I PRAYED TO THE LORD MY GOD AND CONFESSED
Daniel 9:1-19
“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 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, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.”
It seems that some time before Nehemiah broke down in tears over Jerusalem, another man prostrated himself before his God, seeking to turn his wrath away from his people.
The prayer is a wonderful example of a contrite and broken spirit, such as David prayed when he sought God’s forgiveness for his sin with Bathsheba, in Psalm 51: “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” We will do well to learn this posture when we come before God in repentance.
What struck me, however, is that the Bible recorded for us this prayer of a man interceding for his people. It not only tells me how valuable it is in God’s sight that his children pray and intercede but also how powerful it is because God hears and God responds. The later half of the chapter tells of how the Angel Gabriel came to deliver a response from God. All Daniel did was pray, and God responded to his prayer.
The church organises weekly prayer meetings because it believes in the power of united prayer, taking a leaf out of Matthew 18, “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. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” The context of vv91-20 however is about dealing with the sin of a brother.
This is not to say that the prayer meeting is not a good practice, but it casts individual prayer in lesser light and it does not encourage the individuals to take the role of an intercessor.
How important it is to maintain the channels through which the love and power of God flows. How important it is to intercede on behalf of the church and to seek God’s wisdom and desires about the matters that he has put into our hearts and minds through his Word and through the encounters and events of our fellowship with the community. How important it is to call upon his justice, his compassion and mercy, his help to alleviate the suffering around us. How important it is to pray that he will work on the rocky soil, shallow soil, and soil infested with thorns and weeds, so that the seed of the Gospel might take root. There is so much we cannot do by ourselves.
Surely we must believe that in all of life, God is the One who makes the most difference. How important it is for us to be his channels, interceding for those whom he has laid on our hearts and minds. Our Lord Jesus is the chief intercessor: “Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.” (Hebrews 7:23-26). We do well when we unite with him as another member of his team of intercessors.
“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 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. 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.”