Daniel's Prayer

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Welcome. The Wednesday in the Word podcast, equipping our leaders of this great weekly Bible study held at Dario, our wonderful, gracious host. all across North Carolina. This is to equip, encourage, and guide you as you prepare to teach the word and guide the discussion.

At each location each week. And we continue our journey now through the book of Daniel. Here we are with today's special guest Dr. Sam Warren.

So what does prophecy have to do with Prayer. In the middle of this great study of Daniel, We come to chapter nine. We're going to do this in one week, knock it out. But God just whoo he hit me with this prayer thing dr. Horn Prayer has everything to do with prophecy.

Tell me that, because that's one of the questions on the leader handout. What is prayer? How are prayer and prophecy even connected? Wow. Stu, it's always good to be on this call with you and on this podcast.

And I'm just reminded how timely. God's word is in our lives, even as we review it and read it and then we have to go out and live it, right?

So in essence, Uh, Daniel, if you think about what's been going on, Daniel. Uh has been uh living in babylon He has been living faithfully in a hard place and in a dark space. morally and spiritually and in every way conceivable. All of his personal expectations have not been met. You know, think about what you would think of if If God, as a young teenager, God took you away from your family.

God brought you to a foreign place in chains. and you never saw your family again. You never saw your homeland again. And all the news that you got from back home was consistently terrifying. The temple has been burned.

The city Jerusalem has been destroyed. the inhabitants, including your family. have either been slaughtered or scattered. And this has been the story of Daniel's life. for the entire time that he's been In Babylon, as a faithful Christian, where would you go for help?

And you would go to two places. You would go to the throne of grace in prayer. And you would go to the word of God. Uh, and that's exactly what Daniel did his entire life in Daniel chapter six. At a time of crisis.

Daniel goes up to the second floor of his house. Remember, we saw that when we were going through six. opens the windows of his house. And does exactly what the Bible says to do if you were an Old Testament saint. He prayed toward Jerusalem.

He prayed toward the house. uh of of the temple of god And that's exactly what Solomon prayed in Second Chronicles chapter six.

So Daniel is actually. Living out uh in in his faith In a difficult time.

Now, as he goes to the scripture. He starts reading Jeremiah. And he realizes. God said something to his people. And and what God said had to do with the timing.

of the discipline. that had come upon Israel. And by the time you get to where Daniel is sitting in 9, chapter 9, it is in the first year. There's a time stamp on this. It is in the first year.

of King Cyrus. And so Daniel, because he knows the scripture, is saying, aha. We are coming to the end of this long period of decline and discipline. And now I'm going to pray to God. Because when I see the end coming, what did God say we are supposed to do to alleviate judgment?

Well, we're supposed to repent. And so there is this. Prayer that is full of confidence. It is full of hope. And it is also full of repentance on a corporate and national level, and all of that's driven out of prophecy.

And so as you think about prophecy, it should fuel our prayers. Yeah. Oh, and if you think about how we started this whole conversation when you pointed out. wisely that this is not you know Predominantly a book of prophecy, which we make it. But it is also a book of wisdom in James 1:5.

We've quoted it often through these. conversations, Dr. Horne. If anyone lacks wisdom, Let him ask of God. James 5.

He says if anyone's in trouble. Pray. You know, how often do we... See prayer as a last resort as opposed to a first response. We're recording this podcast a little later than normal, Dr.

Horn, because both of us, especially you, your family, have had some medical and some other things happen with extended family. And when I called to record, we ended up praying, remember? Oh, yeah. You know, and so here we were up in the emergency room with my father-in-law. Yes, sir.

So, yeah. Again, we are called as Christians to live out our faith. Anchored on two realities. Number one, God has a plan for the future, right? That's the book of Daniel.

God rules. And his kingdom matters more. God is orchestrating a plan. For his kingdom, and that plan is going to intersect my life.

So that's anchor point number one. Anchor point number two is I have access to the throne of grace. In the middle of all of that, it doesn't matter what is happening. In the little kingdom where I live, God's kingdom is on the move. God is always doing something in the kingdoms of the world for his great name.

And so, as I navigate the dark space of that and the hard place of that. Because there are dark and hard, dark spaces, and hard places.

Sometimes it's in an emergency room. Like like we were in this week.

Sometimes it's in a situation where, like you've been in, what do I do? Where do I go? How do I unfold what's happening around me?

