Fervent Prayer
Notes
Transcript
We’re going to spend some time in Daniel 9 today so you might as well open your Bibles there. While you’re doing that I’ll tell you that I have had a desire for our church to be a lot of symptoms of Jesus. I say that because this week I’ve realized I’ve been thinking of how to teach, preach, encourage, and pray for all of us to DO the things Jesus desires us to do. A personal breakthrough for me long ago was understanding my identity in Christ personally. My identity in Christ as a new creature. Being Christ like and not just doing Christ like things was a massive perspective shift. So I’ve shifted my focus now for the church in the same way this week. Now I am praying about how do I encourage, teach, preach, and pray for us to be the church, to be the body of Christ and not just perform the proper functions of a body. That takes me to Acts 1:14 “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer...” It’s the first thing the church does. Together they all pray. So while I’m going to talk to you and encourage you to pray more in your life, pray more with people together, I don’t want you to be a function of the body. My desire is that you be Christ like. I’ve updated my prayer card for our church so that that is the focus for our church - that we will be Christ like because he has already made us new creatures. If some of the identity stuff is confusing or isn’t a reality for you and you want to actually get to know Jesus get a hold of me and I will figure out how we can setup personal discipleship for you.
Now on to Daniel. In Daniel 9 We get a marker of time right up front so that you know when these events take place.
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
Obviously that tells you all exactly where in history this is happening right? Okay so it’s been a while since this point in time so probably not. But for many who were closer to that time it would have helped them understand Daniel was very close to being 70 years from the time Jeremiah prophesied this in Jer 25:11-12 where, speaking of Jerusalem, the prophet wrote.
This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.
Daniel had done the math and realized they were in the upper 60th year of captivity. He knew the promises of God and began to pray.
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Daniel we know was a man of prayer. He was known in his time as a man of prayer. In fact the guys that didn’t like Daniel at all setup a scheme knowing they could trap Daniel for praying because he kept to a rigid prayer schedule and did not hide that he prayed to God.
In Daniel 6 we see him set as one of three top leaders by Darius to be over all the other officials in the kingdom. Daniel excelled at his task and the King was about to set Daniel above all others. The others being jealous set out to find fault in Daniel but they could not because Daniel was faithful to his office and did not make mistakes. But they knew he was a man of God and that he prayed regularly to his God. So they contrived to have a new decree set forth that no one should pray to any man or god for thirty days, unless that prayer was to the king. If anyone is found violating this decree they should be thrown into the lion’s den. They got the king to sign the documents and issue the decree. Now in the law of the Medes and the Persians the King cannot alter a signed decree. You’d think that would make them think about what they’re doing a little bit more… Then Daniel who knew about the decree still went home and with his windows open facing Jerusalem he prayed, three times a day, just like he had always done. So these other government officials go to the king and remind him of the decree to which of course the King affirms his decree that cannot be changed. They then accuse Daniel of ignoring the king’s decree. The king is forced by law to sentence him to being thrown into the lion’s den. Even though this distressed the king and he really wanted to find a way out there was no way out. Now you might have heard this story before and know the ending but the king hadn’t. The king had hoped Daniel’s God would save him but the king didn’t know. He couldn’t sleep he didn’t eat he didn’t have any entertainment brought all night. In the morning the king rushes to the den and crying out with anguish he shouts “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” and to the king’s great relief he hear’s Daniel’s voice come back. Daniel 6:21–22 ““O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”” Then after having Daniel taken out the accusers get tossed to the lions and their bones are broken by the pouncing lion’s before they even hit the floor. I’ve always gotta throw in that ending because they didn’t tell us that part in Sunday School when I was a little kid… In fact there’s even more but I’ll let you discover that for yourself when you head home and read Daniel 6 tonight for yourself.
Daniel was a man of prayer. So we find ourselves in chapter 9 with Daniel praying in his house, like he did every day, three times a day. This time he has a burden brought out from knowing God’s promise that they would be captive for 70 years and that time was nearly up.
Daniel prays in three parts. Now, I want to say this up front so that none of you misunderstand me here. I’m not about to set out a formula for the “right” way to pray. Prayer takes many forms in the Bible. For many the easiest way to pray is just to have a conversation with God out loud.
The elements we’re identifying here seem to be common in other prayers of the Bible and and I think it can be helpful to share with you if you’re at a loss for what to pray.
Daniel begins with Adoration
I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
Very simple we praise God in prayer.
Next is Admission
we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.
In the following verses down thru 14 which I encourage you to read, Daniel continues to confesses the sins of his people and asks forgiveness.
Lastly an Appeal that goes from verse 15 down to 19
“O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us.
this appeal continues to intensify more and more through the following verses and we reach 19 where it becomes staccato and jagged I can only imagine he’s weeping at this point on his knees.
