The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day five)  

Throughout the book of Daniel we are presented with a tension that we must not only recognize but navigate. The tension is caused by the very nature and character of God being in relationship with man- powerful/personal, sovereign/intimate, immediate/eternal.

Daniel has experienced God dealing in his daily circumstances. Daniel has also experienced God’s glory and seen His everlasting splendor. We must do the same. We must look to God for daily strength and guidance while knowing He has created and controls the world (present and future).  The challenge for the human heart and mind is to hold onto both ends of the tension. To praise and request. To worship and to obey.

(Lyrics from a new song I’m singing these days)

Who can spin the world around
And hold me ever close

Who can search the depths of me
And  love me to the core

Who controls the world I see
And walks me through it all

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day four)

“But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”  These words could have been written by Daniel, but they weren’t…Jesus spoke these words in John 17.  Captivity and exile in Babylon was tough…the circumstances of daily life for the Jews were very difficult.  When Daniel explained his vision, he was offering hope and joy.  God was in complete control of their lives and circumstances, and the Jews could take comfort in that fact.

Do you feel that the circumstances of life are out of your control?  Are you overwhelmed by what the future may look like?  The message of Daniel and the message of Christ are the same…God is in control…He is sovereign over the circumstances of life…our relationship with Him brings joy that supersedes all circumstances.  We can rest in the calm assurance of His sovereignty and His love for us. We can have joy!

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day three)

“…to bring in everlasting righteousness…”

Does an assured eventual eternal era of peace and goodness make current and future painful events more bearable? Only in the sense that it makes those events more meaningful. It doesn’t lessen the agony, the difficulty, the deep distress. But without meaning, nothing is possible. “For the joy set before him he endured the cross.” The greatest act of love that could ever exist, Jesus’s laying down his life for his friends, did not happen absent his awareness of its meaning, or it could not have happened at all. And by the way, “meaning” doesn’t signify for us that we understand something in every detail, but rather that we are assured that the actions or events in question will culminate in good for all those who’ve thrown their lot in with the Savior. History is headed somewhere.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:23-27 (day two)  

At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision. vs. 23

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine! Isaiah 43:1b

Believer, when was the last time you recognized your standing with God? Scripture tells us over and over again how much we are loved. Not because of our merit, or on account of status. We are his, and he rejoices over us. This doesn’t mean that we won’t face our share of challenges. We will continue to be refined until we reach glory, but in the midst of struggle we can rest assured that God loves us. Daniel is highly esteemed. It may be easy to look around and become forlorn, but don’t forget to look up. God is active and has not forgotten you.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:1-23 (day seven)

“for you are highly esteemed” 9:23 NASB

or In the ESV, “for you are greatly loved.”

Isn’t that what we all want to know and feel? That we are greatly loved? We desire that! We desire to hear that from family. We desire to hear that from friends. We desire to hear those words in a similar capacity from employers and peers. We desire to hear that from God. We may look at Daniel in admiration and say, “God could never say that about me.” But there is nothing further from the truth!

God says that to all of us. We are His creation and He has created us perfectly. We are greatly loved. The reason we don’t believe that is because this sinful broken world has infiltrated our mind and convinced us we aren’t perfect and are incapable of being loved, but the truth is the closer you get to God, the more time you spend dwelling in Him, the more clearly you will hear the words of our Lord saying, “You are greatly loved!”

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:1-23 (day six)

On what grounds did Daniel pray? Daniel makes it very clear that his appeal for mercy is not based on his righteousness. He has none, nor the people of God. They all had gone their own way. Daniel’s prayer hinged on God’s character, not his own. If it was not for God’s righteousness, there would be no grounds for Daniel to pray at all.

What was true for Daniel, is true for us too. We pray in Jesus name because we come to the Father in His righteousness, not our own, otherwise we have no privilege to come to God at all.

This keeps us humble and bold. Humble because it reminds us we have been given so much, and bold because it reminds us we can freely approach the throne of grace without fear.

It’s an odd thought but true; Jesus died so Daniel could pray too.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:1-23 (day five)  Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God.
One of the opportunities we have in this season of quarantine, is solitude. God has slowed us down. There is room now for deep meaningful individual and personal reflection, study, and prayer. Those times with God are designed to be sweet, intimate, and powerful. Daniel experienced a personal and dynamic relationship with God. Yet, even in isolation he carries a burden for the people of God.  We must pray I/We prayers.  Personal and corporate. Individual and community. My concern is that members in our  family of faith will be seen only as windows on a zoom conference- that through virtual community, we might somehow lose our passion to bear one another’s burden. They must be on your heart. We must call out their names to the Living and Holy God. This week as you pray (personally), will you also pray for your class and church.  Will you let them know of your love and deep concern?  May we love the Lord and each other well!

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:1-23 (day four)

When reading our passage this week, one character quality stands out for Daniel…humility.  This was not the first time Daniel sought the Lord, but when circumstances became overwhelming, he went to God for answers.  Daniel’s humility is evident as he confesses the sins of his nation…he includes himself in the intercession.

Daniel’s eyes were on the Lord.  He knew where to find truth amid the confusion.  When the voices of culture are screaming confusion and accusation, truth can be found in only one place…the Lord.  Daniel had oriented his life around his relationship with the Lord and he found understanding through prayer.  He recognized that each of us is responsible for obedience to God.

Are the circumstances around you confusing?  Are you hearing mixed messages everywhere you turn?  Whether it’s political speak, coronavirus speculation, or outright lies, the world will not give you truth.  Seek truth where Daniel found it…in humility, read His Word and pray.  You may discover how much God loves you!

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:1-23 (day three)

“I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet.”

Daniel: fount of wisdom to kings, interpreter of dreams, faith-filled sage, courageous advisor, trustworthy friend. That’s character. How about including this descriptor: Bible reader. Daniel’s character – his seemingly unfathomable depth of benevolent goodness and quiet confidence – grew in part from how the Bible shaped his inner life and informed the way he moved in the world. He didn’t call it “the Bible.” He called it “the word of the Lord to Jeremiah,” who was a contemporary of his. But as soon as Jeremiah spoke those prophecies, they were written down. And what we have come to know as the Bible is in fact the written-down word of God. That same word which shaped Daniel’s character will shape yours.