Tag Archives: Repentance

The Prayer of Repentance

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Once Upon A Time

“The Parable of the Ducks”— Once upon a time there was a town where only ducks lived. Every Sunday the ducks waddled out of their houses and down Main Street to their Duck Church. They waddled in and sat down in their proper seats. The Duck Choir would waddle in and take their place, and the Duck Pastor would waddle forward and open his Duck Bible. Then he’d read to them: “Ducks! God has given you wings! With wings you can fly! With wings you can mount up and soar like eagles! No walls can confine you! No fences can hem you in! You have wings, so FLY!” All the ducks would shout, “Amen!” And then they would all waddle home!

When Sin Invades

The moral of the story? Once sin invades our life, it cripples our ability to live the Christian life the way God intended for us to live it; and until we repent of our sin, we’ll “waddle” through this life even though God has ENABLED us to “FLY” IN CHRIST! Before his ascension to the throne of Israel—and for much of his early reign—King David was a man of moral integrity. But somewhere he began to take himself too seriously, and pride began to crowd out the voice of God’s Spirit in his life, and he began to lose his way spiritually. The tragic events leading up to King David’s most memorable sinful gaffe are found in 2 Samuel 11.

David’s Tragic Gaffe

It began “in the spring,” verse 1 says, “when kings march out to war.” It was customary for kings to march out to war with their soldiers to inspire them. But David decided to indulge himself at home while his soldiers set up camp in an open field. “David sent Joab,” the text says, “with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.” That decision proved to be a dreadful mistake for David. One evening, while out for a stroll on the roof of his palace, he saw something he never would have been exposed to had he marched to war with his men. A woman was cleansing herself. She was a beautiful woman, according to verse 2, and David decided he wanted her. So, he sent messengers to find out who she was—she was the wife of one of his soldiers, Uriah—and that should have ended it! She was another man’s wife! But David sent for her and slept with her.

The Big Cover-Up

It was supposed to be a one-night fling for the king, but she became pregnant. Then he orchestrated a cover-up that ended in her husband Uriah’s death. But God was displeased with what David had done, so He sent Nathan the prophet to expose King David’s sin and to inform him that the son Uriah’s wife would bear would die. It’s at that point that the Scriptures allow us to peer in on King David to see what a prayer of repentance looks like. What we learn is that repentant prayer reopens communication with God that sin had closed. I’m confident that David’s sin didn’t begin with Uriah’s wife. When the big sin shows up, there’s always a trail of little sins leading up to it. And David repented for all of it.
 

How Pain Brings Us To Our Knees

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Does God Really Love Us?

We are tempted to ask how it is that God could truly love us if He allows us to suffer through painful experiences. In fact, it is because He loves us that He choreographs pain and suffering into our lives. Let me explain. It is not our natural tendency to seek closer fellowship with God when our lives are filled with blessings attached to this world. No — it is our tendency to stray from God when life is good! We become more comfortable leaning on this world’s blessings for our daily support. So God — in His love and sovereign grace — places a “wake-up call,” in the form of a painful experience, in front of us. He shakes us back to reality with something that refocuses our attention on Him, forcing us to our knees in prayer.

Our Greatest Satisfaction

He does this because He knows that nothing will ever offer us greater satisfaction than a Spirit-filled relationship with Him. All of this world’s goods and services are but cheap substitutes for a walk with God. If you follow the narrative from the first chapter in the book of Acts, you’ll see 120 disciples waiting in an upper room in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit. Then, in chapter 2, the Spirit comes to indwell and fill the believers so they would have the supernatural power of the Spirit to obey Jesus’ commission to take the gospel to every people group and disciple them. Immediately, God begins to use them in His supernatural work as 3,000 were saved and became disciples that day — and then more and more were added!

Comfortable and Complacent

But as you read the next few chapters, it seems the church becomes complacent and comfortable with their success, and God’s work begins to slow down. So God, in His sovereignty, brought persecution. Stephen is stoned. Then James is killed, and Peter is imprisoned. It’s this crisis of faith that unsettled them, and they returned to their knees in prayer. They were humbled. They got back to biblical prayer. They expressed their helplessness and total dependence on God’s power to see Peter released from prison: “So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.” — Acts 12:5. In the verses that follow, God sends an angel to spring Peter from prison (vv. 6–11).

