Prayer Involves Humility

Daniel 9:4-15

INTRODUCTION

As was mentioned previously, despite the busy-ness of our lives, we need to make prayer a priority, because Jesus made prayer a priority.

Not just praying for our wants/needs or the wants/needs of others

Praying for the will of God

In order to know the will of God, we need to be in the Word of God

Daniel was in the Word of God.

He took time to be “in the books,” which is a clear principle for all Godly people in Scripture

When people are in the Word of God, it spills over into their prayer life

Let’s read Daniel 9:4-15

There are a lot of observations that can be made about this passage

One observation that can be made is that Prayer Involves Humility

And that humility is brought about by being exposed to the Word of God

As Daniel has shown in his prayer, exposure to the Word of God brings about proper…

Recognition of God’s Character

What attributes of God are alluded to in this text?

Great and Awesome, Faithfulness (keeps covenant), Steadfast love (v. 4)

Righteous (v. 7)

Merciful, Forgiving (v. 9)

Just, Righteous (v. 14)

Deliverer (v. 15)

Daniels’s exposure to the Word of God brought him face-to-face with the God of his people.

He is the Creator

He is the promise-maker

He is their deliverer and guide

Deuteronomy 7:7-11

While the Lord chose the nation of Israel from among all the nations, and showed love and compassion toward them, He was also a God who is just and expected His people to follow His ways

A.W. Tozer - The Knowledge Of The Holy

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

What are we thinking when we think about God?

It depends on our exposure to, and focus on, His Word

Do we think of Him as we would think of a best friend or acquaintance?

Someone we can just casually hang-out with and be relaxed around

Or do we think of Him as the great Creator of the universe who is holy and judges sin?

Realizing that we are wretched sinners and not worthy to be in His presence

Ultimately, a proper recognition of God’s character will naturally lead to the…

Confession of Sin

Daniel is humbled by what he has read in the books, and recognizes that he is not dealing with just any “god” (little “g”), but he is dealing with THE God of all the universe.

The one true God that has set the standard and punished Israel for not living up to it.

Given this proper view of who God is, and ultimately what the people are, Daniel is left with no other option but to confess their sin to the Lord and hope that He is merciful toward them

Notice how Daniel addresses the big deal here

We have sinned/rebelled – v. 5, 8, 9, 11, 15

When someone comes to the realization that they are wretched failures in living up to God’s perfect standard, then they realize that “open shame” belongs to them (v. 8)

Nathan openly rebuked David for his sin, who was then humbled by this rebuke (2 Samuel 12:9-14)

Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

We have disobeyed/turned aside/not listened – v. 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14

Rebellion is always preceded by disobedience to the expressed will of the Lord

Daniel expressed the unfortunate reality of the Lord’s rebellious people: they had His word, they had His prophets, they had His blessing, and they still chose to ignore what they were supposed to do

Read 2 Kings 17:7-23

What can we learn from this?

Even though we are blessed to have the very word of God in our hands, and every opportunity to learn from it and live it out, we are still capable of offending the Lord and turning from His word

How do we disobey God?

By doing what He forbids

“You shall not steal” applies to that pen that you accidently swiped from the bank

By not doing what He commands

“Go…and make disciples of all the nations” is not a choice, so we need to stop treating it as one

By adding to His Word

Water baptism is not a requirement for salvation, nor is any other sacrament

By taking away from His Word

Doing almost everything God commands is sin because it is falling short of the complete follow through

So, don’t forget to “baptize them…and teach them”

CONCLUSION

The Word of God is a necessary part of our prayer life because it exposes us to the will of God

Prayer is ultimately submitting ourselves to the will of God

It is through the Word that we are also shown the character of God and the reality of man as an imperfect sinner

Thus, we need to come to Him clothed in humility, confessing our sins, and seeking His mercy