Prayer: My Lord and my God, you have drawn me out of the den of iniquity and saved me from the hazards of this life. I praise and thank you for your goodness to me.
Thank the Lord for all the glorious things he does; proclaim them to the nations. Sing his praises and tell everyone about his miracles. Glory in the Lord; O worshipers of God, rejoice. Search for him and for his strength, and keep on searching (Psalms 105:1-4, TLB)! Amen.
Main Scripture: Read Hebrews 1:33, Daniel 1:7.
Daniel who shut the mouths of lions (Hebrews 1:33).
Associated Scriptures:
"Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name" (Daniel 9:17-19).
As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed (Daniel 9:23).
So when you see standing in the holy place “the abomination that causes desolation,” spoken of through the prophet Daniel — let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains (Matthew 24:15-16).
Correlative Quotes:
Daniel spends most of his prayer confessing the sin of the people. For example, verse 5: "We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from thy commandments." In other words, we have great guilt before God. And because of this real guilt there is real shame.[1] – John Piper
The things that mark true confession come clearly to light here. The evil is acknowledged without any attempt at excuse or extenuation. The rightness of God's judgments and discipline are fully acknowledged, and the plea that God would grant deliverance, according to His word, is urged, 'not ... for our righteousness, but for Thy great mercies'. Let us cultivate these excellent features in our day.[2] – F. B. Hole
Prayer…is generated by God’s Word, grounded in God’s will, and characterized by fervency. – John MacArthur
Study:
There is not enough space in this chapter to describe Daniel’s day to day expressions of faith. Daniel lived his faith. However, Chapter 9 demonstrates such a powerful statement of his faith that we will focus our whole attention on its content.
Chapter 8 sets the stage for Daniel’s prayer. John MacArthur explains the impact of this chapter when he says:
There is a flow here, for at the end of chapter 8, we find that Daniel at the end in verse 27 was sick and astonished at what he saw. Seeing the terrible sweep of gentile history, the terrible oppression of the people of Israel made him sick and faint.[3]
The prophecy for Israel was devastating to Daniel. The knowledge of Israel’s fate drove him to pray for himself and for his people. Daniel’s prayer was a prayer of Faith.
A prayer of faith:
Many years ago, I had my first heart attack. I remember it like it was yesterday. My wife rushed me to the hospital emergency in the middle of the night. The cardiologist looked at the tests and explained that I had experienced a massive heart attack. He added that the staff would have to wait three days for my heart to settle down before they could perform an angiogram.
Carol asked me what I needed from home and I said my Bible. I had been working too hard and was immersed in my own plan for growing a new sales organization. I had some deep soul searching ahead of me and I needed God to be with me on the journey.
As I began to scan the books of the Bible seeking God’s direction, Daniel Chapter 9 came to mind. I need to repent and seek understanding. “The Bible has all the answers I need,” was my thought.
We can only experience God’s will for our lives when we are in close fellowship with Him. We live in that sweet relationship with God, experiencing the fruits of the Spirit, and the abundant life He promised, as a result of a repentant heart. After reading Daniel’s prayer, I turned my face toward a blank wall and I asked God to forgive me for following my own desires and not allowing Him to lead in His path for my life. I finished my request for healing and continued life by praying through Proverbs 3:5-6. Each day for three days I read Daniel Chapter 9, studied it, and prayed the same prayer.
At the end of the first day, the first prayer, I began to feel better. My color began to return and my heart rate became regulated. Two days later the cardiologist completed the angiogram. He came into the room and said that he was planning to show us the video of the angiogram, however, there was no need. He exclaimed, “We can find no damage to your heart and your arteries are completely clear. I can’t understand what happened.” He didn’t want to accept my explanation but I shared the gospel message with him anyway.
When we approach God through His word and seek His will through with a pure and appreciative heart we can be assured that he will answer. As in Daniel’s case, the answer is not always what we want or what we expect to hear, but it will always be what we need.
Summary Statement:
With the prayer of an obedient believer comes the guarantee that God will hear that prayer and answer it. Along with the faith and trust that He will answer us, we must search God’s word, pray in the will of God, and lastly we must have the assurance that He will answer.
We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will (John 9:31).
The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results (James 5:16b, TLB).
[1] John Piper, How to Pray for a Desolate Church, © 2016 Desiring God, All Rights Reserved, desiringgod.org/messages/how-to-pray-for-a-desolate-church
[2] Frank Binford Hole, Daniel (Chapter 7-12), © 2016 Biblecenter.org, biblecentre.org/content.php?mode=7&item=32
[3] Ibid