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
There Daniel gets interrupted and he gets some answer to prayer and understanding of things coming that many people spend more time on in this chapter than we’re going to spend here. We’re looking at prayer this morning and we can see throughout the prayer of Daniel tells God God’s story and promise. He says God is the one who keeps the covenant and loves those who love him in verse 4 he tells God about the righteous judgment that God enacted upon Jerusalem, he points to God’s promise obscurely in how the people of Israel represent God to the rest of the people on earth in 16-19.
Daniel’s prayer is prompted by, then reinforced by God’s Word. This is a pattern we see in scripture and can be helpful in prayer. I want to emphasize again though that the important part of prayer is actually praying. We pray because Jesus told us to pray. We pray because we have a Father in heaven who loves us and desires to grant our requests. Jesus modeled prayer, and the church for thousands of years has gotten together to pray. I am going to say this and I really hope it does not sting because it’s not true for you.
If you aren’t praying every day, you don’t believe prayer works.
I’ll say it again.
If you aren’t praying every day, you don’t believe prayer works.
If you were scuba diving and you believed you needed air to breath you wouldn’t forget to take the tank with you, or just not had enough time to get that ready, or were planning on refilling those tanks but just felt silly because you didn’t think it would really matter and it would be embarrassing if someone from work saw you down at the docks checking all the seals and pressure levels. THATS ABSURD
Lets be honest the American Church in general has lost some deep core belief that prayer works. There are probably some people sitting here this morning or listening online that are being very honest with themselves right now. You may have come to the realization that you say you believe prayer works but your life has proven you don’t actually believe that.
Pastor Micah what do we do about this? PRAY ABOUT IT… seriously pray to God “Help me to pray” Make that the first item on your prayer list. You’re not going to fix you, God can. So ask him for help he’ll give it to you. Back at the beginning of the year several of us attended the “praying life” seminar over at HBC and it was good, it was helpful for me certainly and they told us put our prayer life on our prayer list. Wow what a concept but it works.
This is one of those messages that God has really intertwined through my life the last year. I’ve told the elders here an there that I really wish we had better corporate prayer or sometime to get together as a church and pray, I’m still praying about that. I’m still praying about my prayer life every day. Pray for the big and the small. I’m a failure here too. I’ve been struggling with my pickup truck and getting the lug nuts off to work on the brakes and I’ll confess I never once thought until writing this message “oh I should ask the Lord for help” I need to hear this message this morning too. God wants to hear our burdens and joys and struggles and triumphs.
I have been praying about prayer in our church for a little over a year I think. The conference came to HBC shortly after that, and the women’s bible study recently started going through a study on prayer and I see God at work changing us and I pray we keep changing more and more into the likeness of Christ. Where prayer is central.
Jesus talked about prayer. In Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 Jesus gives the sermon on the mount. At Chapter 6 he deals with prayer.
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Not if you pray but when you pray.
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
If you’re better at praying outwardly than you are inwardly who are you really praying to? Those people that can hear you, or your father in heaven?
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Jesus’ model of a prayer like Daniel’s also has Adoration, Admission, and an Appeal It might not be as obvious as Daniel citing Jeremiah but the Lord’s prayer has a reflection of the promises made in His Word. His kingdom is coming has been the future promise since King David, and the Daily bread is a reminder to God’s people being reliant daily on him as in the time of the Exodus and the manna from heaven. My boys have all been asked at one point or another to pray - usually at bedtime - and the most common reply their first time being asked was “I don’t know how to pray” So we would recite this prayer as a model. My children should all have this memorized by now but they still forget here and there. You don’t have to recite the Lord’s prayer. Jesus just gave us an example. A good example to model prayer on.
In Sunday School We’re going through Jonah and next week we’ll talk about Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the fish. It was a little different It didn’t have the Adoration, Admission, and Appeal. I want to share the model from that prayer in case it might be another help for you. For me a structure helps guide me but I know I’m also kinda weird.
In his prayer he had a structure like this-
Tell God your story
Tell God His story
Remind God of His promise.
Tell God His work of redemption
Tell God your response
If you didn’t get that down quick enough we’re going to spend more time on it next week in Sunday School and we’d love to have you with us downstairs. But so that you didn’t miss it “Tell God” is the important part to remember.
Let’s return to Acts 1:14 “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer...”
We’re going to do something a bit different, normally we have an invitation at the end of the sermon and ask that if you want us to pray for you, or you want to come before the Lord and kneel down and pray you have that opportunity. This morning we’re going to put the sermon into action immediately. I want you to turn to someone nearby and pray for them, and they for you. They might have something they need prayer for they may not know. I just want you to pray. You don’t need fancy words, you don’t have to be “good at prayer” tell God what’s going on, pray that God blesses them, ask for problems to be solved, whatever may be just tell it to the Lord.