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[0:00] Daniel chapter 9, beginning in verse 1. In the first year of Darius, the son of Asherah, a Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years.

[0:30] So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments.

[0:54] We have sinned and committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled. Even turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. 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.

[1:13] 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, and all the countries to which you have driven them because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against you.

[1:34] Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes, our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him.

[1:49] Nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his teachings, which he set before us through his servants, the prophets. Indeed, all Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, not obeying your voice.

[2:04] So the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, for we have sinned against him.

[2:16] Thus, he has confirmed his words which he had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us to bring on us great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done to Jerusalem, as it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us.

[2:37] Yet, we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to your truth. Therefore, the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us.

[2:51] For the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all his deeds which he has done, but we have not obeyed his voice. 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 and we have been wicked.

[3:12] 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.

[3:22] For because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all those around us.

[3:32] 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.

[3:46] O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by your name.

[3:57] For we are not presenting our supplications before you on account of any merits of our own, but on account of your great compassion. O Lord, hear.

[4:10] 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.

[4:27] That's a great prayer. It's a great prayer, but it's kind of ironic that that's what's happening right now in the air. The people have turned. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting to me how often we find some kind of cycles and correlations.

[4:44] Yeah. So chapter 9 is an interesting chapter, and we're going to look at it, and really when I sat out at the beginning of the semester to go through Daniel, I had kind of in my mind that we would just take a chapter a week.

[4:59] But as we hit chapter 7, there was just so much there, I slowed down, and now, again, I just have to confess, here in chapter 9, we're going to slow down again, and we'll take it, we'll probably take it in three weeks.

[5:13] Today, I want to talk about prayer, just in general. Next week, I want to dive into the content of his prayer, right, and looking at the specific things that he says.

[5:25] And then the next week, I want to deal with the end of chapter 9, where he talks about the 70 weeks. Because the 70 weeks is kind of a big deal, and so I don't really want to smash it all together, because there's just so many great things that we see here.

[5:40] And so, one of the things that fascinates me about chapter 9 is, if we remember that this is wisdom literature, and wisdom literature is all about how do we live before God?

[5:53] How do we take what we know, the law, all of who God is, and how do we live? Proverbs, Proverbs is a classic example of wisdom literature, right? If you take and understand Proverbs, one of the things you can do is you can almost trace a proverb back to the law of God, as though it's a, this is sort of how you live this out in this situation.

[6:16] And that's what wisdom literature does, is it takes what we know, and how do we live it out? And one of the things we're seeing here is Daniel is praying, and I want to talk just about prayer in general.

[6:30] I just want us to look at the way, we want to look at the way that Daniel prays, and we want to see if we can glean some things for ourselves about how we can pray, things that would encourage us in the way we pray.

[6:44] And so, with that in mind then, I think I have six things total for us to look at. And the first has to do with just how serious Daniel is about prayer.

[6:57] Daniel is a man of prayer. We've seen that pretty clearly, right? You can remember that in chapter 2, he, well, let me do it this way. Do you remember what happened in chapter 2 of Daniel?

[7:10] Well, they told him to do something, and Daniel and the two friends said, no, we're not going to do that. That's chapter 1. So chapter 2 is a dream. No, it's a dream.

[7:21] Okay, what did he dream about? Statue. It was a statue, that's right. Oh, the statue with the gold, silver, gold.

[7:33] That's right, okay. Now, Nebuchadnezzar was weird here, because he wanted somebody to interpret the dream, but he had a very specific qualification about it. You had to not just tell him what the dream meant, but you had to do something else.

[7:47] Tell him what it was. You had to tell him what the dream was. So in response to that, Daniel gathers his three friends, and he says, we've got to pray. And that's what this passage here is about.

[7:59] They went to request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, and what we get in the rest of the passage is after God answers the prayer for the knowledge to give to Nebuchadnezzar, they spend time praising God.

[8:20] You can see it there at the end. Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times, the epochs. He removes kings, and He establishes kings.

[8:32] He gives wisdom to the wise men and knowledge to the men of understanding. It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.

[8:44] To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise. For you have given me wisdom and power. Even now, you have made known to me what we requested of you, for you have made known to us the king's matter.

[8:59] So this is when he's young, right? He was brought to Babylon as a young man, chapter 1, where they wouldn't eat the king's food, has already happened, but this is like the very next thing, right?

[9:11] So as a young man he prays, but we also know that as an old man he prays. What happens in, what's the most famous story in the book of Daniel?

[9:24] He disrespected the law laying down by the crew of the king and literally opened his window and prayed three times a day toward Jerusalem. And what happens to him because he does that?