The Lost Confronted By Answered Prayer

There’s another prayer principle that God reveals to us through His answered prayer to release Peter from incarceration: God will use a mighty display of His power to confront the lost with their sin. King Herod had imprisoned Peter and assumed he had more power than he actually had. But God says, “No, Herod — your plans to kill Peter won’t work!” Someone once said, “We make our plans, and God laughs.” I love that! Don’t lose heart, church. It may appear the world is out of control, but God hasn’t lost it. In His sovereign timing, He will display His power again and confront the lost with their need for repentance. So let’s get the bigger picture when we find ourselves in a painful place. Don’t pray that God will take it away — He may be doing a special work in your life or in the life of someone watching. Trust His plans!
 

How God Wants Us To Pray

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He Wants Us To Repent

So, let me tell you what I believe God wants us to do if our prayer life looks like that of the typical Christian! I believe He wants us to repent of our prayerlessness! I believe He wants us to denounce all our human efforts and admit our total helplessness when it comes to getting God’s work done in our own strength! And I believe that, in order to accomplish that, He wants us to change some habits in our lives—He wants us to add time to pray into our schedules! That means we might need to actually move some other things out of our schedule! And then, He wants us to pray with absolute dependence on Him!

Pray Over A Crisis of Faith

I believe all these things about prayer are based on the many and various texts of Scripture on the subject! Take Acts chapter 12, the first five verses, for instance. It begins: “About that time King Herod cruelly attacked some who belonged to the church, and he killed James, John’s brother, with the sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the days of Unleavened Bread. After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.” We can draw a prayer principle from that reading. When trouble comes our way, God uses our crisis of faith, in His sovereignty, to get us engaged with Him in prayer!

The Human Way We Pray

There’s something dreadfully human about the way we pray when life is great! When the job is secure, when the marriage is healthy, when there’s plenty of money, when life’s great… we don’t pray! That says, “We’ve got this,” doesn’t it? We have the false sense that the job’s secure, the marriage is healthy, and there’s plenty of money because, “We’ve got this!” Because we’re so good at living life! We credit ourselves for the good life. But God knows how self-deluded we are!  When Israel entered the Promised Land—after God had miraculously delivered them from slavery to Egypt; after God had dried up the Red Sea so they could safely cross; after God had fed them with manna and quail in the desert; after God had preserved their clothing and sandals for 40 years in the wilderness—He knew they would be tempted to take credit for their good life. He warned them!

Be Careful Not To Forget The Lord

God knew how Israel would respond to His going before them, dispossessing the land from wicked nations, and handing over to them homes, cities, and land they hadn’t earned. He warned them:  “When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers… a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, houses full of every good thing that you did not fill, wells dug that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied, be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” — Deuteronomy 6:10-12. What do we have that God has not given us? But we get comfortable and forget, don’t we?

Supernatural Prayer

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Lots of Goofy Ideas About Prayer

The world — and even the church — has some pretty goofy ideas about prayer. For some, prayer is like magic: if your faith is strong enough, you can pray the sick back to health! You can pray the dead back to life! I’ve heard prayers — by some who claimed to be believers — that sounded more like witchcraft or New Age spirituality, where prayer is like “The Force” and the battle against the dark side. And if God is going to win, you have to support Him with your prayers! In other words, the fate of the world — and even of God — is in your hands, or in your prayers.

Blasphemous Prayer

Then there’s the blasphemous “Word of Faith” teaching on prayer, or the “Prosperity Gospel” that makes God out to be little more than your personal “Jeannie in a Bottle.” You want health, wealth, and prosperity? Just name it and claim it! God is helpless against the power of your words if you claim it in Jesus’ name. He has to give it to you! That’s a perversion of what Jesus taught His disciples to pray. It’s a perversion of what prayer looks like in the New Testament.

Why Is Real Prayer Supernatural?

