Lessons on Prayer from a Man of God

J. H. Jowett, The Passion for Souls, 1905

Daniel 9:4-14

The great people of the earth today are people who pray, (not) those who talk about prayer.

S. D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Prayer, 1904

The prayer of Daniel is recorded in verses 4-19. It is characterized by two major themes: (1) corporate confession of sin and (2) acknowledgement of God’s character and mighty acts of salvation. John Piper notes,

Daniel’s prayer begins with the Bible and it is saturated with the Bible. Phrase after phrase comes right out of Scripture. There are allusions to Leviticus (26:40) and Deuteronomy (28:64) and Exodus (34:6) and Psalms (44:14) and Jeremiah (25:11). The prayer brims with a biblical view of reality, because it brims with the Bible. (“How to Pray for a Desolate Church”)

The prayer itself can be analyzed in a number of ways, including by its structure and its content. Structurally there are three movements:

In terms of content, one is overwhelmed by the use of the word “we” and the piling up of terms used to describe Israel and Judah’s sin. Concerning the use of “we” and Daniel’s solidarity with the Hebrews in their sin, Bryan Chapell well says,

Daniel confesses the reality of his sin and the people’s sin because he has been called to carry their burden as his own even though he did not cause the burden. He feels responsible for the people under his care. (Gospel According to Daniel, 158)

As to the terms used to describe Israel and Judah’s sin, note the following: “sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away” (v. 5), “not listened” (v. 6), “disloyalty” (v. 7), “public shame,” “sinned” (v. 8), “rebelled” (v. 9), “not obeyed” (v. 10), “broken your law,” “turned away,” “refusing to obey,” “sinned” (v. 11), “iniquities” (v. 13), “not obeyed” (v. 14), “sinned,” “acted wickedly” (v. 15). Daniel has taken the role of prosecuting attorney and has built an irrefutable case against those who “bear [God’s] name” (vv. 18-19). And amazingly, Daniel puts himself on the side of God’s rebellious people by using the personal pronouns “we” or “us” or “our” more than twenty times! In a confession of sin that echoes Isaiah 6, in a confession of sin that acknowledges that they have broken their marriage covenant to Yahweh (Ezek 16:8), in a confession of sin that admits to not keeping the Lord’s commands and ordinances (9:5), in a confession of sin that acknowledges they have not listened to God’s prophets (v. 6)—Daniel acknowledges that his nation’s exile is just and right. Why? Because “the Lord our God is righteous in all he has done” (v. 14; cf. v. 7). Israel’s “public shame” (vv. 7-8) is deserved. They have disrespected “the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant” (v. 4). Therefore, the promised curses written in the Law of Moses (Lev 26; Deut 28) have “been poured out on” them (v. 11). Shame on God’s people and shame on God’s city (v. 12) is the righteous reward they have invited on themselves.

Amazingly, this portion of the prayer (vv. 4-14) ends with the indictment, “But we have not obeyed [the Lord].” Dale Davis provides words of wisdom when he writes,

Daniel seems to be saying that though Israel had gone through the ravages of God’s curse, the people remained unchanged, unbroken, unrepentant. . . . Israel has a history of rebellion and idolatry and has suffered God’s judgment for it but it has not driven them to godly grief and genuine repentance. . . . What good will it do to have a people back in the land with still no sense of their sin and no exercise in repentance? Who have never been crushed in spirit over their idolatry? It’s not Israel alone—humanity in general is averse to admitting sin and guilt. (Message of Daniel, 118)

To such an accusation, we all must confess: guilty as charged.

To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees.

Billy Graham

Daniel 9:15-19

Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude—an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God.

Arthur Pink, The Sovereignty of God, 1918

Before the righteous Judge (God) and the prosecuting attorney (Daniel), God’s people have been tried and found guilty. There will be no appeal. No retrial. The evidence is too great. Actually, it is irrefutable. Is there then any hope? Is there any court or avenue of grace and forgiveness? Mercifully the answer is yes, there is! Sinclair Ferguson is so helpful here when he says,

Daniel sees the righteousness of God both as the basis for God’s judgment of the people (v. 7) and also the basis for his own prayer for forgiveness (v. 16). How can this be? In Scripture, “righteousness” basically means “integrity.” Sometimes it is defined as “conformity to a norm.” In the case of God the norm to which He conforms is His own being and character. He is true to Himself; He always acts in character. (Daniel, 178)

So in a prayer that is clearly God centered but people oriented (ibid., 179), Daniel appeals to “the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant” (v. 4) to act for the sake of his own name, to move according to his character, righteousness, and “abundant compassion” (v. 18). In verse 15 Daniel appeals to the exodus and God’s gracious deliverance of a sinful and undeserving people (then and now). In verse 16 he appeals to God’s righteous acts and pleads that the Lord would turn away his “anger and wrath” from “your city Jerusalem.” Why? Because “Jerusalem and your people have become an object of ridicule [ESV, “byword”] to all those around us” (cf. Hezekiah’s prayer in 2 Kgs 19:14-19). Dale Davis again is right: “Daniel batters heaven with appeals to God’s honor” (Message of Daniel, 120). It is God’s city, his holy hill, his people (v. 16), his servant, his desolate sanctuary (v. 17), his name (v. 18), his own sake, his city, his people, his name (v. 17). “Listen closely, my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see” our devastation on what “bears your name.” Lord, we appeal to “your abundant compassion” (v. 18). Then reaching a crescendo he cries out in verse 19: Lord, hear! Forgive! Listen and act. Do not delay. Do it not for our sake, for we are undeserving. Lord, do it for your own sake! Do it because it will bring glory to your name and show the nations just who you are and what you are like. You ruined your own reputation to drive us to repentance. Restore your name and reputation for your sake. We are not worthy. But Lord, you are!

God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil.

E. M. Bounds, Purpose in Prayer, 19th c.

Alfred Tennyson says, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of” (Fyall, Daniel: A Tale of Two Cities, 131). The Bible teaches us how true that is, especially when a man of God intercedes for the people of God. Moses, in Exodus 32 (cf. Deut 9:13-14), pleads with God not to destroy the people for their idolatry. Instead, he asks God to take his life in their place. God did not wipe them out. Here Daniel identifies himself with his people in their sin, making their sin his sin. Both anticipate the greater Moses (Deut 18:15-20) and the greater Daniel who will identify himself with those he will save and substitute himself in death, taking their place and bearing the punishment of their sin. And we should note the important role prayer played in the past but also in the present. In the past, in the garden of Gethsemane, our Lord was troubled and wept in prayer as he prepared to take on the sins of the world and to bear in his own body the judgment and wrath of God. But now, as Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25 tell us, we have an intercessor in heaven, a great high priest, who pleads our cause before “the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands” (Dan 9:4).

The prayer of Moses draws my admiration. The prayer of Daniel inspires my emulation. The prayers of Jesus move me to adoration. His prayers led him to experience “public shame” (v. 7) in my place. His prayers my God heard. His prayers led my God to forgive. Hearing the prayers of his own dear Son, my God paid attention and he acted, raising Jesus from the dead after which Christ ascended on high and is “able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb 7:25). I love praying men. I worship my praying God!