[9:36] He ends up in a lion's den. Lion's den, that's right. You know, this is his habit to go and pray. They lay down the law, the means of the Persians, you can't pray to anyone except for King Darius for 30 days.

[9:49] Daniel just does what he's going to do. So as a young man he prayed, as an old man he prayed, prayed three times a day. Daniel is serious about prayer, right?

[10:00] We see that in his life, but we also see that in our passage in front of us. We see these first few verses here, and what's interesting is that he tells us, verse 1, the setting of when this happens, which we're going to come back to in a second.

[10:15] Then he tells us in verse 2 what he's been doing. He's been reading the prophet Jeremiah. Okay? And the third thing that happens, he says, so I gave my attention to the Lord God.

[10:25] Now, in your translation, what does it say there? Does it say, I gave my attention to the Lord God? Mine says, Okay, mine says, so in prayer to the Lord God, and pleading with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, in sackcloth and ashes.

[10:45] Okay. Somebody else. Does it say give attention? Then I set my face towards the Lord God. Set my face towards the Lord God. Set my face towards the Lord God. The language here, so my translation, this NASB, give attention to the Lord, sounds very like, stuffy.

[11:04] But turn my face to the Lord. Set my face to the Lord. It has a lot of passion in it, is what it has. It's like, he's read this, and now he's just zipping the Lord, right?

[11:16] You can think about, like if a doctor comes in, and gives bad news, and immediately, you would go and turn, and begin to pray. Because it's like, well, we have no choice, we've got to pray. That's the attitude that's going on here, is Daniel's like, he hears this bad news, he hears this about 70 years, and he's like, Lord, we need you.

[11:36] We need you. Like a face to face conversation. Exactly. So he's serious about prayer, and one of the things about this, that I just want to bring up, is that I know that we all, sometimes have this, difficulty with prayer.

[11:50] We can easily get distracted, in our minds as we pray. I don't know if you've ever had that situation, where you're praying, and all of a sudden, you're making a grocery list.

[12:02] You know? Like, that's just the, that's one of the worst things in the world. Like, the mind just wonders, right? Or, you pray, and maybe it's at the time of day, when you're a little bit tired, maybe it's a morning or evening, and you find yourself, jolting back awake, and going, wait a minute, I was praying, and I fell asleep.

[12:20] You know, I just, I just want us to think for a second, we have to recognize, the frailty of the human body, right? We, we can, and particularly the older we get, staying awake, paying attention, those are harder, and they get harder, and harder, and harder as we go.

[12:37] But if we're serious about prayer, one of the things we will do, is we will recognize the weakness of our flesh, and find a way, to work against it.

[12:48] You know? For me, for years, the difficulty of praying, and my mind wondering, the best thing for me was, I started writing my prayers out.

[12:59] Okay? And I've been doing this since, 1993. 1993. Because I realized, at a young age, that my mind just would, think about all kinds of things.

[13:13] You know? And so I would just sit, and I would write my prayers, and I would, as I say it in my head, I'm writing it down, and it kept me focused. Well, now I'm learning, that I've got to make some adjustments, because, now I could be in the middle of writing, and I could go, just go off.

[13:30] But I want to be serious about prayer, and so I've got to find a way, to deal with my weaknesses, so that I'm focused when I pray. And I, and I, and I, I don't want to get into the habit, of saying, the same things, over and over again.

[13:44] You know? Every time I come to the Lord, I'm saying the same things. I want to be impacted, by what His Word says. That's, we're going to get into that, in the next saying. But that's what Jeremiah's doing. He's reading the Word, and now he's, now he's praying.

[13:58] And the Word drove him, as he prayed. And so, to be serious in prayer, is what we want. And so, we've got to work against our flesh, and we also need, to be sure that we're, we're being, right in our minds, about how we, how we approach God.

[14:14] Not with the same, rote, pat, phrases, over and over again. The second thing about prayer, is that Daniel is, what I would say, God-centered, in his prayer.

[14:28] He's God-centered, in his prayer. Now, I think, if you were here Sunday, you know, part of my sermon Sunday, was about, how God is God-centered.

[14:40] Which means, we ought to be God-centered. We ought to be focused, the way he's focused. And, you can see this, throughout Daniel's prayer, right? We just read it, and you can just, hear him, just, looking at God, and extolling God, over and over again.

[14:56] Let me, let me give you a few examples. Like, for instance, verse 3, he says, Lord, which, it's the capital L-O-R-D, which is Yahweh, and the Lord, capital L, lowercase O-R-D, and that's Adonai, right?

