Heavenly Living in Hostage Times Daniel 9

Introduction

The perpetuating unction of prayer involved with the marriage of a study of the Word.

The single parent that is the bread winner and the everything in a child’s life has to die on the vine that quality of time is better than quantity of time spent with the child. They have no choice. They are wearing the hat of the breadwinner, the parent, the disciplinarian, the housekeeper, the cook, the school teacher that helps with home work and it is what it is. I have a special feeling for a single parent that raises a family. and the blessing is, God provides in those situations. God provided in my upbringing in that fashion.

But now that I am a parent and grandparent of 39 years, I realize that nothing benefits like spending quantity time with a child.

Mark Mcilyar

livinganabolic.com

I am on a quest to improve my health to maximize my life with my right leg overall health condition. And I have been going consistently to the gym for about six weeks and I must admit I fill so much better. But, going to a gym and working out at age 61 is radically different from doing it in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, etc.

What is interesting about the physique that Mark Mcilyar has is not related to the quality of workout meaning extremely large amounts of weights, but the consistency of his workouts he will tell you is the secret. Obviously, diet is important. You can not workout enough to overcome bad eating habits, but the key heartbeat advice is the consistency of his workout.

Tonight, we are going to look into the minds eye tonight and gain a concept by example for our spiritual pilgrimage. We will learn tonight how vitally beneficial prayer is married up to the study of God’s Word.

In fact, if we did an informal survey here tonight, if we asked the question how is your prayer life and you answered honestly to the Lord right now, I imagine you would find that if one is weak, proably the other practice is weak as well.

You may ask, why is that? We learn as well tonight that prayer is not just petition, but its partnership and to enjoy partnership, you must know to whom you pray. You understand God better the more you read about Him. You know how to pray based on the things God wants, God promotes, God desires.

Let’s get into it.

Somebody read out loud off the screen tonight Daniel 19:1-19.

Daniel 9:1-19

Daniel 9:1–19 NKJV

1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. 8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly! 16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

Prayer

Message

In the Book of Daniel in the Bible, Cyrus and Darius are historical figures who are referenced in relation to the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people. So, based upon history outside the Bible what do we know about these two leaders?

**Cyrus the Great**

Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, which was one of the largest empires in ancient history, spanning from Anatolia to the Indus Valley and encompassing parts of three continents—Asia, Europe, and Africa. In the context of the Book of Daniel, Cyrus is mentioned as the king of Persia who conquered Babylon.

In the Bible, particularly in the Book of Daniel, Cyrus is depicted as the ruler who defeated the Babylonians and issued a decree allowing the Jewish captives in Babylon to return to their homeland, Jerusalem, and rebuild their temple. This is seen as a significant event in Jewish history, known as the "Edict of Cyrus" or the "Cyrus Cylinder."

**Darius the Mede**

Darius the Mede is a figure mentioned in the Book of Daniel, primarily in chapters 5 and 6. Historically, there is some debate among scholars about the identity of Darius the Mede, as no definitive extra-biblical evidence has been found. Some theories suggest that he might be a ruler associated with the Medes, who were allies of the Persians.

In the Book of Daniel, Darius the Mede is depicted as a ruler who succeeded Belshazzar as king of Babylon. He is the one who promoted Daniel to a high position in his kingdom. The most famous story involving Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel is the story of Daniel in the lions' den (Daniel 6). According to the biblical account, Darius was tricked into issuing a decree that prohibited anyone from praying to any god or man other than the king for a month. When Daniel continued to pray to his God, Darius had him thrown into a den of lions. However, Daniel was miraculously protected by God, and Darius was greatly impressed by this, leading to further declarations of the greatness of the God of Israel.

Here we have a scene in the life of Daniel that I believe was a very typical scene in his life. I say that because we know that in Daniel 6 that it was typical of Daniel to pray three times a day facing Jerusalem.

Daniel 6:10 (NKJV)

10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

The Gain of a Consistent Quiet Time

We read that the scene we look upon tonight is in King Darius’ first year of leadership of the Persian Empire take over.

“I, Daniel, understood the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”

We know from Daniel 6 that Daniel received position and status from Darius.

Daniel 6:28 “28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”

One of the ways Daniel prospered was by a position of status and power:

Daniel 6:1–2 “1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; 2 and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss.”

Why do I mention this? Daniel woke up every morning and had some good middle eastern coffee and he enjoyed an office and a large desk as a leader and he spread out all the scrolls that he was afforded at this time of the Bible being written, namely the OT.

