Tag: Daniel 9

Daniel Prays

Daniel 7-9

Devotion by John Tullis (Ohio)

One of the most important Christian disciplines is learning how to pray and to keep praying.  For some of us, we learned to pray almost before we learned to walk!  For others, we learned about the discipline of prayer later in life after we decided to follow Jesus.  Prayer is an incredibly important part of our Christian lives.  To pray, or “entreat or implore” (fancy words for asking for something or giving God thanks) is necessary for any Christian.  God wants to enjoy a special relationship with you.  Praying allows you to express your desires, your faith, your devotion, and love to God.  Jesus even took time to teach his disciples how to pray (Matthew 6:5-15).

 Daniel understood the importance of prayer.  Time and again God had strongly supported Daniel during his captivity in Babylon under several kings.  Through it all, God had given Daniel special insight in which to interpret dreams and speak truth to powerful people.  In Daniel chapter 9, we see Daniel praying for the people of Judah and for answers about his dreams – which were a series of confusing dreams full of monsters and beasts!

Daniel is also praying for Judah, his homeland with Jerusalem as its capital.  For many years, Judah was held in captivity by the Babylonians, Medo-Persians, and Chaldeans.  All this time, God faithfully protected Daniel and blessed him.  Now, after many years of captivity, Daniel understood that the time was approaching when God would restore the people of Judah to their homeland.  Daniel intercedes for his people by praying to God.  In his prayer he confesses the sin of Judah to God, declares that only God is righteous, and agrees that they deserve the punishment put upon the nation.  But Daniel also thanks God for being a God of mercy.  Daniel understood that the punishments of God only come after we reject His mercy. Daniel believed in God’s word and looked forward to the day when God would rescue His people.

However, as he is praying,  he is surprised when the angel Gabriel arrives bringing a special message from God (Daniel 9:20-23).  The angel declares to Daniel that from the moment he began to pray, the word went forth from God to deliver a special message.  The special word from God to Daniel?  You are greatly loved (Dan. 9:23).  God would declare the interpretation of the dreams, but before anything else, God desired to express His love. 

When we pray to God, we often ask God to help us with something, to bless someone else, to bring deliverance or to confess our sins.  Whatever the reasons for you to pray to God, the most important thing to realize, whatever the answer to prayer might be, is that God loves you.  He loves you because of who you are and for your faithfulness to Him.  The message throughout the entire Old Testament can be shortened down to this:  God wants you to love him and obey him.  We might not get a special visitation by Gabriel, be we can be assured that God hears our prayers, acknowledges our prayers, and lovingly acts upon them. 

Questions for Discussion:

  1. Why was Daniel praying to God?  What was he looking forward to?
  2. What types of things do you believe occur in the “spiritual realms” when you pray to God?
  3. Why is it important for God to express His love for Daniel before getting into the interpretation of his dreams?
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The Solemn Joy of Christmas

OLD TESTAMENT: Daniel 9

POETRY: Psalm 138

NEW TESTAMENT: John 11:1-37

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. 

It’s my absolute favorite time. I love the snow falling from gray skies. The world turned crystalline with ice. Warm homes with twinkling lights and fireplaces burning, keeping the dark days bright. 

But notice, all the things I am speaking of are the current time of the year. I could be speaking of “the holidays,” a societal collection of days starting usually on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and going to about January 1st. I’m not speaking of those days. Thanksgiving is a great reminder to give thanks to God, New Year’s is nice to think about the way we want to live differently and better in the year ahead. But the only holiday in “the holidays” that matters is Christmas, its twelve days beginning on December 25 and going on until January 6th! Before this time of Christmastide, we can celebrate Advent (meaning “coming”) about the coming of Jesus. Advent starts four Sundays before Christmas, meaning the first advent Sunday was yesterday. 

Though the weeks of Advent are based around familiar themes (hope, peace, joy, love), Advent should also be a time of solemnity. Why? It’s more fun to focus on the love of God and the peace toward men of good will, hope and joy given to those who see the babe in the straw. 

Why is the babe in the straw? “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” In Advent, similar to Lent (the days before Easter), though not as intense, the Christian world is encouraged to remember our sins and to confess them to God. Daniel, in Daniel 9, embodies this for us well. 

Daniel prays to God, but he does so with all the parts of his body. He covers himself with ashes, a symbol of mourning, and itchy sackcloth, and to show his total dependence upon God, he fasts, refraining from food. He claims responsibility for his own sin and for the sin of his people. “We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled.” (9:5) He recognizes that God is righteous (9:7), merciful and forgiving (9:9), but for the people of God he knows that they are shameful in their disobedience. He recognizes that he and all God’s people transgressed and disobeyed the law, the voice of God. 

When was the last time you laid out your sin before the Lord and repented of it? Maybe you do this every day, and recognize those things in you that need to change and course correct at the end of each day. That’s awesome. But maybe it’s been longer than a day, and during this time of Advent, when we consider that Christ had to come to save us from our sins, you can say “God, I’m sorry for the mistakes I’ve made.” If you have never given your life to Christ, that is necessary for forgiveness and hope. We trust that God is merciful, as Daniel says in Daniel 9:18 “For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.”

And because he is, forgiveness is quick to be given, and hope is not scorned, because we are not calling on a vindictive God but on a loving Father. Gabriel tells Daniel “as soon as you began to pray, a word was sent out.” Daniel gets a visionary message in answer to his prayer… but notice his prayer will be answered! We know now that it was answered. When we come to God and confess, he is faithful and just to forgive us of all sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.  (1 John 1:9)

So today, take the time in this Advent season to confess your sins, to course correct because you want to please the God who saves you and wants to bless you. But do so because of what Advent will receive, and what the season is Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. 

Merry Christmas, and God bless us, every one. 

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions

  1. What makes the Advent season so special? How can you celebrate it in a way that brings honor to God and to the gift of His Son Jesus Christ?
  2. What role does confession play in your relationship with God? What do you notice in Daniel’s prayer? What does he acknowledge? What are his requests? When was your last prayer of confession?
  3. What will you pray today?
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