[15:11] So, he's saying, Yahweh Adonai, right? Just calling his name, and, and you got to remember, that one is about, him being the great creator, Adonai, and the other is about, his covenant love, Yahweh, he goes on, in verse 3, to talk about, the great and awesome God.

[15:29] Now, awesome doesn't mean very much, for our culture anymore, right? Because we use it for everything, but, awe, to be awestruck, is something that overwhelms us, and for God to be, awesome, is also, to some degree, for God to be, awful.

[15:46] Now, not awful in the way, that we would think of it, you know, that this is a, you know, bad thing, but just so full of, awe, something that just, overwhelms us. Daniel says, in verse 3, also, that talking about, how God keeps covenant, and loving kindness.

[16:02] What? Isn't that verse 4? Because I'm getting, I was trying to, Oh, you're probably right. You're probably right. That's probably verse 4. I just, I wanted to be sure, I was following her.

[16:17] Yes, yes, it is verse 4. Some of us make mistakes. That's the last one for the year, I promise.

[16:27] Okay, that's all verse 4. Is this verse 7? I'm just kidding. Righteousness belongs to God, he says. Verse 9, to the Lord belongs compassion, and forgiveness, he talks about that.

[16:42] Verse 14, the Lord has kept us in calamity, he is the Lord, our God, he is righteous. Verse 15, he delivered us, from Egypt, right?

[16:55] That's, that's the, that's who he is, this is the God, who's, who's done these things for us, all of his acts are righteous. Verse 18, the city is called by your name, in other words, it is for your glory.

[17:07] And there's a couple of places, that as we were reading, that I thought it was really fascinating, I didn't put them on this, but I thought, wow, that is, I missed that. Like verse 16, well, so like verse 18, go back to verse 18, he says, oh my God, incline your ear in here, 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, so it's not my need, or me, that drives the prayer, it's God's great compassion, that drives the prayer, and then verse 19, oh Lord, hear, oh Lord, forgive, oh Lord, listen and take action, why?

[17:55] For your own sake, God, for your own sake, for your own glory, answer this prayer, not for our sake, not because I'm destitute, not because I'm sad, not because, you know, there's bad things happening for me, not for my comfort, not for my good, but God, for your glory, answer this prayer, so, so as Daniel's praying, he's very God-centered, in his prayer, our culture, our culture, does not like, the idea of God being God-centered, and therefore us being God-centered, we want God to be all about us, and really, that's backwards, to the way it is, and so if you can imagine, in prayer, to kind of keep this God-centered mindset, I think it's important for us to remember, that as we come to the Lord in prayer, we're coming to a throne, we're coming before a throne, and at a throne, there's the king, and the king sits high, and lifted up, and he's other than us, he's higher than us, and how do you approach a king, do you approach a king, in a way that is, familiar, and flippant, no, we come very, very respectful, now, here's the thing, what happens, what happens, is that as we think of God, on the throne, and we approach him in prayer, on the throne, there's another image, that I think, begins to shift, in the middle of our prayers, and we have to keep them both in mind, and that is, the table, right, that God is transcendent, high, and lifted up, and other than us, and righteous, and majestic, and all these things, but then, the table, as he comes, and he sits down next to us, and he's close, and he's intimate, and he's imminent, right there near us, and so as we approach him, at the throne, he invites us to the table, to sit, so that we can then say, you know, we start our prayer, with an attitude of like, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,

[20:20] I mean, that's a huge, massive thing, and then it's kind of like, and dad, I need something, you know what I'm saying, that switch, and that dual aspect, of the throne, and the table, I think that's a good, those images are good for us, as we approach God, and worship, but as we approach him, in prayer, right, that it's not, he's not just the king, there to give us, our requests, but he's our father, who invites us, to sit down at the table, with him, and have relationship, and intimacy, with him, and closeness, so, does that make sense, okay, the third thing, about prayer, just looking at Daniel's, prayer, is that his, his, he's biblically informed, in his prayer, and, we're, we're going to look at, this particular part, more next week, because what we're going to do, is we're going to kind of, we're going to look at the content, of the things that he says, and we're going to chase out, some of the places that he goes, but just, just for now, you can kind of see, that he's started off, by looking at, the book of Jeremiah, right, the word of the Lord, to Jeremiah the prophet, that's what he's reading, and that's what starts the prayer, prayer, but if you read through the prayer, you see how many times, he makes allusions, to Moses, and to the law, and to all, all kinds of places, throughout this prayer, it's the words of scripture, that give shape, to the things that he prays, right, he's, he's not just coming up, with things, on his own, he is praying, a prayer of confession, which we'll get to in a second, but he's, he's not just making up, sins, he's not just making up, their behavior, he's pulling their behavior, right out of the pages, of the law, and so he's using scripture, to help him, know how to pray, using the themes of scripture, the words of scripture, the ideas of scripture, to help, form up his ideas, it is never wrong, to pray the scriptures, to God, it's always good, sometimes we don't know, what we ought to even pray for, sometimes we don't even know, what we should even say, you know, we see a situation, we know we want to pray for it, we, we think to ourselves,

