Daniel 9:1-10
“In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— 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. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.”
Daniel 9:1-10 NIV
We are in the heart of the prophecy section of Daniel, and we should be very interested in what God has to say about things to come. And Daniel was interested in that too. But at this point in Daniel, a great need for God's people hits Daniel like a truck. It seems out of the blue. God just rocks him.
And Daniel deals with why God’s people, Israel, are in the situation they're in. WHY? And he gets really clear on Israel's only hope to get out of their current, dire situation. And it's critical we do the same thing.
We've got to be able to say, "Lord, why are we in the place we are in today, and what is our only hope to get out of the situation we are in?" God reveals this critically important truth to Daniel today. And we must look for God to reveal the same critical truth in our own lives, and then we must have the faith, have the courage, to be willing to respond accordingly and do something about it. Which is just what we'll see Daniel do.
And please hear me this is a prayer that's absolutely required for us to pray in our own lives if we ever desire to be restored to a right relationship with God.
This is one of the best prayers in the Bible for us to pray: For OURSELVES
For OUR CHURCH, For OUR NATION
So mark this prayer. Remember it. Go back to it, because it is through this attitude of prayer that God's promises are brought to pass in our lives.
Daniel starts with who God is.
You are a great and awesome God!
You always fulfill your covenant
You keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.
That is who God is, and that is who He can be in your life too. Now it doesn't seem necessary to clarify who is right and who is covered with shame. But Daniel does it anyway just in case you weren't sure.
Daniel is crying out interceding on behalf of the people of Israel. He's confessing and repenting, on their behalf, and he is including himself in the guilt of their sin.
All twelve tribes of Israel had ultimately turned from the Lord, and Daniel lists them all here as covered in their shame, because of their disloyalty in turning from God and chasing after the things of this world.
And then again, Daniel goes back and forth between confessing God's greatness and confessing our sin.
We just choose not to obey God. I know that's what God says but it's not what I want. So, I'm just going to do what I want, and God is just going to have to deal with it. And God promises that He will deal with it.
Daniel knew how to pray. When we pray we need to come to God with complete openness, vulnerability and honesty like Daniel did. Attitude is very important!!!
Father thank You for this day and the breath to pray today. Lord pour out Your abundant blessings from the floodgates of heaven over my friend and family today. Loving Lord, I come to You to place the once great nation of United States of America at Your feet, knowing that our great country and it's constitution was made for a moral and religious people and is wholly inadequate for any other form of government, and yet we have strayed so far from the principles and practices of our great founders, who drew up our constitution based on Your Word. But Lord, although this was once the land of the brave and the home of the free, sadly there is so much that is wrong with our country that I fear for its future. Lord, as a people we have walked away from You and discredited Your holy name by the way that we have conducted ourselves over the past few years and there is no health in our land. Look down in pity on our people and our land, and protect us from those that seem determined on destroying our nation. Send Your Spirit I pray, through the land of America, and touch the hearts of all those that are called by Your name to plead on behalf our people. Convict those that are damaging our infrastructure and as a nation may we turn away from our wicked ways and return You to Your rightful position, in integrity and truth. Lord use my friend today to be the light of Your love to all. Be a blessing.
Father, we love You. Amen !
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