I MEAN IT!
Daniel 9:1-3
S: A Passion for Prayer
Th: Live a Prayer Life (Prayer: A Passion for His Presence)
Pr: THE PEOPLE OF GOD PRAY WITH PASSION.
?: Inductive
KW: Phases
TS: We will find in our study of Daniel 9:1-3 three phases that demonstrate what happens when we are in communion with God.
The ____ phase is we…
I. READ
II. RESPOND
III. REPENT
Version: ESV
RMBC 22 Sep 02 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Notebook: Repentance (Repaint)
There was a Scottish tradesman, a painter called Jack, who was very interested in making a pound where he could. So he often would thin down his paint to make it go a wee bit further. As it happened, he got away with this for some time.
Eventually the Presbyterian Church decided to do a big restoration job on one of their biggest churches. Jack put in a painting bid and because his price was so competitive, he got the job. And so he set to, with a right good will, erecting the trestles and putting up the planks, and buying the paint and...yes, I am sorry to say, thinning it down with the turpentine.
Well, Jack was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly done, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder. The sky opened and the rain poured down, washing the thin paint from all over the church, knocking Jack right off the scaffold, causing him to land on the lawn.
Now, Jack was no fool. He knew this was a judgment from the Almighty, so he fell on his knees and cried, "Oh, God! Forgive me! What should I do?"
And from the thunder, a mighty Voice spoke, "Repaint! Repaint! And thin no more!"
Have you ever needed to get back on the right track?
Although, we might not like to admit it, from time to time, we all need to get back on the right track.
But we are not alone in this.
The Bible is full of stories of those that needed to get back on the right track.
For example…
Abraham feared for his life because Sarah was so beautiful, so he called her his sister instead of his wife.
Samson, though he possessed supernatural strength, he kept finding his sexual passions getting in the way from doing the Lord’s work.
David, though he was known for having a heart for God, found his heart wandering so badly that he committed adultery, attempted a cover-up, then a murder and tried to pretend that none of it happened.
Demas, who had accompanied Paul on his journeys, witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit, one day turned his back on Paul and betrayed the work of Christ.
Even the church of Ephesus, who had counted among its pastors Paul, Timothy and John, was charged by Jesus of leaving its first love.
TRANSITION:
As you can see, if you have not noted it yet…
Our theme for discipleship month is…
1. “Live a Prayer Life.”
Does prayer characterize your life?
If it doesn’t, I want to encourage you today to get back on the right track!
Praying without ceasing and giving thanks in every circumstance are exhortations that are to characterize our lives as Christians.
2. We often define prayer as communicating with God.
The idea of talking to God is a definition that I have often used.
It is perhaps the simplest way to define it.
But there is something more to prayer that is absolutely essential.
We must not miss it.
It is this…
3. Prayer is communion with God.
Prayer is more than talking.
Prayer is relationship.
Jesus expressed this well when he said (John 15:7):
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Prayer is remaining in relationship with the Lord.
Prayer is letting His words rest in us.
Prayer is communion with God.
So…
4. We will find in our study of Daniel 9:1-3 three phases that demonstrate what happens when we are in communion with God.
Let’s consider the text…
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—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. Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Before we cover these three phases, let’s consider the historical background of this passage.
In 605 B. C., Nebuchadnezzar, who would soon become the Babylonian king, led a great army against the Egyptians in a crisis battle of history, the Battle of Carchemish, fought along the Euphrates River.
There the Egyptians were toppled from their place as one of the greatest military powers of the day.
Nebuchadnezzar then preceded south and went on to capture Jerusalem in that same year, taking captive certain royal princes of the house of Israel, among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
As we come to Daniel 9, it is around 537 B. C., almost (note this) seventy years later.
With that in mind, let’s consider “our study.”
OUR STUDY:
I. The first phase is we READ.
We need to be people of the Word who listen.
This is the example of Daniel.
He was pouring over Scripture, the writings of his contemporary, Jeremiah, whom he obviously recognized as God’s prophet.
We know that Daniel was a man that was molded by the revelation of God.
We see that in Daniel 1 when he insists on keeping the dietary laws from Moses, even though the finest foods of Babylon are offered to him.
The written Word was precious to Him because it was there one discovered God’s purposes and received guidance from the Lord.
So here is what he reads from Jeremiah…
“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. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:10-11
Daniel is doing the math.
It has been sixty-eight years since he was deported from Jerusalem.
Was the time of fulfillment at hand?
God had promised that they would be able to go back to their homeland.
But were they ready?
He looked around at the people of Judah, and he saw they had become comfortable in Babylon.
They had no desire to return.
Spiritually, they had lost their bearings.
They needed to get back on the right track.
They needed to get back to God’s Word, because it would be there that they would find their way home, both physically and spiritually.
This leads us to…
II. The second phase is we RESPOND.
When we discover something is wrong, we know where to turn.
ILL Notebook: Prayer (granddaughter receives license)
During a Sunday service, the pas-tor asked the congregation for their prayer requests. There were the usual requests to pray for sick people and acknowl-edgments for those who helped when a parishioner died.
It was a somber mood, but it was broken when the last request was heard. A woman stood up and said, "My grand-daughter just received her driver’s license. Let us pray for us all."
Well…when there is trouble, there is only one place to turn.
It is to the Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
It is to our Father.
Note again what Daniel was reading in Jeremiah…
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.”
Jeremiah 29:12
It was time to pray.
It was time to respond to God’s promise.
Yet, this is what kind of got to Daniel.
The deliverance of God’s people and their promised restoration to their own land seemed as remote as ever.