[22:37] I really want to pray for this, and so how do we, how do we say, what we need to say, we always use, we usually turn to this verse, right, we usually turn and say, well in the same way, the spirit helps us, in our weakness, for we do not know, now that, NASB has the word how, but it's really the word what, I don't know why, they put the word how, we don't know, what to pray as we should, we don't know what to say, but the spirit himself, intercedes for us, with groanings too deep, for words, and often times, when we read that passage, what we think to ourselves, is that this means, that as, as the spirit intercedes for us, we just get quiet, and we stop, because there's, there's no words here, so the spirit's groaning, to the father for us, and we just sit in silence, before him, but I don't think, that's what this means at all, because look at the next verse, and he who searches the hearts, knows what the mind, of the spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints, according to, what, the will of God, where do we know, the will of God, that we're supposed to pray, according to, the scriptures, scriptures, so when the Holy Spirit, is interceding for us, this groaning, too deep for words, that's not something, we're going to hear, that doesn't mean, anything about, sitting in silence, or saying some sort of, prayer language, that doesn't, you know, mean anything to anybody, that's what a lot of, charismatics will say, what this means, is that the Holy Spirit, is helping us, he's already, interceding with the father, for us, but he's giving to us, the will of God, the word of God, so he helps direct us, in the word of God, to know the things, we ought to pray, so we want to pray, in a biblical way, we want to, let the Bible, direct our prayers, and give us the words, and I think,

[24:24] I think back, I don't remember, how many weeks ago, I mentioned to you, a resource, and I'll just mention it again, it's called, Method of Prayer, Method of Prayer, and it's by Matthew Henry, if you know, the Matthew Henry, commentary, this is the same guy, he's a Puritan, and his, book, called Method of Prayer, he has taken, scripture, and turned them, into prayers, he has, prayers that are for, like a corporate setting, so like, you could do that, in church, if you're going to be praying, and you, you know, somebody calls and you says, hey, next week I want you to pray, the prayer for our church, you can actually look at this, and find, like it's going to be a prayer of thanksgiving, or a prayer of confession, or a prayer of whatever, he's developed these prayers, now, it doesn't mean, that you pray that, and read that to God, and that's, that's just it, but it gives you examples, reading them is so beautiful sometimes, and just thinking, how he wove them all together, and it just gives you, sort of an example, that as you pray, you can do the same, you can pull those verses in, that are just, in your mind, and, and on your, on your heart, okay, so, that's, that's, that's the third thing then, and let me, let me just pause, and be sure, you're, you're still with me, you, you got any questions, on, on that,

[25:47] I know I can, everybody always tells me, I can go too fast sometimes, so I'm just trying to slow down, when he says, intercedes for the saints, he's talking about us, the believers, right?

[25:59] Yes, absolutely, yeah, the, the spirit, and this chapter, chapter 8, also talks about Jesus interceding, the spirit, and Jesus, do not intercede for the world, for the wicked, but they intercede for their people, for the saints, so, yeah, okay, well then, you got something?

[26:25] Oh, I don't know, but, I was just curious, as to him reading Jeremiah, like, where was Jeremiah, in the timeline? Okay. Wasn't he in Babylon?

[26:37] Jeremiah was also? It doesn't, and that may be more than, what we want to do today, I will say this, Jeremiah began to prophesy, before Judah fell, to Nebuchadnezzar, and, but his, his prophecy, went into, the beginning of the exile, but just barely, so he's, right before, because, I, I, I, I cannot answer for sure, if Jeremiah went to Babylon, I know that Jeremiah, ended up in different places, I want to say, he actually ended up, in Egypt, and the reason for that, is because, the king, was trying to go to Egypt, to get, Egypt, to help them against Babylon, and, and Jeremiah's going like, if you do this, you're going to die, you just need to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, like that was his prophecy, right, so, I have to look, to see the answer to that, I don't, I don't really know, but, timeline wise, he is before Daniel, and, if you'll remember, Jeremiah chapter 29, it's one of the primary, places, where the whole 70 years, is talked about,