So as I navigate, The plan of God. And the providence of God, I have access to the throne of grace because of the prayers that I pray to God. I just, this is an amazing chapter to me. Yeah, and some call this prayer of Daniel and Daniel chapter 9, which is why we're doing one of our podcasts, a standalone on chapter nine.

Some call it the most powerful prayer. in the Bible It is Full of confession and repentance. It has got worship. It's got... All kinds of adoration, it's got adoration, it's got supplication.

Petition. Dr. Horne, there's a lot in here, and you've done a good job, I believe, on kind of reviewing where we got here. Kind of how we got here, how Daniel got here. Daniel's a man given to prayer.

We see that, we learn a lot about his prayer life. In this book, he goes to God first. That's where he went. He believed he had a whole lot more stock in. An email than he did an email.

And he was, he was looking to the Lord. As his first response, he had a relationship. He had a Posture, a pattern. This is all in the leader notes, but you know, it had a posture of prayer, a pattern of prayer. He had a purpose in prayer.

And so how can we, the first 20 verses, Dr. Horn of chapter 9. And we're going to get into the 70 weeks. And it's going to, hey, we're going to need a lot of prayer getting into the deep, the deep, deep heads of the 70 weeks, which. We're all still working out whether theologians like you still are working through that.

We'll get to that on the next one. But quickly, give us a breakdown of these 20 verses. And I really love how we get into this because.

So many people, one pastor that's linked in our leader notes that I send out to the leaders, he made a great statement. He said, a lot of us talk about reading through the Bible in a year. He said, we should pray. Pray through the Bible in the year.

So there's the Word of God is informing Daniel's prayer life. And so that's something you mentioned earlier. Set us up. Where are we as by way of now preview of the these these uh twenty verses? Power packed with prayer.

How should we structure it? How should we go through it? And how does the word of God set it off? Yeah, so because I want to be very careful with our time. Um the way I I took these 20 verses is I I looked at it from five perspectives, and I think that's a very helpful way to do it.

So, the first thing immediately is what we mentioned earlier in verses one and two. You gotta set the context.

So if I were preaching through this or teaching through this. or even trying to understand it in my own life, I want to make sure I get the context. And as we said in verse one and two, it is in the first year of Cyrus. And um And there's a little detail. Uh that we're told he is by descent a Mede.

who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans.

So why are we given this Instruction. Because there is a biblical foundation. Late in Isaiah 13. And in Jeremiah 51. Where God says, In Isaiah's case, over a hundred years before it happened, that there would be a a mead a king who is a mead who would come.

and restore the fortunes of God's people. And so we find out later in Isaiah. Uh uh that it is Cyrus okay so we are in That time frame. Daniel is not ignorant of this. He knows Isaiah.

And so he has been. Uh reading Isaiah and Jeremiah and he knows the Torah. And he knows that in Jeremiah 29, 10 through 14, God has said, after 70 years, I will restore. The fortunes, I know the plans I have for you. Remember that text.

Not to destroy you, but to give you a future.

So that's the context. in which this praying happens. And so in the first year of that. Rain, Daniel said, I perceived in the books. Plural, the number of years that according to the word of the Lord, did Jeremiah the prophet?

Had to pass. Before the desolations Of Jerusalem would come to an end. All right.

So, knowing this, he prays.

So that's the first thing, verses one and two, set the context. Second thing. is that in verses 11 through 13, well really The rest of it, I'm just kind of cherry-picking little verses here. This prayer is shaped by scripture. Let me show that to you.

First of all, scripture is the basis for this praying. And uh When you think about this, In Leviticus chapter 26, remember I said Daniel knew the word. In Leviticus 26, 40, it says, If my people confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers. in their treachery That they committed against me in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them. In other words, if they repent, I will remember my covenant with Jacob.

I will remember my covenant with Isaac. and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember. The land. And so Here it is, if they confess their iniquity. and their treachery.

Daniel is gonna use both of those terms. in this prayer. Uh i if they Uh he's going to depend on the covenant language. All right.

If they make their confession, Daniel says, I make my confession in verse four. And so Daniel's A prayer is actually based on scripture. Scripture didn't just you know, wasn't just the basis of it, it directed the orientation. Think about What God told Solomon: if my people or call by my name. will humble themselves.

And pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. I will hear. and I will heal their land. I will hear, I will forgive, I will hear their land, right? And so that's exactly what.

What Danielle does. He now prays. Uh this confession in in verses 18 and 19. Listen to what he is praying. All right.