Daniel was reading the writings of the book of Jeremiah and He came across in his time of study and prayer the Scripture that prophesied that Israel would be released around 70 years.

This is very important church, listen, someone read this aloud for me:

Jeremiah 29:10–14 NKJV

10 For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

Say this statement with me again:

Prayer is not just Petition, but more importantly, its Partnership with the Lord.

Daniel knew God. He knew God intimately. Daniel was a sinner as each of us are, but He loved God and His heart was in sync with the things God wanted. He prayed for the things God would want Him to pray for.

James 4:3 “3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

When we pray we tend to be selfish in our prayers. We pray for us and our affairs and our needs. Daniel was in tune with the desires of God and prayed in partnership for God to accomplish His will and use me in any way that I can be used to accomplish your will.

As we get into this prayer, let’s not that this is not a model pray for the Christian. This pray was for a specific person, with a specific desire, at a specific point in time to accomplish a specified end.

But this prayer is in the Bible and it is nestled just before one of the most controversial vision text possibly in the Bible. We will attack the vision next week.

But, we can draw concepts from Daniel’s prayer to apply in our prayer lives. Amen?

Daniel 9:3 “3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.”

Daniel 9:20 “20 Now while I was speaking, 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,”

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God”

Determined mindset to draw close to God

We must ask the question:

How can I draw closer to God? If you desire to draw closer and deeper and more intimate with God we can conceptually take from this prayer that there are things we add and things we take away to accomplish that.

Firstly, is the determination in so doing so we have to “set our face”.

You know exactly what that means. There are people here tonight at times you have to “set your face” towards.

-In recent days we have used what is called a sound machine. Our children have introduced us to sound machines and you have one on your phone right now and may not even know it. Or, you can get an app on your phone to turn on a sound machine.

What am I talking about? A sound machine makes a sound like rain or like the ocean, etc. and the sound blocks out any outside interference. When our daughter in law is feeding the baby at midnight or 3 am and the baby is crying and we have had our day for that, the parents are responsible and so we have a sound machine to drown out the baby waking up.

We read in Daniel 6:10 that Daniel set his face toward Jerusalem in past. In Daniel’s World, set his face toward Jerusalem was setting his face toward the place where God resided. It represented a past time for Daniel when there was peace and a place to freely worship Yahweh God.

We must add in the formula of the will the desire to meet with God, but we must cancel out some things that detract from your time with God. Daniel fasted meaning that he took away some things that would keep him from a closeness with God. Sackcloth and ashes was a sign of humility that He was in a desperate need for God.

So, as you think about this foundation of drawing closer to God-what needs to take place for you to accomplish that? You can say similar to my realization of a dire need to take care of my health and going to the gym, because no one else will do it for me, I’m going.

It may begin with simply the will and God’s prodding to say, I am going to make this a priority and by making it a priority, it will be the first thing I do in the morning.

I find that God many times provides what I call catapults of unction to motivate me to action. Remember the Bible, God will not do miracles independent of us, but He will move mountains with just a little unction and a little faith on our parts.

God instills something in our hearts that motivates us to action, but we have to cause the will to respond. Daniel was motivated by the fact that he came to Babylon as a teenager and He knew he was well over 80 years of age. In other words, the time is up, 70 years is upon us. I had better pray what God wants me to pray.

In the life of Nehemiah, Nehemiah prayed because he learn of such dismal reportings of the happenings of Israel.

Nehemiah 1:1–4 NKJV

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, 2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” 4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

There can be blessings or burnings or bewilderment that can cause us to pray. Spring forth from what God implants in your heart to pray.

Ill. Niece-Miranda 7,000 applicants to FSU, 270 interviews, 120 students are chosen for Med School. Also, she applied for UAB. Waiting to hear from UAB. WE learned the news late in the afternoon over in Prattville and we stopped and discussed in celebration. Celebrate in prayer.

The Goal: A Comprehensive Quiet Time

In other words, we want to learn to pray in a way that honors the Lord and not just us.

And what I mean that when we pray let’s give greater consideration to God than we do to ourselves. Daniel did this.

ACTS

A-adoration

C-Confession

T-Thanksgiving

S-Supplication

PRAY

P-Praise

R-Repent

A-Ask for others

Y-Yourself

Daniel 9:4 “4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,”

Daniel started with praise and adoration for God and because He knew God, he knew His attributes. He acknowledged that God keeps His word, that God is merciful and loving, and it should be our desire to do those thinks He asks.

Let’s look at Daniel 9:5 “5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.”

Let me ask you a question:

Have you ever had anyone that committed a wrongful act to you and could not admit they were wrong, they would justify in some way their actions and would never apologize? How does that person set with you?

