PRAYER TIME, A
POWERFUL TIME
Daniel 9:4-9, 15-19
Daniel studied the scripture and discovered that God was
getting ready to redeem
his nation out of captivity. Daniel found hope in studying
God Word. Israel
was
punished by God because of their repeated sins. (Jer 25:11-12)
No
matter how bad you have been, you can find hope in the Word. The Word establishes
God
as the sole authority and each of us as His servants. God chastises those He
loves.
V:4 "I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and
said, "Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and
lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,
A. You are in a privilege position to know that you can go
to God in prayer.
1. Prayer is your
base line of communication with God.
2.God does not
give everyone the knowledge that they can come to Him in prayer.
3. To the world,
the Word of God is foolishness.
John 14:17 states: "the Spirit of truth. The
world cannot accept him, because it
neither sees him nor knows him. But you know
him, for he lives with you and will
be in
you."
B. Prayer is a time
to confess your sins.
1. It is a
privilege because confession arouses God's forgiveness.
2. Forgiveness is
freeing, because we can let go of the past.
3. We can
forgive ourselves because God forgives us.
4. We can
forgive others, because God forgives us.
C. Daniel found
hope in the Word.
1. He found
peace in the Word.
2. He found joy
in the Word.
3. He found
love in the Word.
4. He found
forgiveness in the Word.
5. He found
God's kindness in the Word.
CONFESSION OF SIN
V:5-6. "We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted
wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and
ordinances.
6 "Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the
prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all
the people of the land. "
A. Daniel's prayer was a cooperate prayer.
1. He prayed for
those that were in captivity and those that were left in the home
land.
2. Daniel
included himself in the sins of the nation.
3. We can look
around us and see the sins of all people.
B. Sometimes God is looking for us to pray for the lost.
1. Someone prayed
for us when we were lost.
2. If it had not
been for the prayers of others we might not have made it.
3. We have not
been good all our lives. We need to include ourselves in the
confession
of the nations sins.
4. We are a
product of our environment.
RECOGNIZING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
V:7-8. "Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord,
but to us open shame, as it is this day — to the men of Judah, the inhabitants
of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in
all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful
deeds which they have committed against You.
8 "Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our
princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You."
A, God has not changed,
1. God is the
same today as He was yesterday.
2. God's standard
of righteousness is always the same.
B. It is us that have rejected God's righteousness.
1. We change the
interpretation of God's Word to fit our way of thinking.
2. We can't always
see our sins because we are blinded by our own
standard of
righteousness.
3. Our standard of
righteousness is no righteousness at all.
C. Change in our lives begin when we accept responsibility
for our
situation.
1. The nation of Israel
was in captivity because they disobeyed God's
commands for hundreds of years.
2. Their existence
in captivity was because of God's mercy.
3. They deserved
death, but mercy saved them.
REFLECTING ON THE GOODNESS OF GOD
V:15. "And now,
O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a
mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day — we have
sinned, we have been wicked. "
A, It is good to remember how good God has been to us.
1. We have a track
record with God that tough times can't erase.
2. God's
chastisement of us is a record of His love and mercy.
B. The fact that we have a mind to recognize His
chastisement
is a blessing.
1. If we can see
God's chastisement as an act of His love, it gives us
hope in
redemption.
2. We could let our
dire circumstances drive us to despair or drive us
to prayer.
3. Prayer is a
vehicle of hope and trust.
4. We can choose
prayer or we can choose anger and frustration,
5. We can choose
God's love or Satan's lies.
CONFIDENCE AND BLODNESS IN PRAYER
V:16. "O Lord,
in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath
turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins
and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a
reproach to all those around us. "
A. When you know God's Word, you can be bold in your
prayers.
1. You are just
asking God to do what He said He was going to do.
2. Daniel read in
the Word that God said, He was going to bring
3. God's plan is
not determine by our obedience, but His love.
4. It is an act
of God's love to turn His anger and wrath away from us.
B. God's plan goes beyond us.
1. God's plan
includes all believers,
2. God blesses us
in spite of our sin so other can come to know His love.
THE POWER OF PRAYER
V:17-18 "So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your
servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face
shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
18 "O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes
and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are
not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our
own, but on account of Your great compassion."
A. Our prayers activates God's love for us.
1. IT is good to
remind God of what He said He said He was going to do.
2. God does not
forget anything.
a. It is the
believers that need reminding so our faith can be strengthen
b. We need to
be reminded of God Word so our hope is renewed.
c. We need to
be reminded of God's promises in the deep dark hours of our trouble
so Satan
can't get a foot hold in our minds.
B. God knows our trouble because they are part of His growth
plan for us.
1. There is power
in knowing that what God does is for His sake.
2. It is good to know
that we are included in His sake.
3. Since we are
include in His sake, our situation will work out for our
good.
C. We have to humble ourselves in prayer before God.
1. We can do
nothing to deserve God's blessings.
2. God hates the proud, but He has regard for the
humble.
D. Notice, we can appeal to the compassion of the Lord for
our help.
1. Daniel is a
role model for the proper attitude toward God.
2. He followed
God's commands.
3. He humble
himself before the Lord.
4. He did not
consider himself to be without sin.
5. He continued in
prayer with God.
6. He prayed
according to the Word of God.
7. He expected God
to keep His Word.
8. He recognized
that he had an obligation to pray for his nation.
9. He recognized
the power of prayer.
10. He recognized
the positive results of prayer.
God hears the
prayers of the righteous. Pr 15:29'
EXPECTING AN ANSWER
FROM GOD.
V:19 "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and
take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and
Your people are called by Your name."
A. The Lord takes an active part in our prayer life:
1. He hears our
prayers.
2. He forgives
our sins.
3. He listens to
our prayer request.
4. God acts
according to our requests.
B. Everything God does is for His sake.
1. God has a
vested interest in the well being of His Church.
2. God's Church
is the role model for the world.
C. God's Church serves as a monument to His goodness.
1. God's Church
serves as victory over Satan and His demons.
2. God's Church
serves as the way to salvation.
3. God's Church
serves as a model to His righteousness.
4. God
Church
D. We have the authority to pray for what we want.
1. Jesus said;
"What ever you ask the Father in My name will
be done for
you."
2. Jesus gives us
the assurance that our prayers will be answered.
You can expect God to do exceedingly abundantly more than you
can
ask or conceive.
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
For more lessons, follow me on facebook or visit my
blogs, revmmitchell.com and goodnewsrevmitc,blogspot.com
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