Lessons on Prayer

Why is it that prayer is so difficult?! If it’s true that prayer is central to the life of the believer, and the life of the church corporately, then why is it so neglected?! If it’s true that in Christ Jesus we have access into the presence of the Living God, the maker of heaven and earth, the One who is over all things, we have His ear!! Then why does it often seem like such a struggle! And if one of our main goals, missions, purposes as a church, is to see something happen (namely spiritually dead people come to life), which is 100% impossible for us, why do we spend so much time working ourselves and so little time calling on the only One able to do the work?!

There is something wrong! I see it in my heart, I see it in our church, I hear of it in many churches! And I long for God to change it, and I believe that He wills to change it! So over the next 5 weeks dv I plan to look at 5 passages from God’s Word that model for us or teach us about prayer! And the purpose it not to make people feel guilty, it’s not to scold, or lecture! I am all too aware that unless God by His Holy Spirit changes our hearts through His Word, any change will be superficial and temporary! But God can change us! And I want to invite anyone this morning who loves this church, pray with me over these next number of weeks. Pray and ask God to use His Word to teach us, excite us, draw us to prayer, individually and corporately!!

So this morning we begin in . By the time we reach this chapter Daniel has been in exile for over 60 years! He was taken from his home along with his friends as young men to the super power of the day Babylon. He has learnt the language, the culture, he’s excelled by God’s grace and held positions of real authority in this foreign land! Living under the rule of 3 different kings. And all the while he has never forgotten whose he is! He has been kept by God, and continued to seek Him in the place of prayer. ...

And now in Ch.9 we are invited into the prayer closet with this man of God, as He seeks God’s face! And there’s three things I want us to see this morning...

The Inspiration of Prayer (v.1-2)

Daniel is probably over 80 years old now as a new ruler comes to power, and not just a new ruler, but a new Kingdom! The Babylonian King Belshazzar has been overthrown by Darius a Mede, just as God had foretold. And during that first year of his reign, in the midst of change and no doubt instability, as new practices, culture, laws come into place, what is Daniel found doing?

v.2...

He’s searching the Scriptures, He’s looking in the books or writings. Obviously the O.T canon isn’t finished at this stage, but Daniel has access to part of it, and one part of that is Jeremiah. So imagine, a hugely significant event has taken place, the superpower of the day has been toppled, a Kingdom has been overthrown, and Daniel’s mind even though he’s part of the furniture now, even though the majority of his life has been lived in this foreign land! Yet His mind doesn't go to what’s life going to be like with these guys in charge? But rather, what does this mean for God’s people?

How do we think about the significant things that happen around us, Brexit, Stormont, Border polls, Harry and Megan leaving the Royals, immigration?!! etc. Do we think first about our political positions, our cultural identity, our bank balances, or do we think about God’s Kingdom His people? His purposes?

As Daniel looks at the Scripture he perceived (understood, saw), that God has spoken into this situation through the prophet! God had said that 70 years must pass before Jerusalem’s desolation, or shame, punishment would be over, and God’s people would return!

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. ()

...For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place…()

Daniel sees that the events that are happening around him and the time scale in which it’s taking place, are all pointers to something God has said He will do! And as Daniel sees this in God’s Word, it inspires Him to pray! It pushes Him to seek God, it forces Him to cry out to the Lord! Pleading that God would indeed do as He promised!

This is what the promise Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. () looks like. Daniel’s prayer is Word driven, He knows what God’s revealed will is, He knows what God wants to do, and therefore He joins in that work and pleads that it will be so!

If we want to grow in our prayer lives, then we must let God drive that! Let Him inspire and encourage that through what He has said He will do! Our prayers can be anchored, and emboldened as we pray in accordance to His will! Let me give you one example, when serious illness visits us or those we love, do we pray for healing, of course we do, do we believe God is mighty and able to heal, of course He is! But there are deeper things God calls us to in that work of prayer, things He has revealed that He wills to do, and we can then pray with confidence and certainty…...

God’s Word is our inspiration to prayer! As Timothy Keller says, He has already started the conversation.

The Pattern of Prayer (v.3-15)

As Daniel reads the words of God, as He sees what God has promised, he responds by turning to seek Him in prayer! Now this is not a casual, coffee with Jesus time of prayer! This turning to God is a surrendering, a laying yourself down, turning from all else with a single focus on the One you want! It’s earnest, it’s toil, it’s hard work! Now not all prayer will look exactly like this, this seems different to what Daniel’s daily seeking of God was like in Ch.6. But these times of earnest crying out to God are vital in our lives and the life of the church!

Remember who we come before

Daniel uses 2 names for God here, Adonai (Lord small case), meaning Lord, sovereign, master, and then Yahweh (LORD small capitals), which is that personal name of God that He revealed to Moses at Mt Sinai. He is Lord over all, He is Master, but He is also our Father, that personal Lord who loves us, who has brought us in Christ into a relationship with Him making us His people!

How important it is to hold those 2 things in mind as we come to pray! Not to treat God casually, not to come into His presence failing to recognise who He is! John Calvin in his institutes writes on prayer and his first rule is the need to fear God. We must have a sense of awe, a reverence, a realisation that the One we come before is God! But then that must be held in balance with the fact that in Christ He is also our God, our Father, the One who delights in His people!

Before you pray, take even just a moment and remember what it is you are about to do, who it is that you’re about to come before.

Praise Him for who He is

Daniel then begins his seeking of God with praise…O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep his commandments...’

