Daily devotion – Daniel’s example in intercessory prayer
Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.
This coming Wednesday evening we are back to prayer and the Book of Daniel chapter 9.
We find one of the most wonderful prayers in the Bible which we can use and model for our own lives today. I urge you to make Daniel’s prayer in this chapter, a place to tread what will become a well-worn path when you are seeking to be a man or woman of prayer, like Daniel.
We read of no fails or stumbles in the life of this young man Daniel who whilst a teenager is made a prisoner and removed from his home in Israel to an idol dominated kingdom called Babylon.
But we know that Daniel was a sinner too like us, for the Bible tells us, Rom 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..”
We see that firstly Daniel was a man of the Bible as we read in verse 1 Daniel knew through the prophet Jeremiah the time in which he was living and what was about to happen next!
Secondly, we see that Daniel includes himself in the sins of the nation Israel….
“…fasting, sackcloth and ashes….” Each a symbol of repentance.
“…..And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession..” Daniel confesses his own sins before God.
“… we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly…” We have sinned..we have done wickedly!
Daniel did not see himself above the people he loved and prayed for. He saw himself before almighty God just as Isaiah did in Isaiah chapter 6….
Isa 6:5 “So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.”
True people pf prayer who are the great intercessors for the Church today, and like Daniel of old, are those who personally aware of God’s grace and His mercy and forever acknowledge that we do not deserve the blessings of God but always come before Him humbly, thankful and in awe of His goodness.
I pray that you might consider stepping into the breach for the Church here at Calvary Chapel Secret Harbour, to be the Daniel of prayerful intercession for saints who call CCSH home.
May God give you a heart like Daniel and a passion to be a prayer warrior for His people!