has said. Nickelodeon has released an episode of the kid's program Blue's Clues & You where the animated story is narrated by drag performer Nina West. Families are two moms and two dads, and one of the characters shows their scars where they have recently had surgery to change their gender. Kellogg's cereal put together a cereal box celebrating Pride month with the rainbow colors. The cartoon characters' associations with Kellogg's cereals teach us to change our pronouns from the traditional "he/him" and "she/her" to "they/them."
The Bible says we are bent on doing wrong. We have twisted away from the narrow road.
3.4 Greed
God's word says to be generous with the poor. Instead, we are generous with ourselves and throw meager change at the needs of those who need the most. Our senior adults are afraid to answer their phones because of the latest scam is coming to take their money. When God said to go straight, we were crooked. We have turned away and we have rebelled against God. You have "sinned," "done wrong," "acted wickedly," "rebelled," "turning aside" from Yahweh's commands and laws and had "not listened" to God's commandments. The complexity of those six phrases shows how each of us has turned aside from the Lord. You need to confess your sin to the Lord. The prayer that goes the highest stoops the lowest. I love the fact that Daniel doesn't minimize his actions as mistakes. He owned up to it. And you should own up to it.
3.5 "Our" Sin
Notice Daniel doesn't simply confess his personal sin but he confesses OUR sin. Daniel uses the pronouns "we," "us," or "our" more than twenty times in this prayer when talking about sin. Daniel doesn't pray to God in order to see the best in people. Daniel spends most of his prayer confessing the sin of the people. We need to confess our apathy and our coldness to the Lord. Confess our unworthiness and our wandering heart. You need to confess how you have backslidden.
When I watch our nation, I see desperation. When I see our church and many churches today, I see coldness. Confess how we have left our first love. Too much of our spiritual lives are spent in La-Z-Boy recliners. We prefer to be comfortable in our churches rather than get passionate about reaching those outside of Christ. We need to get up and come to the house of the Lord with zeal and passion. We need to check the progress of God's kingdom like we do the stock market.
1. I Should Always Wed Bible Study and Prayer.
2. I Should Always Begin My Prayer with Praise.
3. I Should Always Confess My Sin When I Pray.
4. I Should Ask for Mercy When I Pray.
"O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy." (Daniel 9:18).
4.1 The Appeal
When bad things come our way, we are prone to pity ourselves. We are prone to think, "I deserve more than this." Not Daniel. Daniel begged God for mercy. He didn't appeal to God by saying, "If you handle this for me, then I'll do this for you." Daniel didn't think God owed him anything because he stood up for prayer and was cast into the Lion's Den. Instead, he pleaded: "O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy." (Daniel 9:18).
4.2 Desperate
A husband refuses to ask for directions because he doesn't think he's really lost. You don't pray because you think you can handle life on your own. We don't pray because we think we can get our life together with a few changes. We don't see the need for the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Daniel was desperate and therefore, Daniel desperately prayed. Daniel begged God to be compassionate to His people despite what they had done.
1. I Should Always Wed Bible Study and Prayer.
2. I Should Always Begin My Prayer with Praise.
3. I Should Always Confess My Sin When I Pray.
4. I Should Always Ask for Mercy When I Pray.
5. I Should Always be Concerned for God's Reputation When I Pray.
"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name" (Daniel 9:19).
This is the climax of Daniel's prayer. A little-known aspect of prayer is to plead for mercy by appealing to God to act to protect His name. God worships God Himself. God does not want His name sullied and profaned.
Daniel prays and "reminds" God to act:
"your city Jerusalem, your holy hill…" (Daniel 9:16b)
"your people have become a byword…" (Daniel 9:16b)
"O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary…" (Daniel 9:17b)
"the city that is called by your name…" (Daniel 9:18b)
"Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name" (Daniel 9:19b).
Daniel pleaded with the Lord to "listen," "forgive," "hear," and "act." For your name's sake, revive. For your name's sake, purify and heal and empower your church, O Lord, for we are called by your name.
1. I Should Always Wed Bible Study and Prayer.
2. I Should Always Begin My Prayer with Praise.
3. I Should Always Confess My Sin When I Pray.
4. I Should Always Ask for Mercy When I Pray.
5. I Should Always be Concerned for God's Reputation When I Pray.
6. I Should Always Expect the Unseen Warfare to Happen When I Pray.
"while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice" (Daniel 9:21).
"Then he said to me, 'Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words'" (Daniel 10:12).
Listen and look at the words, "your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words" (Daniel 10:12b). Because Daniel prayed, the angels moved. Because Daniel prayed, God dispatched the angels in response. Both in the vision of chapter 9 and chapter 10, angels were dispatched because of Daniel's prayer. God is moved by the prayer of Daniel.
Daniel's prayer is a model for us today: "The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia…" (Daniel 10:13). Then move your eyes to verse 20: "Then he said, 'Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come'" (Daniel 10:20). These are not humans but angels or messengers. The "princes" of this text unit are not human rulers but angelic beings. This isn't a human prince of Persia or a human prince of Greece. These are demonic spirits attempting to fight against the very will of God.
The angel says to Daniel in effect, "I came because you prayed. I would have been here sooner but I was delayed. "I have come because of your words" while you were praying and fasting for three weeks. On the very first day, your prayer was heard. But again, I was delayed. An opposing angel, the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece fought me. And it took Michael, one of the chief angels to help me fight the demonic angel." When you pray, spiritual warfare is happening. When you pray like Daniel, know you are in a battle against unseen forces at work. Be persistent to pray.
Closing
Prayer is your way for you to experience a powerful confidence that God is handling your life for your good. Prayer is your way to experience a mighty confidence that God will turn your bad things out for your good. Prayer is your way to experience a great confidence that God will not let good things to be taken from you. And prayer is your way to experience a powerful confidence that God has the best things yet to come for you. Prayer can emotionally center you and balance you with the ballast of knowing God governs your life. And prayer can keep you from emotional whiplash in a really scary world.