Prayer in the New Testament was supernatural! I mean by that, prayer was an absolute reliance and dependence on God. These perversions of prayer are humanistic in nature — the power is inside us. Biblical prayer, instead, depends on the power of God that is outside us. We’re admitting to our weakness and to our inability to affect change. We’re trusting in a supernatural God to do what we cannot do. Biblical prayer is expressed helplessness and dependence on God’s power. Let me put it another way: whatever we don’t pray about, we’re basically telling God, “I got this,” right? “Don’t need You for this one, God.” Let me get personal. How many of you get up early enough Sunday mornings to pray that God would move powerfully in your worship service? How many of you have prayed specifically for a certain person who needs to be saved? Whatever ministry you might be part of in your church — do you pray regularly over it? For the people who are part of it? I doubt that most of you really believe you can do God’s work without His supernatural help. But if you’re not praying over it regularly, it kind of casts doubt.

What Are Your Expectations?

We need the Holy Spirit’s conviction — that if we’re not spending significant time appealing to God in passionate prayer, we shouldn’t expect Him to do any supernatural work in our midst, in our lives, or in our church. By our failure to pray, we’re telling God, “I got this. Don’t need Your help.” Listen, the Holy Spirit doesn’t need our self-centered know-how. He doesn’t need us at all. But it seems to be God’s M.O. to engage His people in deep, passionate, humble, helpless, and desperate prayer before He does His great supernatural work. He includes us, and He uses our prayer to grow in us a deeper dependence on His power rather than our own. Will you repent of your false views of prayer — or your prayerlessness? God help us!
 

Your Giving Reveals Your Heart

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Money Is An Exact Index

Richard Halverson served as the Chaplain of the United States Senate from 1981-1994. Some considered this statement he made, about money, to be controversial:  “Jesus Christ said more about money than any other single thing because, when it comes to a man’s real nature, money is of first importance. Money is an exact index to a man’s true character.  All through Scripture there is an intimate correlation between the development of a man’s character and how he handles his money.” Money is an “exact index” to a man’s true character, he says! In other words, you can get a good feel for a person’s level of spiritual commitment by checking out their spending habits!

Where Your Treasure Is

Jesus said it like this, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will follow” Matthew 6:21. What your money goes after is a pretty clear indication of what your heart goes after! What your hands buy is a reflection of what your heart is doing with God! I saw this 1st hand because I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. I was 13 when my parents came to faith in Christ; and, I saw how it impacted all their decisions about finances. So, the “quality” of your faith will reflect in all your financial decisions, as well as the level of your generosity. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”; and, He had a lot to say about money! Nearly half of his parables were about finances— He talked about money & possessions more than all His talks on heaven & hell combined! REALLY!

Money Can’t Be A Taboo Subject

All of this means that it’s impossible to separate your financial life from your spiritual life. We can’t make money a taboo subject in the Church & the pulpit when 1 out of every 7 verses, in the New Testament, deals with money. Think about this: There are 500 Bible verses on prayer; LESS than 500 verses on faith; and, more than 2,350 verses on money! If the Church is to be faithful to the Word of God, we can’t NOT preach and teach about money! There is a fundamental connection between your spiritual life, and, the way you think about & handle money! Your financial decisions ultimately reveal what you think about God! And, it’s vital to your walk with Christ— to your SANCTIFICATION & your spiritual growth— that you listen and obey what the Scriptures say about this. You’ve got to get this right, Church!  

We’re Managing God’s Stuff

Let the Holy Spirit, who indwells you as a believer, convict you with God’s Word if you’re not doing this right! And, REPENT! Make the right decision for God! As we conclude, let the words of the Apostle Paul to the Church of Corinth speak to your heart:  “Remember this, the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver…You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.” 2 Corinthians 9:1-12 . In other words, how you spend your money is an “exact index” to your spiritual character. Be honest with yourself, and be honest with God about this. He already knows your heart!
 

Do I Really Own My Stuff?

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Are You An Owner Or A Steward?

