Do It For The Sake of Your Name, Oh Lord

Back in Daniel 1 you’ll remember that Jerusalem was besieged as a result of God bringing a curse upon Israel for their sins. God promised them cursing and desolation in Deuteronomy 28.

God allowed the desolation, and God will bring an end to the desolation.

This prayer is informed by truth about God, and what God has said, and the true condition of the human heart. And that’s how we need to pray, church.

Prayer is not about emotional manipulation, getting things from God, or getting God to do something for you. Prayer is about aligning our heart and will with His.

So I have five things for us to consider when we pray. Five aspects of Daniel’s prayer that we should all seriously consider, and apply to our lives.

The application to our day and time is quite clear. As Christians, we are a people in exile, living in a world that is not our home, and who long for the new heavens and earth.

As humans in this world, we can see the desolations that come upon those who disobey the will of God, and the lives that are destroyed by sin.

As people of a particular nation, we, Like Daniel, can cry for God’s mercy on us for the collective direction that we’ve gone.

With all this in mind, consider these 5 things.

1. Posture yourself rightly for prayer

Notice v3. “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God”

What was Daniel’s posture? Humble…self-denying...seeking him… “I turned my face to the Lord God.”

What he was doing here was turning his face toward Jerusalem, toward the place of the temple where God had made His holy presence known. That’s where his glory was. That’s where it was made known that God desires to be in the midst of His people, and for his people to know Him.

Daniel did not pray flippantly, or reservedly, or reluctantly - but in that late hour of long being in exile, and on the brink of seeing God fulfill his promise, he looked to his covenant God, who conquered Israel’s enemies in order to give them a land they did not deserve.

He looks toward Jerusalem because he wants His people to be there once again - and to be free from exile.

In Daniel 6, Daniel prayed from his upper chamber toward Jerusalem. He longed for restoration, and he knew that only GOD could do it. He fasted and prayed. He dressed himself in sackcloth, and sat in ashes - both of these an act of self denial, mourning, and recognising the need for repentance.

2. Pray with confession

We could really say that this entire prayer is one of confession. I’d like to spend an entire sermon series on confessional statements, and confession in prayer. It’s that important, and too many Christians are missing it.

Confession has a bad rap, I’ll admit that. But let’s let Scripture inform our prayer life, and not the horrible misuse we see in some religions.

When Daniel confesses to his covenant God, he speaks TO GOD things that are true about himself, and about His God.

Notice Daniel 9:4. O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

That is a confession - God, you are great. You are awesome. You keep promises and keep loving those who are in covenant with you.

THAT IS ALL TRUE OF GOD! Where did he get that from?

From the law of Moses - Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

So that is one way we can be a confessional people, is by speaking to God, and to others, what is true about Him from His Word. Not because he needs to be reminded, but because we do.

That is a largely missing piece from culture today. I mean, people will say “God is love”, and “God is good”. But what about this other part that really narrows it down. That He blesses those who are careful to keep his commandments?

Then the other side of this, that is so important, is the confession that looks inward, and is honest about our own sins, even the sin of our nation.

OH LORD, you are great and awesome, and WE have sinned.

look at v5 and 6. - We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

v9-11 for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.

v13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.

Naturally we don’t like to admit anything like this. But we must. Parents, teach this to your children early. When they sin against you, or a sibling, or anyone, teach them that confession is a necessary part of repentance and turning to God.

Church, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16

Some of you may be in need of confessing your sins to the Lord today. Don’t delay. And when you pray, church, pray with heartfelt and sincere confession, both what is true about God, and what is true about yourself.

3. Ascribe to God what is due His Name

Notice what Daniel says, and how he gives honor to the Lord in prayer. This will help you when you pray.

v7. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness...

v.9. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness...

v.14 For the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done.

The curse that has come upon His people is a direct result of God’s judgement. Just as many today find themselves in positions of difficulty and curses due to their own rebellion and disobedience.

