Daniel Unlocked #56. The Prayer and the Prophecy.
Daniel offers a prayer of intercession for his people that functions as a model for our prayers today. As a response to Daniel’s prayer, God reveals His long-range saving plan. The city will be rebuilt, the Messiah will come, and the sanctuary will be anointed.
As we reflect for a moment on Daniel’s prayer and how God answered it, we learn that God is not far from any one of us. Although sin had separated us from God, through the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah, we are forgiven and reunited with Him. Daniel’s prayer was based on the reliability of God’s character and what God had done for His people in the past when He brought them out of Egypt. His ‘chesed’ His unfailing covenant love. We have even more reasons to pray with strong confidence. The Messiah already has come and is making intercession on our behalf in the heavenly temple. In some ways, what was for Daniel a future hope is, for us, a present reality. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).
This prayer is the longest and most important prayer of Daniel. Like King David, who wrote prayer/psalms he must have been a ‘journaller.’ Two main motivations lie in the backdrop of this prayer. First, in Daniel 8, we learn that after his vision Daniel was physically and emotionally exhausted (Dan. 8:27).
Daniel was shown a little horn growing and attacking God’s people and setting up a false worship system.
He also heard the puzzling communication that after 2,300 evenings and mornings (years) the sanctuary would be cleansed/restored/vindicated. All these enigmatic features remained obscure to him 10 years later. In particular, the chronological information about the 2,300 evenings and mornings, conveyed by an appearance or vision of two heavenly beings, (one of which we have shown to be Christ) remained without explanation. Therefore, Daniel concluded his vision report by saying: “I was astonished by the [appearance/vision” (Dan. 8:27).
Second, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, in addition to his nation’s exile, weighed heavily on Daniel’s heart. He longed for the restoration of Jerusalem and the return of his people to their homeland. Thus, he immersed himself in the study of Jeremiah and learned that the desolations of Jerusalem would last 70 years (Jer.25, Jer.29). Therefore, the time was ripe for God to bring His people back to their land and rebuild the city. From Scripture, Daniel knew that the ultimate reason for the exile was Israel’s recalcitrant rebellion against God. They transgressed the law, rejected the prophets, and broke the covenant. Thus, moved by God’s Word, the prophet prays for the restoration of Jerusalem and of the temple and for his people to be forgiven. Presumably, this prayer was offered toward Jerusalem in the manner of the prayers that challenged the royal decree of Darius (Daniel 6).
This prayer teaches some important lessons that can help us in our own prayer life and our relationship with the Lord. Closer examination of the prayer reveals that it is profoundly biblical. Daniel’s prayer reverberates with several passages of Scripture (Marginal references often document these.) Worthy of note are the similarities between this prayer and Leviticus 26:40–45 and Deuteronomy 30:1–10.
Ezra and Nehemiah followed Daniel’s example and infused their prayers with scriptural allusions and echoes. In addition, Daniel’s petition is an intercessory prayer. His privileged position as an officer of the empire did not prevent him from identifying with his people. Some individuals forget their own people once they move up the social ladder. But Daniel fully identifies with his people; he intercedes for them as one of them. Several times he uses the pronoun “we,” thus sharing responsibility for the sins of the nation and pleading with God for grace and forgiveness (e.g., Dan.9:5,18,19).
Intercessory prayer can be an opportunity to imitate Jesus. We remove ourselves from the centre to focus on the needs of other people. As we pray for others, we are blessed the most. God “restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends” (Job 42:10). Furthermore, Daniel’s prayer was an open and sincere prayer. He admits and confesses the sin of his people and their leaders. He does not brush off the fact that they transgressed God’s law and rejected the prophets; therefore, Daniel acknowledges that they fully deserve the punishment of the exile. Finally, Daniel’s prayer is motivated by the desire to vindicate God’s character. Thus, by restoring the people and the city, God’s honour and reputation would be vindicated among the nations.
Thank you Ross,
This prayer of Daniel, in chapter 9 is helping me with my own prayer daily.
Blessings
Elliette
i,m happy and grateful that we have Jesus as our intercessor and we know he hears our prayers 🙏 and answers them in his time God bless you 🙏
Thanks si much