You don’t want to be on the wrong side of that question! If you don’t listen to the Word of God—when it comes to your finances & your stuff—you’ll forfeit something. God will oppose you as long as you live like an “owner” of YOUR stuff rather than a “steward” or a “manager” of HIS. The prophet, Malachi, was inspired by God’s Spirit to write: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed ME! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse” Malachi 3:8,9.   Clearly, God means for us to understand that our resources are not ours to use however we may wish!

God Owns It All

In my last post, I challenged you with Scripture that makes it clear that God owns ALL of it! He doesn’t just get our tithe & offerings; and, the rest is ours to spend on ourselves! He owns it ALL—Deuteronomy 10:14; Haggai 2:8; 1 Corinthians 10:26. As stewards, we are responsible for managing the portion of HIS “estate”—that He has entrusted to us—the way that HE wants it to be managed! We don’t have the freedom to do what we want with it! Our responsibility is to spend it the way He directs us! We have to get this right, Church! You’re the STEWARD of your stuff, not the OWNER! Repeat that out loud! You need to convince yourself of that! Here’s what you need to do—you need to do an AUDIT of your finances! And, if God’s Spirit shows you that you’ve been living like an owner instead of a steward, you need to “repent.”

Change Your Mind

To “repent” literally means to “change your mind” about something. If you’ve not been obedient, in this area, you need to repent & change your mind about the way you’ve been living! And, I would challenge you to make it a matter of prayer, every day, to release your stuff back to God! Talk to Him every day, about it, and, give it all back to Him. And, how will you know if you’re making progress? Well, you’ll begin to experience freedom from greed, first of all! When it’s part of your mindset that none of your stuff is really yours, you’ll also begin to experience a freedom from the anxiety that a love of money can bring. It all belongs to God anyway; and, He’s promised to take care of you! So, your dependence transfers from your IRA to God, right? 

Don’t Wander From The Faith

The Apostle Paul warned Timothy, his son in the faith, with these words: “But godliness with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” 1 Timothy 6:6-10. Catch the gravity of Paul’s warning to young Timothy? He tells him that the way he looks at his money & his stuff has a direct correlation to his relationship with God! And, if he gets it wrong he’s in danger of “financial apostasy”; or, wandering from the faith! Don’t do that!

What Makes You Happy?

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The Things You Delight In

Your happiness is contingent on the things that you delight in! That’s what the writer of Psalm 1 tells us. In v.1 he says,  “How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked…”; and he follows that with v.2,  “Instead (or, in contrast to the BAD ADVICE of the wicked in v.1) his delight is in the Lord’s instruction.” Don’t let the wicked, the sinner, or the scoffer (from v.1) influence the way you think, or you’ll begin to “delight” in their ways & you’ll lose your happiness! You begin to “delight” in the ways of the world when you look “at” and begin listening “to” all the stuff the world produces; until you think about it so much you begin to delight in it! Beware, the text says, you’ll find no happiness there!

Pressed Into A Mold

So, there is something the genuinely “HAPPY” person does NOT do; and there’s something the genuinely “HAPPY” person DOES do! The “HAPPY” person does NOT take advice from the wicked; and, DOES delight, instead, in Godly instruction; or, the “Law of the Lord”! The Apostle Paul warned the Church of Rome in this way:  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1,2). That word “conformed”, that he uses, carries the idea of being pressed into a mold—  “Don’t let the world ‘press you into its mold’ with its wicked advice and counsel.” Delight, instead, in God’s instruction so that you’re thinking is transformed or sanctified!

Align Your Thoughts With Scripture

Test the advice you receive, by placing it under the lens of God’s Word; so you can discern what God says about it.  You absolutely will not find happiness in the words or the way of the ungodly. Their advice will lead you away from God’s Word; and away from happiness! True happiness comes to those who delight; or, find PLEASURE in the Word of God & the ways of God! Let me quote John Piper on this psalm:  “Now the point of the psalm is to say that when you experience the Word of God like that – as so delightful and so satisfying that it captures your mind and heart day and night and weans you away from the counsel and path and seat of the world -when you experience the Word like that, you are blessed. You are happy.” Our minds need to be “renewed,” Paul says! Our sinful nature interrupts any natural ability we ought to have to delight in the things of God.  We were created to delight in Him; but sin has wrecked us & deceived us into thinking the ways & counsel of the world is wise. When we repent, however, and come to Christ, the Holy Spirit begins to reorient our thoughts & align them with Scripture.