Oh God, incline your ear. Open your eyes, see our desolation. And the city that is called by your name, we do not present our pleas. Before you, because of our righteousness, but because of your mercy.

So, Daniel is doing exactly. What God told Solomon. hundreds of years earlier to do When he disciplined his people.

So scripture directed the orientation. of the prayer and then scripture flavored the language of the prayer. In Numbers chapter 6. Verses 24 through 27. Uh God says to Aaron, I want you to stand up.

And I want you to bless the people for me. Remember that prayer? May the Lord bless you? And may the Lord keep you. May the Lord lift up his countenance over you.

May the Lord's face shine upon you.

So here is this amazing blessing. And in verse 17 of this prayer, we have that language. And so the language is: listen to the prayer of your servant and to his plea. And make your face. shine upon your sanctuary.

which is desolate.

So scripture shaped this Prayer. That's the second big idea. And then the third big idea is that the prayer. Was grounded on God's character. In other words, How in the world could a man who had lived all his life.

Praying to God. And not seeing The specific answer to this big prayer, keep praying. And so in the prayer, Daniel is going to talk about the character of God. And the character of God in the prayer. is absolutely Stunning.

I mean, think about it this way. In verse 4, he talks about the unmatched glory of God. And he says this, O Lord, the great. An awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love. Man, in the middle of my praying.

What an incredible reminder. I'm praying to the God who made promises to me. and made promises to his church, and he made promises to his people. And all I'm doing when I'm praying is coming to those promises, grabbing on with both hands and saying to God, I'm holding on to something you promised. Remember your covenant.

And so he prays. About God's glory and his unfailing love. He talks about God's truthfulness. And the reliability of his word. Look at verse 13.

as it is written in the law of Moses.

So Daniel in the middle of his prayer is quoting scripture. To your point earlier about the pastor who said we ought to pray through scripture. Daniel is praying scripture right here. Lord, as it is written in the law you gave Moses, all of this calamity has come upon us. Yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord.

We have not turned from our iniquities, and we have not gained insight from your truth. Wow. You know, one of the things when you pray scripture. Is you all of a sudden get insight? Into what's going on.

So there is this. Uh, praying, prayer that is on the character of God. He preaches, or prays rather, about the unimpeachable righteousness of God. Listen to this in verse 7 and verse 16. The Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done.

You know, all of a sudden, I'm looking. at this horrible thing that's happened in our family. And if I were praying Daniel 9 and came to this, I would say, Lord. I don't like what's happened. To our family, this is hard, it's difficult, but you have done the right thing.

You have been righteous. You have made a decision that is in Is in line with your greater purposes. And so, Lord, help me. And that's actually how Daniel is using the character of God. He talks about God's unstoppable power.

In verse 15. You brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand. And you have made a name for yourself.

Well, that's exactly what I need in prayer. Lord, I need your mighty hand to intervene like it did back in Moses' day. And then he talks about God's unending kindness and mercy. To the Lord belong mercy and And forgiveness. For we have sinned against him.

And so when you think about this prayer. It's it's shaped by scripture. And it's based on God's character.

Now, there's two more things, but I want to stop here and give you some time to interact with some of this before we go to the last two things.

Well, I'm just sponging it up. I'm trying to retain everything and write everything down. You're saying it's really fascinating that in chapter six, We see Uh we see a praying Daniel. But in chapter 9, we actually hear Daniel's prayer. And so we see the power.

We see this man who has God's. Anointing, he has been prospered, he has been blessed, he has been protected, he has been delivered. But in chapter 9, we discover. Really, we go we it's like we go into the Kitchen where the sauce is made, right? We go into the engine room.

And we see the power. of prayer. you know, on display because we see his prayer, we see into his heart. And it is, it's like he's praying the Psalms, it's like he's praying Leviticus, it's like he's praying Numbers, Deuteronomy. I mean, this is this is a bibliocentric prayer.

And Dr. Horne, I'm reminded, I heard recently there's over 3,000 promises of God in the Bible. that are waiting for us to. To claim and to trust and to pray and to ask God for and to appeal to God and to seek His face on. And Daniel is is Engaging in God's very word and God's very promises.

This is really helpful. You know, a couple, we always throw some extra questions that aren't on the handout discussion guide for our Wednesday in the Word and our Women's in the Word on Thursday groups. A couple might be: how has God's Word influenced your prayer life? How often do you actually pray the scriptures? I mean, not just Daniel 9, but you have some rich prayers of Jesus all throughout the Gospels.