[27:44] Jeremiah 29, verse, verse 10, and we'll come back, to this next week, how many of you, ever heard the verse, I know the plans, that I have for you, plans to prosper, and to give you a future, Jeremiah 9, 13, 20, yes, okay, so here's the thing, that was a letter, that Jeremiah wrote, to Babylon, to the captives, I think, it's possible, that Daniel has that letter, and he's reading that, and what that letter says, is, settle down, in exile, have families, build homes, you're not coming home, anytime soon, because I have the plans, that I have for you, now that gives a whole, different shape, to that verse, but that's a whole, another, that's when we do, that other series, called, verses that don't mean, what you think they mean, so, okay, let's go, let's go to the next thing, and this is Daniel, he's brutally honest, in this prayer, Daniel is praying, a corporate prayer, of confession, okay, and, the question, a lot of times, will come up, like, well, why is Daniel, asking God, to forgive, the people, for their sin, like, can we do that, is that something, we can do, you know, but Daniel is, he is showing, such solidarity, with the people, but it's interesting, because, we might think to ourselves, well,

[29:16] I mean, what did Daniel, have to confess, I mean, look at what all he's done, we've read chapters, one through, you know, eight so far, and look at this godly man, right, but it's interesting, that in verse 20, he says, now, while I was speaking, and praying, confessing my sin, confessing my sin, and the sin, of my people, Israel, we don't know Daniel's, heart, we, it's just like, it's just like me, you don't know my heart, like, you might think to yourself, that I am extremely righteous, without any sin, whatsoever, and you would be, completely wrong, but you may not see it, but I know it, and I see it, and as Daniel goes, to contemplate, the sin of his people, he looks at his own sin, he sees, where he's failed, he looks at their sin, and as he prays, for them to be forgiven, it triggers him, to go, wait, my sin, is like theirs,

[30:19] I mean, they've disobeyed God, and it's been, bald faced, but you know, I've disobeyed God too, maybe it hasn't been, bald faced like that, but I've disobeyed God too, he's very honest, with what this, it's, it's one of those things, where as you look around, and you see, the sin of a group, that you're a part of, you see sin, happening around you, even in our own nation, you know, praying a confession, prayer for them, is not just about, saying, Lord, I want you to rescue them, but it's also about, Lord, where have I failed, where have I failed in this, what is my part, in all of this, you can look at, his honesty comes out, in verse 5, he says, we've sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, rebelled, turning aside from your commandments, verse 6, we've not listened, to your servants, the prophets, I mean, that's a big deal, right, God, God in kindness, sent prophet, after prophet, after prophet, to tell these people, hey, come back, and they just ignored him, right, or, you can look at verse 7, where he says, open shame belongs to them, right, to the men of Judah, and Israel, their, last part of this, is you've driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds, verse 8, open shame belongs to us, because we've sinned against you, or verse 10, we've not obeyed the voice of the Lord, to walk in your teachings, like he's just so blunt, and brutally honest, this is where we are,

[31:58] I began to try to think about, sort of how, to make application of this, and thinking about confessing sin, and thinking about, even times when we begin to pray, for other people, and, my older brother, we were talking about family earlier, you know, and I have two brothers, my older brother, Travis, my younger brother, Jeremy, and, when I was in high school, about a junior, senior, my brother, my older brother, had gotten off into drugs, pretty bad, and gotten into the party scene, and this kind of a thing, he was a black belt in Taekwondo, and he ended up being, a body guard, for a drug dealer, at one point, and, he was working, at a store, a music store, and, just life went crazy, okay, I don't have to get into the gory details, it just went crazy, and I remember, then, trying to pray for him, and my prayer for my brother, at that time was, you know, angry, because of what he'd done, to my parents, and how it had impacted them, because, my parents were shelling out, all kinds of money, to get him out of prison, they were shelling out money, from lawyers, they were shelling out money, to pay back, the restitution stuff, that, that he had to do, and, it was, it was all like, you know,

[33:22] Lord save him, so he can stop being an idiot, you know, that's like my attitude, and my prayer, and as I look at this, I think to myself, that a better way, to have prayed for my brother, would have been, Lord he, he's addicted to something, and he's captive, to this thing, and Lord, would you rescue him, and at the same time, Father would you rescue me, because I'm addicted, to my snobbery, I'm addicted, to my reputation, and what people think about me, I'm no better, than my brother, as a matter of fact, Lord I need to be rescued too, I need to be rescued, from the idolatry, that's in my life, I need to be rescued, from that, and Lord, I need to be rescued, from my anger, towards my brother, that makes me not, speak the gospel to him, you understand, what I'm saying, like, rather than, letting our human emotions, run and just, blah, we need to take, somebody else's sin, as a lesson, to look inward, and see our own problems, and as we go to pray, for them to pray, and be brutally honest, about our own selves, you know, be brutally honest, about that we are sinners, you know,