This was a people that seemed unresponsive to the wonderful promise.
And Daniel knew they had to get this right.
There was a lot of heart work left, for the people’s hearts were hardened and in rebellion against God.
We will see this in the following prayer that we will study next week.
So Daniel realizes he needs to do more than read and respond…
III. The third phase is we REPENT.
You see…
We can be nothing less than passionate about our relationship with our Father.
Daniel does more than turn to the Father in prayer.
He pleads for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
This is a prayer of earnest, not some off-the-cuff response.
This was no time to be casual.
This was a time to repent!
Again, note what Daniel had been reading…
“You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”
Jeremiah 29:13-14
Willfully, emotionally, and intellectually, Daniel gave his full attention to seeking God.
You see, it is the nature of repentance to be single-minded.
We want to get right.
We want to get back on the right track.
It seems like Daniel wants to make sure that he has God’s attention.
But I don’t think that’s the real point.
What is important to God is that He has our attention.
And this is true of Daniel.
God has his attention.
For Daniel understands the gravity of the situation.
It is time to get serious!
ILL Notebook: Repentance (Rumeal)
When Michigan played Wisconsin in basketball early in the season in 1989, Michigan’s Rumeal Robinson stepped to the foul line for two shots late in the fourth quarter. His team trailed by one point, so Rumeal could regain the lead for Michigan. He missed both shots, allowing Wisconsin to upset favored Michigan.
Rumeal felt awful about costing his team the game, but his sorrow didn’t stop at the emotional level. After each practice for the rest of the season, Rumeal shot one hundred extra foul shots.
Thus, Rumeal was ready when he stepped to the foul line to shoot two shots with three seconds left in overtime in the national championship game. Swish went the first shot, and swish the second. Those shots won Michigan the national championship.
Rumeal’s repentance had been genuine, and sorrow motivated him to work so that he would never make that mistake again. As Paul wrote, “Godly sorrow leads to repentance” (II Corinthians 7:10).
True repentance means we do something about it.
We get ourselves on the right track.
APPLICATION:
Let me pause now and get personal, because one of these areas that we need to get ourselves on the right track about is prayer.
You know…
1. There is no category of a “prayerless Christian.”
It really is a nonsense phrase.
It is a contradiction in terms, like freezing hot or boiling cold.
Christians pray, period.
For prayerlessness is the mark of a hypocrite, not a genuine believer.
Too many of us treat it as an optional activity.
We won’t say it out loud, but we will say it with our actual behavior.
We too often see prayer as something beneficial, but not absolutely necessary.
And if you fall into that category, this must change!
Because the people of God pray!
The people of God pray together!
The people of God pray with perseverance!
And…
2. THE PEOPLE OF GOD PRAY WITH PASSION.
Do you remember toward the beginning of the message how I newly defined prayer?
It is more than communication.
It is communion.
Prayer does not represent the love relationship between us.
It is the relationship.
Thus, if there is very little prayer, then at best, there is very little relationship.
And if there is no prayer, there is no relationship.
So you see, if we have no passion, no desire for the relationship, we have nothing to offer the world.
Because…
3. Prayer is the language of a love affair.
Prayer is the language of the love affair between the Creator and His beloved He has created.
Note His words to us from the prophet Jeremiah…
“…I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”
Jeremiah 31:3
And also note our proper response…
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Mark 12:30
We are to love God with all that we are.
We are to be madly in love with God.
You know, lovers enjoy each other’s presence.
Lovers do not need the experts to tell them to spend time with each other to talk.
And when lovers have been with each other for years, and they are able to anticipate what will be said, thought or felt, they don’t stop talking.
No, a shared life prompts more communion.
The people of God pray with passion.
We are in communion with Him.
So we pray; He responds.
We ask; He answers.
Our trust is built.
Our faith deepens.
And as the process continues, we begin to grasp His love for us.
We understand that He wants to bless us.
We experience the fact that He takes pleasure in doing good on our behalf.
You see…He wants our hearts!
Perhaps, though, you don’t even know how to pray.
You don’t know how to pray because you don’t have a relationship with God.
But know this…God wants that relationship with you.
He wants to give you a new heart.
4. Do you need a new heart?
Note God’s promise to each one of us…
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
Ezekiel 36:26-27
You can have a new heart today, simply by asking for it.
Some of you today have that new heart, but you do not have passion for the Lover of your soul.
The love has grown cold.
So, let me ask it this way…
5. Do you have a circulation problem?
Do you have poor circulation?
Is sin clogging your arteries?
Because when sin gets in the way, we lose our passion.
Instead of vital communion, we are like the church in Ephesus in Revelation when Jesus says…
“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Revelation 2:4
We don’t have to lose the wonder!
James tells us…
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
James 4:8
Yes, it is meant to be that simple.
“Does prayer really work?”
Many of you believe it does, don’t you?
I do too.
But…
It is the wrong question!
Prayer is not a utilitarian practice aimed at achieving some accomplishment.
Prayer is communion with God.
The value of prayer is prayer!
As we sing, let us pour out our love for God.
Our worship songs have been prayers today throughout.
And as we close, it is another opportunity to pray with passion.
It is an opportunity to acknowledge to Jesus that there is no greater thing than to know Him and to love Him.
Is that the true prayer of your heart today?
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Pray with passion…to the Lord God Almighty; to our Father; to the Lover of our Souls; celebrate that He is passionately for us.
Pray with passion…for it is time to get past viewing prayer as a mundane obligation; instead it is time to enjoy the relationship that is there for us.
Pray with passion…with all that you are; and all that you have; love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
Now…
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. Amen.