You have the rich prayers of Paul, you know, where he prays. Oh, yeah. He breaks out into doxology in the middle of theology, right? Ephesians chapter 40. More than 40.

Yeah. More than 40 of Paul's prayers. Yeah. So there's a couple of questions. How has the word influenced your prayer life?

How are you praying the scriptures? And we are running a little tight on time, Dr. Horn, but yeah, to kind of put a bow on this and the importance of this. As it relates, because we're going to see a mighty powerful answer to this prayer from God through. Gabriel in verse 20, 21, and all the way through the end of this chapter, and then the end of this book.

But finish your thought because these these uh nineteen verses are just They are they are sticks of prayer dynamite. Yeah. Okay.

So uh we we need to do one thing before we go to the last few points and that's think about the placement of this prayer in the book. Because in time, in actual chronology, it happens at the very beginning of Cyrus's reign. But in the book, it actually happens after Daniel has received two disturbing visions. About the future of his people.

So in chapter seven and eight, Daniel has received a vision. And then a second vision that's the explanation. And he's beginning to suspect something: that the 70 years that are supposed to end, and all the glory that's supposed to come. That's not going to happen right away. And so he gets on his knees.

And he starts praying. And at the end of the chapter, God is going to actually explain what he's up to.

So this prayer is actually placed in the book. After Daniel gets some revelation at the end of seven years of captivity, that actually the period of discipline isn't over. And we're going to find out that the period of discipline isn't over because of Leviticus 26. And in Leviticus 26, God said to his people, when I discipline you. If you don't repent.

In the period of discipline, I'm going to judge you sevenfold. And in that chapter, Leviticus 26, there are at least four times where God says to his people. If you don't repent. I'm going to judge you sevenfold. And if you still won't repent, I'm going to judge you another sevenfold.

And so all of a sudden, Daniel is starting to realize: whoa. God's people have been resisting the entire 70 years. The people under Ezekiel have been resisting. The people under Jeremiah have not submitted. They have not repented.

They have run to Egypt in further rebellion to God. And Daniel is starting to connect some dots. What I thought was going to end in 70 years. is going to have a small return. But the period of discipline is still going to go on.

And so it's in that context that the prayer in chapter 9 happens. And the last two things we want to see is that in the middle of all of this confusion. And sort of awful recognition, there is humility and confession. And so Daniel, who has done nothing wrong, in fact, In the Bible, we are told in the book of Ezekiel. That the righteousness of Daniel is mentioned, right?

So Daniel is, he's confessing. Since But it's not his personal sense. He is standing as the representative of a nation who has been horrifically sinful, and he is speaking nationally. and corporately. And so he comes.

And he confesses. He said, I prayed to the Lord and I made a confession. That's chapter four of nine verse four. And then he says, we have sinned. We have done wrong.

We have acted wickedly. We have rebelled. We have turned aside from your commands and rules. We have not listened to your prophets. Because of the treachery that we have committed against you.

Can you imagine if the spiritual leaders of America stood? on the National Mall and spoke this way. about our nation. Man, there would be a public outcry. Here is Daniel, the public representative of the nation.

And he speaks this way. It is a humble. Prayer confessing openly the horrible sins of the nation. And here's what he wants. He wants mercy.

Message. The thing that he wants. He wants mercy. Verse 17 and 19: Oh God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his plea for mercy. And for your own sake.

Make your face to shine on your sanctuary. oh god incline your ear and hear open your eye and see for we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness But because of your great mercy. In other words, Lord, on the basis of your mercy, Hear and forgive. What a great prayer. And what he's really up for, and this is the last thing.

and then we can close it out is verse 19. Look at verse 19. In the text in Daniel nine nineteen, O Lord. Hear and forgive. pay attention and act.

Do not delay. For your own sake. Because of your city and your people who are called by your name. Daniel is not asking God to rebuild Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple so that Israel could be great again. He is not trying to make Israel great again.

Daniel is not. operating out of a mega kind of a a mindset. He's actually praying that God would make his name great. And God, if making your name great is going to be further advanced by more discipline over Israel, I want to submit to that, but I want to acknowledge our sin, I want to confess. And I want to appeal for mercy.

And I think that's really the heart of it all, because as a pastor, And pastoring a conservative evangelical church, there are people in my congregation, like I think there would be in all congregations. And they are really burdened for America, just like I am, and I'm sure you are. We are a burden for our country. I'm so grateful to live in this place. I'm so thankful for the freedoms we have.