[34:40] I find it fascinating, that one of the, one of the best passages, out of the book of Job, is when Job says, I cover my mouth, and I will not speak again, that is a sign of repentance, you look at what all Job, went through, and the book ends, with Job repenting, of his sin, what, because, because God humbled him, and I just think it's, I think it's difficult, for us sometimes, because, because we, we don't think, we've got sin, but we've got more sin, than we realize, what I get out of this, is by him saying, all this historical stuff, is that he's owning it, God already knows all that, that's right, and he's owning it, and God sees, that his heart is humble, that's right, by saying that, by speaking the words out loud, that's right, he's, that's, that is, that is absolutely dead on, because, because he, he does see, the historical situation, and he's beginning, to have his eyes, opened to the sin,

[35:41] God already knows, and you know, in the New Testament, the word for confess, like in 1 John, chapter 1, verse 9, if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just for you, did you know, that the word confess, means to agree with, when we come to confess, to God, he already knows it, exactly what you're saying, we've come to agree, now we see it, and because I see it, I'm agreeing with God, that it's sin, I'm agreeing with God, that I'm a sinner, I'm agreeing with God, that I'm wicked, and that's the only way, to have grace, and mercy, and hope, is by coming to admit it, like if we, if we just walk around, going, now I'm good, like that's not true, that's not true, no that's dead on, that's excellent, okay, let's, let's move on, to the fifth one then, the fifth one, is that Daniel, was specific, in his request, in prayer, and I've been thinking, about this, because I say this a lot, and I think, I think I need to give, a little bit of nuance, to what I'm saying, Daniel is very specific, in what he prayed for, but it's not wrong, to pray some wide, sweeping thoughts, at times,

[36:51] I think about the Lord's prayer, or the model prayer, it's got some pretty, sweeping statements, in it doesn't it, let, let your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven, like that's, that's huge, right, that's a big, sweeping kind of statement, so I don't think it's wrong, to pray some of those, if we're, if we're directed, in what we're saying, right, we're not just saying it, because it's rote, and it's just, we heard somebody say that, one time, we thought that sounded good, so we're just saying it, we, we, we, we, we know, and feel what we're saying, then I think that's okay, but I also think, that we've got to be, specific at times, you know, there's some specific things, we need to be, to be asking for, and you can see, Daniel's, sort of specific things, that he's asking for, in verse 16, he's, he's saying, you know, let your anger, and your wrath, turn away from us, right, that's the thing, he wants specifically, to happen, right, verse 17, let your face, shine, on us, upon your, your desolate sanctuary, so we, we want, not only your wrath, to turn, but for the face, to shine, is for your blessing, for your favor, to come to us, right, verse 18, it's, see our trouble, right, incline your ear, and hear, open your eyes, see our desolations, would you see us, would you look at us, would you, you know, put your eyes on us, and then you can see, several things, in verse 19, right, hear, forgive, listen, take action, he's very specific, in what he's praying for, and I think that that's,

[38:34] I think that's good for us, you know, if he's, if he's God centered, if he's driven by what the scriptures say, and he goes to pray, then that specificity, becomes, very God centered, and biblical, in what he's saying, and so, so I thought, you know, let's just think about this for a second, one of the prayers that we have, that we do together, is we do, a call to worship, on Sunday mornings, right, I read a passage of scripture, and then I pray, what should we be praying for, at that place, what do you think, what do you think we should be praying for, for open minds, and open hearts, open minds, and open hearts, that's right, is there anything else, in the call to worship, you would add, God to be glorified, right, like, so, so, that, that, what that prayer is for, helps give direction, to what we say, right, you can think about the prayer, like, well, the prayer that I would pray, like, right, right at the beginning of the sermon, right, it's very similar to the call to worship, but it's, it's more directed to, let's live this out, right, help us to understand what it says, and help us to be convicted by the spirit, and help us to live out the things, that we pray for, okay, so there's the example of a corporate time, but, but what about this, what about when you go to pray, when you're going to go pray, and you've got a list of people, when you, when you have somebody who's sick,

