Daniel 9 is an amazing chapter. It is about prayer and prophecy. My last post looked at the seventy weeks prophecy. Today we will consider his prayer.
Understood by books 1-3
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
understood by books - He was reading Jeremiah. “The people must have been satisfied of the Divine inspiration of Jeremiah, or his prophecies would not have been so speedily collected nor so carefully preserved.”† As he was reading he saw Jeremiah’s prophecy of 70 years, perhaps this one, For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. (Jeremiah 29:10)
Babylon invaded Judah three times. The first time was 606 BC. This was when Daniel went into captivity. Again in 597 BC. This was when Ezekiel was taken to Babylon. Finally in 586 BC, when they destroyed the city and took pretty much everybody else to Babylon. Daniel read Jeremiah, looked at his calendar, pulled out his calculator, did the math, and realized he had been there nearly 70 years, so he began to pray for God’s will to be done.
3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Which is exactly what Daniel did. “He found that the time of the promised deliverance could not be at any great distance; and as he saw nothing that indicated a speedy termination of their oppressive captivity, he was very much afflicted, and earnestly besought God to put a speedy end to it; and how earnestly he seeks, his own words show. He prayed, he supplicated, he fasted, he put sackcloth upon his body, and he put ashes upon his head. He uses that kind of prayer prescribed by Solomon in his prayer at the dedication of the temple” (1 Kings 8:22-53)†
This is a great secret of prayer – pray the promises. George Mueller, a great man of prayer and faith, said, “The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God; searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it…for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication … it turned almost immediately more or less to prayer.”*
As we read the Word, we see the promises and will of God. Pray the will of God to be accomplished. “God does nothing except in response to believing prayer.”‡
Daniel’s prayer is found in verses 4-19. What a prayer it is! This is intercessory prayer: he comes before God on behalf of his people. With one hand he holds on to his people, with the other he holds on to God. He brings them before the Lord God, and prays for God’s mercy on them.
Confession 4-14
4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
It is amazing, Daniel did not participate in any of this sin, iniquity, wickedness, he was rather a casualty of it, yet he confesses the sin of Israel with “We have sinned.” This is intercessory prayer, where you stand before God in their stead. He also identified himself with Israel. It wasn’t Israel and Daniel, it was Daniel a part of Israel.
7 O Lord, righteousness unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces…8 O Lord, to us confusion of face… because we have sinned against thee.
You are just in all your dealings with us; we are where we are because of our sin.
9 To the Lord our God mercies and forgivenesses…
This is our only hope. We have indeed sinned and done wickedly, God is merciful. This is the why of intercessory prayer - many times the people we are praying for cannot pray for themselves, so we bring them to God because he is merciful and forgives!
9-11…we have rebelled against him…Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God…Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law
It wasn’t like Israel accidentally stumbled and fell down, or sinned just one time. No, this was intentional, persistent, continual sin.
11-12 …therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
And it is not like they weren’t warned. God had told them this would happen if they lived this way.
13 As written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23)
14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
Our God is righteous in all his works. This is a great place to be. “We are where we are because we have not obeyed his voice, and he is righteous in all that he has done to us.”
Confession is a vital part of prayer. I need to pray this way when praying for those I love – confessing their sin, yes, but confessing my sin that affected them.
The Petition 15-16
15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all about us.
O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away. Be definite in prayer. Not simply, “O Lord bless ‘em”, but asking for his specific promises and particular will to be accomplished.
Praying in the Name of Jesus
17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant… for the Lord's sake...not for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies....for thine own sake, O my God.
Not for our ease or comfort, not for our reputation, not for our happiness, but for your glory.
And, Answer my prayer, not because I am worthy, but because you are merciful. Amen. This is what it means to pray “in the name of Jesus.”
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not. Amen. He earnestly desired the answer to his prayer. Am I this earnest? Do I really want God to do what I am asking him to do? I’m afraid I pray many times without this earnestness. O Spirit of God, work in me that I might passionately desire the salvation of those I pray for!
The Answer 20-23
20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
While I was speaking an angel came to explain the answer, giving him the prophecy of seventy weeks. Disclaimer: Not all prayer, even prayer as serious and intense as Daniel’s, will end as his did! But we can and should expect grace when we pray. Be encouraged by George Mueller:
“If you believe indeed in the Lord Jesus for the salvation of your soul, if you walk uprightly and do not regard iniquity in your heart, if you continue to wait patiently, and believingly upon God; then answers will surely be given to your prayers.”
“May the Christian reader be encouraged by this, should his prayers not at once be answered; and, instead of ceasing to pray, wait upon God all the more earnestly and perseveringly, and expect answers to his petitions.”
“The Living God is still able and willing to answer prayer, and that it is the joy of His heart to listen to the supplications of His children.” ●
I have people I am praying for. I need to pray like this!
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† Adam Clarke
* George Mueller, On Personal Devotions
‡ John Wesley
● George Mueller, Answers to Prayer
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