How do you think we set with God to come to Him in prayer with all types of junk in our lives and come to Him as if everything is all fine with the world knowing He knows How sinful your heart has been?

How do you think He hurts over us when we do that?

Own Your Sin

We know from the life of Daniel as recorded that Daniel was a godly man. Yet, He was a Hebrew, He was a part of God’s chosen people. he knew that even after 70 years of captivity that the people at large had not repented and turned toward God and He admitted it. Yes, Daniel had his sins to own up to, but he owned up to the sins of his people. He knew in some way, shape, form or fashion that he was a part of the problem.

As parents, we know that our children come to a point in life that they are accountable for their actions. You and I can’t save them. They must make peace with God on their own.

But, as we pray, when we see our sins in our kids, we need to own up to those sins and call on God to overcome our past actions and gain forgiveness and overcome our faults. Amen?

Biblical passages such as Isaiah 7:15 and 16 seem to indicate that there is such a thing as an “age of accountability.” Unfortunately, Scripture gives us no guidelines for determining exactly when a given child crosses that decisive threshold into adult life. Dr. John MacArthur comments:

There is no “age of accountability” identified in Scripture as such. There is nothing in the Bible that says, “Here is the age and from here on you are responsible!” I think the reason for that is because children mature at different paces. That would be true from culture to culture, and from age to age in history.

So the Lord in His wisdom didn’t identify a specific moment. God knows when each soul is accountable. God knows when real rejection has taken place; when the love of sin exists in the heart. When enmity with God is conscious and willful. God alone knows when that occurs.

Isaiah 7:15–16 NKJV

15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.

You are right and I am wrong sound easy, but its hard to say.

V. 4 Daniel is adoring God. That begs the question:

Why does Bible Study enhance or deepen my prayer life?

Daniel uttered in his praise of Yahweh His attributes. The more you know the Bible, the more attributes you can praise Him for.

Let’s experiment here for a moment:

Let’s Brainstorm some attributes of God to offer Him praise for:

Let’s look at some verses as an exercise in broadening your ability to pray for God in greater, deeper ways as you understand His ways more.

1 Chronicles 17:20 “20 O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.”

Psalm 102:25–27 “25 Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. 27 But You are the same, And Your years will have no end.”

Psalm 145:3–5 “3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. 5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your wondrous works.”

Isaiah 55:9 “9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Jeremiah 10:6–7 “6 Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord (You are great, and Your name is great in might), 7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For this is Your rightful due. For among all the wise men of the nations, And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.”

Self Existence, Immutability, Unity and many, many others.

If for example, God is love then would this not be true of how God would respond?

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 NKJV

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

When you pray about a matter and how you are to respond, you know how to respond based on the attributes of God.

Lord, I pray that my words will be kind. Lord, keep me humble in this encounter. Lord, help me to speak truth and only truth. Lord, help me to think the best of that individual until proven otherwise. Lord, give me patience. Lord, help me to be slow to speak and quick to listen.

You get the idea. The more we study God and the more we understand God’s mindset, the more effectively we can pray His desires.

In vv. 5-7, Daniel continues to contrast Israel’s sin and God’s righteousness. If you want to grow with God you must admit when you are wrong and He is right. Furthermore, Daniel knows that what has happened to Israel has had nothing to do with the actions of the Babylonians or the Medes-Persians, but totally because of the sins of Israel. Those opposing forces were simply God’s providential hand of punishment on His people. Daniel did not pass the blame. We must own up to our sins.

All the way thru DAniel 9:15, Daniel was thorough in the confession for him and his people. he left no rock unturned.

God Holds Answers to Quality Times Ahead

VV. 16-19

We began with Daniel “setting his face toward the Lord.”

When we do the other it will “strengthen our Faith in the Lord.”

Daniel followed the formula. Praise, Repent and Ask-but ask believing.

Daniel knew from everything he had experienced in life that God had him and the nation in the palm of his hands. He knew the buck stopped with God.

We as New Testament Christians do not pray for a restoration of Jerusalem as the OT saints did. Jerusalem represented a place with God.

Jesus’ life and death and resurrection was the birth of the His kingdom come. He is here all around.

But does Hi reign in your heart?

He can by: enjoying great gain in a consistent quiet time with God. Secondly, the Goal: Be comprehensive in prayer by not only praying for your needs, but offering praise to God, Confessing and repenting of sin, asking for others as well as asking prayer for yourself. Lastly, praying believing that God holds answers to your quality times ahead. Amen.

Daniel 9:19 “19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.””