But we live in a culture that does not want to exalt God in these moments. Self exaltation is the favored position. Humanism breeds gross selfishness. Trust me, You don’t need to look in the mirror every day and say, “You’re worth it.”, “You’re valuable.”

What we all need is to look into the mirror of God’s Word and see HIM for who He is, and who he made us to be. And what you’ll find, is that without him, you’re not as lovely and awesome as you thought you were. And that’s the truth. But you’ll also discover and be reminded that if you’ll trust him, and give your life to Him, and obey his commands, and believe in His Son Jesus, He will grant you repentance from your sin, and THEN, only then, does a person begin to find life.

Church, when you pray, ascribe to God what is due his name. That’s what Jesus taught us isn’t it? Our Father in heaven, HOLY IS YOUR NAME!

4. Pray on the basis of His mercy

Look at what he said in v. 18. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy

This is a very New Testament prayer.

“We do not present our pleas to you because of our righteousness.”

Why is this? Because we have no righteousness of our own. It is our unrighteousness that makes us guilty. It is our righteousness, even on our best days, that still falls short of his holiness and his glory.

So, just like Daniel, seeing all our needs, and the needs of our nation and world, and the destructiveness of our sin, and remembering the faithfulness of God, we present our pathetic requests, because we know He will show compassion to the humble, but only based on HIS mercy.

To pray based on anything else is of no use. Brothers and sisters, this is healthy prayer.

God, you are good, and I am not. My sins won’t allow me in your presence, God, but you have mercy on sinners, and YOU save the unrighteous for the sake of your name.

Daniel ends his prayer to God with these words.

Daniel 9:17-19 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 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.”

5. Appeal to the will of God in prayer

Everything David is asking God for are things we could clearly point to in His word and say, God wants to do that thing thing.

How do you KNOW the will of God? Sola Scriptura - by letting God’s word be the authority that forms your thinking, your desires, your actions, and your prayers.

There are things that we will pray about that we cannot know how God will lead exactly…but in every circumstance and season that we find ourselves in, we can still pray according to His will and His Word.

Notice Daniel’s words...

v17 listen to the prayer of your servant.

Does God listen to prayer? … yes, to the prayers of His servants. So, we pray, listen Oh Lord, and we’re encouraged to know he bends his ear to us. v18. Incline your ear and hear

v17 again. “Make you face to shine on YOUR sanctuary, which is desolate.”

Daniel appeals to the sovereign ownership that God has over the sanctuary. He’s speaking of Jerusalem, and the temple, the place where God’s people would meet with the Lord, and make sacrifices - But that was God’s idea.

Is it God’s will to dwell with His people, or to forsake them?

1 Kings 6:12-13 Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.”

Notice v19 again with me...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.”

Daniel appeals to the will of God for the people he has called by His name, and he cries out OH LORD, three times. HEAR! FORGIVE! PAY ATTENTION and ACT! DELAY NOT! Because we are your People!

I believe the Church needs to pray like this today! We want to see change, but we are not a confessional people. We want to see growth, but we sacrifice very little. We want God to give us things, but we do not ascribe to Him what is due to Him. We say, “God hear us”, but we are not postured toward Him in humility and sincerity like we should…

And then we have Jesus Christ - And because of His love, his grace, and his obedience to the Father - we don’t pray toward Jerusalem and long for His presence, but we go directly to the throne with access by faith, and we have the presence of the Spirit.

Because of Jesus, we have a mediator between God and man, and when we admit our sins, and confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us. And that massive, and impossible chasm between holy God and wretched sinner is bridged by Christ - and we rest in His grace.

And because of Jesus, we have authority in His name, and now, true Israel, a people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, gets grafted into the family and we become HIS possession. So that when we pray, we confidently remind God, like Daniel did, Oh God, hear, oh God forgive, Oh God act and do for your church what you promised. Spread your kingdom. Draw people in. We are exiles, but we’re destined for glory. Convict the world of sin. And because this whole universe is yours, and you have a people here, do it for the sake of your name.