[40:05] I, I, I know, when I, when I have a list, I get into this habit, I really, I try not to do this, but it's so hard not to pray, Lord, be with, Lord, be with this person, and then kind of like, not know what else to say, and that's, that's a struggle, and I would just say to you, try to think about, before you pray for them, try to think about what you want to say, what is it that they need, you know, we were praying last night, with a, with a small group that I meet with, on Wednesday nights, we got, we're going through Daniel there, and we were praying for several requests, and, I was trying to really be mindful, of, what I'm praying for, and, you know, one of the requests we were praying for, was Logan, right, Logan, Logan size, because, he's clear, right, the, the, I can't remember the, the words here, he's now able to do the transplant, because, right, almost, okay, but, but, but, so, it was clear, and it needs to be clear once more, so, but that's, that's good news, right, but we need further work there, and if you think about what's going on for mom and dad, like, how much turmoil that is, how much, like, waiting, and, and sometimes, maybe a hopelessness, because maybe they get bad news, or just waiting for the news to drop it, you can kind of begin to think about what they're going through, and then you can think about things like, well, what, what does God's word say about such situations, because generally what we, what we tend to do is just pray,

[41:42] Lord, heal him, and then we move on, and it's like, but there's more there going on, you know, and so, I'm just arguing for, and looking at Daniel's example, saying, we want to be specific in what we pray for, so we prayed last night, for, for thanking God for the good report, asking God for further good reports, asking God for, for peace, and hope, and, and, and, and, uh, joy for mom and dad, as they're there in that situation, waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and, you know, there's just so much that can be prayed for, and I just, I want to encourage us, in Daniel's example, to be specific in our prayers, and it takes time, it takes time to kind of think about the situation, you know, um, so, all that's great, to me, when we get to this last one, I love this last point, too, because this, this is massive and huge, but it's, Daniel was a part of God's plan in prayer, let me start it by saying this,

[42:43] I've had people ask me this question, a lot, if God is sovereign, and has a plan for how everything's gonna flow out in this world, then why should we pray?

[42:56] Why should we not pray? Well, I agree with you, but there's so many people that, that because God's sovereign, they think to themselves, well, he already knows everything, it's like you were talking about, Linda, you know, he already knows all my sin, well, he also already knows all that's gonna happen, because he's planned it, so, why should we pray?

[43:15] And I just wanna, I think this is a thing that we see, in this passage, and, let me, let me answer the question, I just wanna kind of answer the question, we'll get back to the passage, the first, thing that we can answer this, is, we just have to see that God's commanded us to pray, and that should be enough for us, he said, we should pray, and there's so many places we could go to scripture, to see the commands to pray, that, that we just, I just was like, we don't even have to go there, we know that that's a thing that he's commanded us to do, and a heart, that is, unwilling to just obey him, you know, because, because some people ask the question, why should we pray, but they're motivated, out of a bad reason, they're motivated, because they want to excuse themselves from praying, right, and some people are motivated from the idea, of just, just this morbid curiosity, about how things work, but a lot of, a lot of Christians, well-meaning Christians, are just like, confused, and just wanna know, well, how does this, how does this work, you know, how does God work in this way, and so, that's where we have to give further answers, and what's interesting, is, verse 23, so Daniel has prayed, and Gabriel the angel shows up, right, and, and he says this, he says, at the beginning of your supplications, okay, so Daniel, when you first started praying, the command, or the decree, was issued, comma, and I've come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed, so give heed to the message, and gain understanding, of the vision, you begin to pray, and the decree was given, now we're not given a lot there, okay, and, and what I'm about to say, to some degree, is my sort of, view on this, a little, maybe a little speculation, or something like that, but remember, what verse one says, when did this, prayer take place, verse one, in the first years of darkness,

[45:20] Darius, and, and who's, who's, who's Darius, son of, so now, he's a Bino-Persian, he's not Babylon, Babylonian, it's Belchazzar, who's that, Darius, is also called, Cyrus, right, he's, he's got two names, Darius and Cyrus, okay, so, hang on to that, it's in his first year, what other chapter, in Daniel, is the first year, of Darius, chapter six, chapter six, is Daniel, the lion's den, in that first year, in that first verse, what you see, is he's setting up the kingdom, okay, chapter five, last verse, he's come in, he's taken over the kingdom, chapter six, verse one, he's now reestablishing, his governmental control, so it's the first year, of his reign, he doesn't really know, who Daniel is, now that Daniel, goes to the lion's den, it's kind of interesting,

[46:23] Daniel is praying, in that first year, and as Daniel's praying, in that first year, Daniel already knows, Babylon's going to be, taken over, by the Medo-Persians, and Daniel knows, because Daniel, in chapter six, is an old man, he was a young man, when he got there, he's an old man, now, and when he reads Jeremiah, and sees 70 years, Daniel can calculate, how many years, they've got left, so God has already, established, how long, Israel's going to be there, it's decreed, and Daniel is praying, Lord, help us, we've sinned, but turn your wrath away, shine your face on us, deliver us, for your name's sake, treat your city well, for your name's sake, right, so even though, it's decreed, and here's what's interesting, you got, in Ezra chapter one, now in the first year, of Cyrus, king of Persia, who is Darius, in order to fulfill, the word of the Lord, by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up, the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation, throughout all his kingdom, and also put into writing, saying, go back to Jerusalem, so Cyrus comes in, takes over,