But sometimes my love for America and my appreciation for its freedom. and my desire to see more of it. Actually, it can cause me to pray to God, and my motive is to make the country great again. Where Daniel's motive, if anybody had anybody had sort of a right to make their country great again, it was Daniel. And he's not praying for God to make Israel great again.

He's praying for God to remember Israel so that God's name would be great again. There's a huge difference. Yes, sir.

We're not using God to make Israel great. I'm asking God to make Israel great again so that the whole world would see God is great. And that is huge in our praying. Because right now we live. At a period of time, everything is so volatile, we really live in a Daniel moment.

And are we going to get on our knees and pray for God to make his name great? As he blesses and hears our prayers for America? Or are we going to pray for God to make America great? because we want America to be great again. And those two are not just word games.

These really are, that's the heart of Daniel, and that's how often it's different than mine. And it's all centered around praying according to God's will. 1 John 5. Uh 13 and 14, John 15, 7. praying What does God want seeking him?

Pray us out of here. First, I want to give a great quote from Why Revival Terry is one of my favorite prayer quotes: No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing. The people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be a shop window to display one's talents.

The prayer closet allows no showing off. Poverty-stricken as the church is today in many things, she is most stricken here in the place of prayer. We have many organizers, but few agonizers, many players and payers, but few prayers, many singers, few clingers, lots of pastors, few wrestlers, many fears, few tears, much fashion, little passion, many interferers, few intercessors, many writers, few fighters. Failing here, We fail everywhere. And how about that quote?

It's a mouthful. I'm going to include that in the leader notes. That's from chapter two, the very beginning of why revival. Terry's, but the confession of sin, calling upon God's name, praying according to his will, praying and appealing to the heart of God in humility, using the personal pronoun we, when Daniel was one of the most righteous guys you find in the Bible, one of two characters, we don't really find much anything bad about him and Joseph, but yet he says we. Dr.

Horn, pray us out of here and also remind us the only time in this book we have the formal name of God is in this chapter. Daniel 9. Yes, sir.

It's in there. And we have Daniel wasn't our great intercessor, although we, in a sense, are an answer to Daniel's prayers. Everyone listening is an answer to someone's prayer because someone prayed for you, and Daniel prayed for us even back then, but the ultimate prayer warrior. In that garden, Jesus Christ, our great intercessor, Our great high priest in his prayer for us in John 17. Daniel was just trying to introduce us.

to the ancient of days, and to the one who would come, the great prince who would come and deliver us. And fulfill all this. And he prayed for us. And Jesus' prayer, he said to Peter, He said, 'Hey, but I have prayed for you.' And so, thank God that we have a Daniel to point us to Jesus, who is our great. Mediator and our great prayer warrior.

But, Dr. Horn, comment on that quickly and pray us out of here, brother.

Well, you know, Daniel prayed. And then Jesus prayed, right? And Jesus prayed for his own. and he taught his own to pray and that's maybe the way we should pray as we think about Uh lifting up God's name. and extending the offer of his kingdom that matters more.

And doings will. On earth as it is in heaven, Lord, I thank you for our time. I thank you for Stu, and I pray for him. I pray for the Truth Network. I pray for these Bible studies and the wonderful way in which this book is being unfolded in the real lives of people.

Lord, I pray for everyone who will study this chapter. And those who will access this podcast. And Lord, we pray that. They would see how your name matters so much to you. And so, Lord, we ask that in our lives, your name would be exalted.

In our ministries, your name would be exalted in our families, in our marriages, in our churches. Lord, I pray that... The offer of your kingdom. uh forgiveness through your son as paul said we are ambassadors uh sent out by God.

So that through Christ he could reconcile the world to himself. Lord, we want to extend that amazing offer wherever we go, whether it's on a cruise or in an office or at a hospital or in a gym or at a workplace or at a family gathering. Lord, we want to extend the beautiful, gracious offer of the kingdom that matters more. And we ask that you would build that kingdom, even as Daniel prayed, that you would rebuild your city and your temple in that Old Testament kingdom. We pray the same today.

And then, Lord, we ask that your will would be done. We ask that you would do it in your way, at your time, and by your means. And we pray that for our own lives as well. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thank you, Dr. Horne, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word. podcast. Learn more at wedintheword.com. Follow us on YouTube.

Facebook and all social media, including and Stu Graham. And be encouraged. Stay in the word. Read it. Share it, study it, memorize it, and Meditate on God's Word.

Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Proverbs 30, verse 5.