Meditate On That


 Find your delight in the Word of God, and then meditate on it! That’s what the writer adds in v.2,  “…his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he MEDITATES on it day and night!” Your happiness is contingent on your delight “in” & your meditation “on” the instruction found in God’s Word! That has to be accepted by faith; because the world’s “advice” says happiness comes by pleasing yourself in whatever physical gratification trips your trigger! In the original language, that word “meditate” means to speak or to mutter. So, the writer is saying that meditating on God’s Word means that you speak to yourself; or, you mutter the Words of God to yourself all day—  “day and night” he says! I grew up on a farm where cows would chew their cud over & over. God changes or transforms our thinking as we consistently mull over His Word.
 

Sustaining Spiritual Momentum Part III

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Church Attendance Behavior

“The number one reason for the decline in church attendance is that members attend with less frequency than they did just a few years ago”— quote from author & church consultant Thom S. Rainer on his website http://www.thomrainer.com. So, it would seem— if that statement is true— that much of the blame for declining attendance, in 9 out of 10 churches in America, must be laid at the feet of the Church itself! Mr. Rainer explained it like this:  “If the frequency of attendance changes, then attendance will respond accordingly. For example, if 200 members attend every week the average attendance is, obviously, 200. But if 1/2 of those members miss only 1 out of 4 weeks, the attendance drops to 175. ..attendance declined over 12% because half the members changed their attendance behavior slightly.”

Missing The Sunday Gatherings

Believers are finding reasons to “miss” the Sunday gatherings! And, unfortunately, this isn’t the first time in the history of the Church that this has happened! The last couple posts we’ve looked at Hebrews 10:24-25, which reads:  “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our gatherings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Previously, we considered what the author said about “love” and “good works.” And, in context, it seems quite clear that the writer is calling out some “absent” believers; and, challenging them to be concerned about one another by being present whenever the Church gathers!

Whenever The Church Gathers

That word translated “gatherings” is a specific word— in the original language— that’s used only here & 2 Thessalonians 2:1 which refers to “…the GATHERING together of the elect to Christ at His coming…” Nothing too subtle about that! The writer likens our “gatherings” as a local Church body with the “gathering” of ALL the saints in Christ! None of us want to miss that! So, the message seems quite clear— “don’t just ‘blow off’ your regular Church meetings either.” Let me also suggest that the text doesn’t limit the meaning to Sunday services! A specific day of the week is not even mentioned! Rather, it carries the idea that “whenever” your church gathers, be there! If your church has a Small Group ministry, are you part of a Small Group? And do you attend regularly? Are there regular “men’s meetings”; or “women’s meetings” in your church? Are there retreats? It would seem that Scripture is calling out believers to be faithful attenders for all church “gatherings.”  

The Early Church Met Daily

In the context of the early Church in Acts, they met DAILY! The writer says that some were staying away from the gatherings; and, he REBUKES them for it! That rebuke falls on the Church today; and, confession & repentance must follow if we hope to sustain any kind of spiritual momentum! How will new believers learn to obey God’s Word, about “gatherings”, if the believers discipling them are disobedient? The writer says to do this all the more, “…as you see THE DAY approaching.” “THE DAY” is a Biblical term that refers to Jesus’ 2nd Coming & the Judgment Seat of Christ.  He’s saying that he wants us all to stand approved before Jesus! This is REAL! He wants his readers to hear Jesus say: “WELL done, GOOD & FAITHFUL servant.” So, Church— let us “make disciples” who “make disciples” who come to the “gatherings”!

Devoted To Church Community

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The Current Response To Church

Unity is always God’s will for His Church! Satan, on the other hand, is always working to sow seeds of “DISUNITY” among those individuals that comprise a local church community! Because Satan has been so successful—at promoting disunity—many believers have determined to live a life of “isolation” while still attending church; and, others have elected to “quit” church altogether! Listen believer: “God never intended for you to live your Christian life in a vacuum!” I am so sorry that you’ve been “wounded”! I truly am! The Christian life was never intended to be lived alone; but, in the context of a “community.”