[47:46] Daniel in this same year, is praying, Lord set us free, the answer to his prayer, is that when you began to pray, the decree came, and as the decree came, Cyrus writes out, and says, go back to Jerusalem, a specified amount of time, by God's decree, yet it was Daniel's prayer, that launched the decree, for them to return home, so what we're saying here, is that, God does indeed, decree all things, that come to pass, and he decrees, to bring those things, to pass, by prayer, one theologian, says it this way, he says, that, the prayer, prayer, is the nerve, prayer is the nerve, in the hand of God, to move, and if you'll think about that, what informs the nerve, what to do?

[48:51] The brain, so it is God's brain, it is God's hand, and we're just the nerve, in the middle, we're just the channel, through which, God's decree, comes about, it's very similar, to so, so many other things, that we, can talk about, but here's the thing, when we are praying, we are participating, in what God, is bringing about, in his decrees, and his plans, God, not only decreed, 70 years, for Judah, that God, decreed, for Daniel, to pray, to the end of that, and he participated, with God, we are to pray, for the movement, of God, in this world, we're to pray, for missionaries, and their efforts, we're to pray, for each other, to grow in holiness, and grace, and discipleship, we're to pray, for the leaders, of our church, to be bold, so they preach, the gospel, share the gospel, shepherd the sheep, and we're to pray, for the sick, we're to pray, for doors to be open, for the gospel, and if we, if we get caught, in this trap, of saying, but isn't God, going to do that anyway, we're not participating, with him, we're not participating, with him, and we need, to participate, with him, we need, to be involved, with what he's doing, there's a sermon, that's Charles Spurgeon, preached,

[50:19] I don't know, if you know, who Charles Spurgeon is, considered the prince, of preachers, Baptist preacher, from London, the 1800's, and he preached, a sermon on prayer, and at the risk, of, it's always risky, when you read, things to people, particularly a sermon, by Charles Spurgeon, but there's just, this little section, in his sermon, about prayer, and about this very issue, and I want to read it, to you, because I think, that it's, it's, it captures, and sums up everything, okay, and so I've, I've put it on there, so you can see it, as I read it, okay, so maybe, maybe you can follow with me, he says, and if the church, be determined today, to lift up, her heart, and prayer, for the conversion, of men, it is because God, determined, from before all worlds, that men, should be converted, your feeble prayer, today believer, can fly to heaven, and awake the echoes, of the slumbering, decrees of God, every time, you speak to God, your voice, resounds, beyond the limits, of time, the decrees of God, speak to your prayer, and cry, hell brother, hell, thou too, art a decree, prayer, is a decree, escaped, out of the prison, of obscurity, and come to life, and liberty, among men, pray brother, pray, for when God, inspires you, your prayer, is as potent, as the decrees of God, as his decrees, bind the universe, with spell, and make the sons, obedient to him, as every letter, of his decree, is as a nail, pinning together, the pillars, of the universe, so are your prayers, they are pivots, on which earth, rests, they are the wheels, on which providence, resolves, your prayers, are like God's decrees, struggling to be born, and to become incarnate, like their Lord,

[52:19] God will, God must answer, the prayers of his church, I think I could see, in vision, in the clouds, God's register, his file, on which he puts, the prayers of his church, one after another, they've been deposited, he cast, none of them away, and consumed, none of them, in the fire, but he has put them, on his file, and smiled, as the heap, accumulated, and when it shall reach, a certain mark, which he has set, and appointed, in his good pleasure, and the last number, of the prayer, shall be completed, and the blood of Christ, shall have covered, the whole of them, then, will eternal speak, and it shall be done, and he shall command, and it shall stand fast, fast, wow, we, we, we, we, We can't look at prayer as moving God to do that which He would not ordinarily do.

[53:23] But we also don't need to say prayer is useless because God is just going to do what He wants to do. God uses prayer to do what He wants to do.

[53:36] And I just want to encourage us to be people of prayer. This has challenged me. The whole thing has challenged me in thinking that, man, I just don't pray as I ought.

[53:50] And I pray that that's the way this hits you this morning. So that you're encouraged to say, well, what steps do I need to take to be more of a person of prayer? And I pray that we'll get there.

[54:02]  I do. So to that end, we're going to close with prayer. And then if you have questions, we can talk about that.