The Power of a Prayerful Life (Part 2)

Prayer

A couple years ago Amy and I were involved in an interfaith group up in Erie to try and bring hope and healing to Mental Health in faith communities…

The Rabbi’s answer to prayer was eye opening and I didn’t understand it…

Especially in light of the prayer lives of all those in the Old Testament…prayer is literrally a defiant act against this world and its systems…

Recap: That there is power in a life dedicated to prayer but it comes from discipline. Prayer is a Discipline and Daniel exemplfied that by his daily habit of prayer 3 times a day.

Daniel was Distinguished through Prayer

To be distinguished means to be set apart… in high school you had honor roll and distinguished honor roll…

It was Daniels prayer life and his relationship with his God in Heaven that allowed him the privilege to serve in Government for roughly 75 years.

Daniel was honored over and over again and known as a man who had not let the positions of power get to his head. And in our world this is something that is rarely seen.

Lord Acton back in 1887 wrote..

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”

Think about most career politicians in our nation. People who have served 40 or 50 years.

But not Daniel…I believe Daniel was Distinguished and Honored because of his prayer life...

Daniel 6:3–5 NIV

3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

His life was dedicated to prayer and seeking his father because he knew where his help comes from.

Daniels prayers were powerful and personal.

And so what better way to examine why he was the way he was than to look at his prayer life. You can tell a lot about a person depending upon what their prayer life looks like.

A Prayer from Daniel

Daniel 9:1–3 NIV

1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom—2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

First I want us to notice that it was in the reading of Scripture that prompted Daniel into prayer. He was reading…He was spending time searching for God in God’s revealed Word.

Read the Prayer:

Daniel 9:4–19 NIV

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. 7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. “Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. 15 “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our 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. 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

Prayer Glorifies God- Adoration

The Psalmist proclaims…

Psalm 100 NIV

A psalm. For giving grateful praise. 1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

It’s almost as if praise and thanksgiving are the passwords to enter into the presence of God.

And our prayers need to begin with thanksgiving and praise…adoration of who God is and what He has already done for us!

Daniel modeled this for us…

He gave Adoration and Glory to God.

Much in the Same way that Jesus taught his disciples to pray…

Our Father, Hallowed be thy name.

Here’s how Daniel praised, adored and gloried God in his prayer…

Verse 4-Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments

Verse 7- Lord, you are righteous,

Verse 9- The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving

Verse 15- Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day

Verse 17- For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.

Verse 19- For your sake, My God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.

Does your prayer life seek to adore and glorify God above all else? Is his name kept Holy in your heart, mind and soul?

We are trying to model this in our corportate prayer services on Wednesday night. When we come together we are not just going right into praying through our prayer requests we are trying to adore God for who He is. We are positioning ourselves into a place where we can glorify our Father in Heaven.

Because when we do so, when we remember who it is that we are praying to we place our needs, our requests, our desires in proper perspective.

We should also do this…

Prayer Humbles Man- Confession

King David proclaimed in Psalm 51:17

Psalm 51:17 NIV

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

Verse 5&6 We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets…

Verse 7- we are covered with shame…ecause of our unfiathfulness to you.

Verse 8- We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you

Verse 9- The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;

Verse 10&11 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.  All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

Verse 13- all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.

Notice in all of these confessions, not once did Daniel offer an excuse. Not once did Daniel try to defend himself. Not once did Daniel pass the blame. No Daniel was a true leader that understood that the buck stops here.

No more. I will take responsibility for not only my actions and the times in my life when I missed the mark.

Because we all fail, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, but a true leader recognizes the sin and call it what it is. And a true leader like Daniel, accepts the responsibility not only for his mistakes, but the mistakes of the people under his care.

The best leaders out there know that the buck stops here. I will not pass the blame. I will not offer an excuse. I will not defend myself. I will offer only my confession before the Lord that yes, I am guilty. Yes, I am to blame. Yes, it is my fault.

That is what a confession is. It is making the statement that you agree you are in the wrong and something needs to change.

That’s why when Jesus modeled for us the ultimate prayer…we are to pray like this.

- Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

So how often does your prayer life model Daniels?

Remember, this is a man who couldn’t be faulted in his public life.

Remember back to what they said about Daniel…that he was distinguished…that they could find no fault in him. But in his prayer life, he took on the blame for his peoples sin. For his own sin. He confessed.

What does confession look like in your prayer life? Does it place you in a position to be humbled before a holy and awesome God? Because it should.

Lastly, Daniels prayer models for us that…

Prayer Petitions Heaven- Supplication

Philippians 4:6–7 NIV

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

But long before Paul spoke those words Daniel prayed a prayer of supplication on behalf of his people and his land…

Verse 16- Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill.

Verse 17:For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name.

Verse 19- Lord, listen!

Verse 19- Lord, forgive!

Verse 19- Lord, hear and act!

Jesus said in Matthew 18:19

Matthew 18:19 NIV

19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

We want to be men and women whos distinguishing characteristic is that like Daniels. He was a man of character.

Acts 4:13 NIV

13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.