Daniel: A Man of Prayer
Daniel 9:1-11,16-19
Primary Purpose: To stress the importance of intercessory prayer
Lately, I feel a renewed sense of the importance of intercessory prayer.
History shows us that no church, denomination or country has ever outgrown
it’s need for prayer. No revival or renewal in our country has ever occurred
without prayer. More than ever, I feel God calling us to our knees in prayer.
If you ever seen the movie “Cast Away” with Tom Hanks then you
probably know who Wilson is. The story goes that Hanks plays the part of
Chuck Nolan, a fast paced FedEx executive who gets stranded when his plane
goes down in the middle of the South Pacific. In trying to survive, he started
a fire with a sharp stick and cuts his hand severely. In anger, he takes the
volleyball and throws it as hard as he can. When it lands he sees that his
bloody hand has made an imprint which looks like a fiery head. With his
finger he draws a face in the blood- an idol if you will. He talks to his new
friend.
What you should also notice is that all through the film Hank’s
character never prays to God. He’ll talk to the volleyball, but never to God.
Now, you should ask yourself why he never did that? but then you have to
ask yourself why people trust in all kinds of other things rather than God.
They will talk to their friends, they will talk to Dr.Laura, they will pray to the
dead, they will read a self-help book or go to a therapist who has just as many
problems as they do. But, they will not come to Jesus. We are called to go
to Him first.
In Judean history, God at one time disciplined God’s people by
sending them into exile to a place called Babylon. God had told the people
he would do this back in Moses time and continued to warn them until they
had completely forsaken the Lord and had turned corrupt and violent. They
turned from God to self and idol worship. God didn’t completely abandon
them, however; God promised that through a period of time he would bring
back the people of God to their homeland. It’s during the end of this period
of exile that we see Daniel praying in Daniel 9:1-11,16-19 interceding for his
nation.
First, notice that Daniel was a man who regularly sought the Lord. The
whole reason he knows the exile should be ending soon is because he was
reading the book of Jeremiah. (9:2). Daniel had practiced prayer 3 times a
day (6:10). He didn’t have any less of a busy schedule than any of us. He
was one of 3 top administrators of the most powerful country on the planet.
Yet, he made time to pray.
Second, Daniel openly confessed sin and rebellion v.4-6. God has
promised us both in the Old and New Testament that he will forgive us our
sins if we ask him to.
In Psalm 103 it says that God removes our sins as far as the east is
from the west. Do you understand how far that is?
If you were to travel north from anywhere, at what point would you
begin going south? At the north pole. But if you were traveling east from
anywhere, at what point would you be going west? Never! That’s how far
God removes our sins from us when they are forgiven.
Notice how many times Daniel uses the word “we” as he confesses sin.
He uses “we” at least 17 times in this prayer. He pleads with God to forgive
sin not on the basis of his goodness, but on God’s goodness. Daniel
understands that God is always quick to forgive. He didn’t want to send the
children of Israel or Judea into exile to begin with. His holiness demanded
that he judge what was taking place. Daniel knows God is willing to forgive
if he just humbles himself and asks. Notice, Daniel humility in that his prayer
is in fasting, sackcloth and ashes v.3
Sometimes we forget just as powerful prayer is. But, praying by faith
is the most powerful force in the universe.
George Mueller was born in Prussia on September 27, 1805. His
father was a collector of taxes and George seemed to inherit his father’s
ability with figures.
When Mueller was converted to Christ he was impressed with how
many times Jesus said for us “to ask.” At this point in Mueller’s life he and
his wife launched into a daring experiment. First, they gave away all of their
household goods. The next step was even more daring, he refused all regular
salary from the small mission he had been serving. He then set out to
establish an orphan home to care of rate homeless children in England.
The first home was dedicated in a rented building on April 21, 1836.
Within a matter of days, 43 orphans were being cared for. Mueller and his
co-workers decided their experiment would be set up with the following
guidelines:
1. No funds would ever be solicited
2. No debts would ever to be incurred.
3. NO money contributed for a specific purpose would ever be used for any
other purpose
4. All accounts would be audited annually
5. NO ego-pandering by the publication of donor’s names.
6. No “names” of prominent people would be sought for the board or to
advertise the institution.
7. The success of the orphanage would be measured not by the numbers
served or by the amount of money taken in, but by God’s blessing on the
work, which Mueller expected to be in direct proportion to the time spent in
prayer.
When the first building was constructed, Mueller and his friends
remained true to their convictions. The public was amazed when a second
building was opened six months after the first. They kept concentrating on
prayer and eventually there were five new buildings, 110 workers, and 2,050
orphans being cared for.
George Mueller not only counted on God to provide, but he believed
that God would provide abundantly. For over 60 years Mueller recorded
every specific prayer request and the results. Mueller was responsible for the
care of 9,500 orphans during his life. These children never went without a
meal. Mueller never asked for help from anyone but God. $7,500,000 came
to him over the course of his life and he vows it was all in answer to believing
prayer.
3. Notice that Daniel acknowledged God’s justice and mercy v.7-11,16,18.
Daniel acknowledge that God was just in His judgment of them. He pleaded
with God on the basis of mercy and God’s own righteous acts, not because
they deserved it.
A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son.
The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense
twice and justice demanded death. “But I don’t ask for justice,” the mother
explained, “I plead for mercy.” “But your son doesn’t deserve mercy,”
Napoleon replied, “Sir”, the woman cried, “it would not be mercy if he
deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.” “Well, then,” the emperor said, “I
will have mercy.” And he spared the woman’s son.
We should pray that same way that Daniel did, asking for God’s mercy
on our country, our church and ourselves. Our country is walking farther and
farther away from God, our people have become lukewarm to the things of
God, our hearts have walked away from God. I want to ask you to pray that
God would have mercy on us and forgive our sin and heal our church and our
people.