This is what Jesus taught us, Our Father, hallowed be your name… We begin by hallowing, setting apart as holy, giving honor to God for who He is! He is the great and awesome God! Who is faithful to what He has said!! And that doesn’t change, regardless of what we face, or what we need! God is great and awesome & faithful when our lives fall apart, He’s great and awesome and faithful when things are going exactly the way we would want, or when they’re going completely opposite to how we would want!

Daniel has been in a foreign land for over 60 years! And now even the land he has grown to be part of has suddenly changed as this new Kingdom has taken power! Everything is changing around him, but His God isn’t! He is as great and awesome and faithful as He was when Daniel was in a postion of authority in Bablyon, He is as great and awesome and faithful as when Daniel lived in the Promised land with His parents, His friends, when they would go to the temple and worship!

Let’s remember as we come to pray, God is who He is! And He changes not! He is the same yesterday, today and forever! Begin by praising Him! And again, the more we feed on His Word, the more naturally that praise will come! The more ammo in a sense we’ll have ready to use to give Him honor!

Confess honestly & Specifically

From here Daniel moves on to confession. And as we read v.5-15… we see this lovely humility and honesty as He seeks the Lord! As you read this book it’s hard to find any faults in this man, now no doubt there were. He was a sinner like everyone of us! But in terms of Daniel’s integrity, I think he stands alone in the Scriptures, apart obviously from our Lord!

But here he humbles himself before God. He doesn’t put himself above others, he doesn’t look at others and pray like the Pharisee, ‘thank you Lord that I’m not like those people’! He cries out for mercy on behalf of all the people! we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly, and rebelled. There’s no holding back, no sugar coating, no trying to doctor or dress things up! We’ve missed the mark, we’ve twisted what you’ve called us to, we’ve been wicked and risen up against you!

When it comes to confession at times we can often be way too vague! ‘I’m sorry for my sin’! It becomes some general, theoretical concept that lacks definition! But we should be specific. When we’re aware of things we’ve done against the Lord we should bring them to Him specifically and seek His mercy! Lord I’m sorry for my laziness in this, Lord I confess to you my negative feelings towards this person, Father forgive me for my complaining about that!

Daniel is honest and humble in his confession, and if you notice it all revolves around the people’s failure to listen to God! v.6… v.10… v.11… v.14b...

God had spoken, He had revealed Himself and His will through the Scriptures, and the people had not listened, they had not obeyed! And then even when all this calamity and judgement came that God had promised, v.13…yet we have not entreated the favour of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.

Are we as individuals, and are we as a Church listening to the voice of God? He has spoken, clearly, loudly, simply! He has revealed to us who He is, and what He calls us to. Are we listening! Or do we need to come honestly before God and confess that we have been molded more by the voices of the world?

Even in the midst of this humble confession, there are glimpses of the greatness of the One we confess to. v.7… v.9… It’s because of who He is, that our confession even though offered in brokenness, it can be filled with hope!

The Ground of Prayer (v.15-19)

Can you see in these last 4 verses, how Daniel grounds all that he prays in God! He pleads in accordance with who God is, v.15a… This is the God of the Exodus! The God that has rescued and delivered His people! The God who has shown grace, power, mercy in days gone by!

Can you see how having that heart desire would change how we pray!

v.16… ‘O Lord, according to all your righteousness acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away...

v.18b… ‘…For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy...’

Daniel may have been a man of integrity, he may have lived faithfully as a child of God in a foreign land. But He knew the greatest hope He had in God answering His prayer, was not in who he was, but in who God is!

In our house if the kids want something sweet, they will normally come to me. They could go to Lynda and tell her how good they’ve been, or how they’ve tidied their rooms etc. But they know that I’m a softer touch than Lynda in the treat stakes! They know what I’m like, so they don’t come claiming to be something or have done something, they just come and ask because they know I’m too keen to give most times!

And in a similar way that’s how we’re to come to God in prayer. We don’t come claiming to be someone, thinking we’re owed something! It’s not like we can bargain and say ‘well I’ve been really trying to do this recently so...’ No in all our requests before God, we come because of who He is! We ask because of what He’s like! That is our grounding! That’s our greatest hope! He is the God who says... Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. ()

And now obviously this side of the cross we see just how we sinner can come with confidence to a Holy God ! We come not because of what we’re like, but because of who we now are is Jesus Christ! Our sin is gone, paid for, dealt with at the cross. And we’re clothed in the perfect life, the righteousness of Christ! We come humbly yet with confidence pleading with God to work because of who He is, because of His character!

But Daniel doesn’t just plead in accordance with who God is, He also pleads for the sake of God’s name! It’s through Him, and for Him that He makes His request! Do you see that in these verses…and for your own sake O Lord, make your face shine upon your sanctuary...

That lovely blessing from …

Open your eyes and see our desolation and the city that is called by your name...

Daniel uses that blessing that God gives His people in …

Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

Daniel main concern is not His comfort, or the culture, or desires. His concern was God’s glory! God’s reputation, His renown! And how that changes everything in our prayer lives! God work in this situation, so others will see you are great! Lord help me in this trial, not just to get out of it, but firstly to shown off your greatness! Do it for your name’s sake!

We can learn so much from this glimpse into the prayer closet of Daniel, His prayer is inspired by what God has revealed in His Word, it’s patterned by remembering who it is he come to, praise, confession and then petition. And it’s grounded in God! What He’s like, and all for His glory.

As we close, will you pray with me, and ask God to stir in us hearts like Daniel (I know for some here He has already done that), but let’s ask for more! Because we know it’s His will, we know He delights to give, and we want above all His glory!