Misunderstanding Community

Now, I’ve noticed that all it takes for some of us to “check out” is to hear the word “community.” Your eyes kind of roll to the back of your head! You cross your fingers & hope we’ll quickly change the subject! It’s like you’re afraid I’m going to tell you to sell everything you own, join a commune, and, raise organic fruits & vegetables! If that’s what you think, it’s because you misunderstand what community means in the Biblical context of a local church. It’s something that, once you grasp its meaning,  you’ll never let go of it because of its relational beauty! In our hearts, we all want Biblical community—it makes no difference your personality type! Whether you’re an introvert, an extrovert, or, socially awkward, all of us long for meaningful human relationships!

The Community Of The Godhead

That’s how God “wired” us—in HIS “image”—in the “community” of the Triune Godhead! He is, Himself, a “community” of 3 persons—ONE God existing in the perfect, loving, community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Even those of us, who’ve been “wounded” by someone, still keep searching for deep, authentic, relationships. The word “community” is a compound word: “COM” meaning “with”; and, “UNITY” meaning… “unity.” So, it means to “be unified”; or, have a “common union.” In the church, it just means to share our common life “IN” Christ.  Now that’s a problem, in America, where the typical response is to look for a church where WE can “be fed”; and where our family can be ministered “unto.” That response is foreign in Scripture! It is an unbiblical, unhealthy, consumer-driven mindset that has hi-jacked Jesus Christ’s intended purpose for HIS CHURCH! It requires repentance!  

We’re Not Just Here For You

The church— the followers of Jesus— is NOT made up of those who “minister”; and, those who are “ministered to”! Rather, ALL are to minister!  “And, let us (ALL of us!) consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24). “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). More than 60 times the phrase “each other” or “one another” is found in the N.T. commanding the church in the ways they’re to minister & care for one another! Every person can say, “We’re not just here for you; you’re here for us also!” That’s the responsibility of everyone in the faith community! The church that fails in that is crippled; and, guilty of “man-centered” narcissistic consumerism!

How To Pray For Revival

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(This continues a series of posts on the life of the Prophet Daniel)

Prayer For Israel’s Well-Being

The 9th chapter, of the Book of Daniel, opens with a significant prayer for Israel’s revival & restoration to the promised land! It’s significant because it means that Daniel had a copy of the Book of Jeremiah’s prophecy & he realized that the period of God’s divine judgment, against Israel, had ended! In v.2, it says that Daniel “…understood from the books according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70.” It had been 70 years since the 1st chapter, of the Book of Daniel, began with Babylon’s siege of Jerusalem! Israel could begin to return to the land from which they had been exiled; and, they could begin to pray for Israel’s well-being again!

Parallels Between Israel & U.S.

I’ve often felt that there are parallels between Israel’s demise; and, that of our own nation! So, we would do well to consider Daniel’s prayer for revival; and, apply it to our own nation! Psalm 9:17 says, “The wicked will go down to Hell & all the nations that forget God.” Our nation has lost its way! We’re on God’s radar for judgment! If there is any hope to turn this thing around it has to begin with the Church! For the world to experience revival, it must begin with God’s people! Before continuing to read this post, I want to ask you to PLEASE do something FIRST! Open your bible and read the 9th chapter of Daniel’s book! PLEASE read it FIRST before going any further!

Wrong Thinking About Prayer

Many of us have absorbed some wrong thinking about prayer! Read the prayers in Scripture; like, Daniel’s prayer here! Prayer is not a personal shopping list we bring to God with thoughts that He’s some kind of benevolent Genie who can’t resist our selfish requests! Prayer is not meant as some communication device— with the Almighty— to coerce Him to give us the things we wish for or desire! No, God intends to use our prayers to make us partners, with Him, to bring HIS WILL— not our own— into force! Did you notice how Daniel prayed? He came before God fasting in sackcloth & ashes! Prayer begins with humility! He humbled himself, it says, “to SEEK” God! The prayer for revival is “God-centered”, NOT  “self-centered.” In v.4, we see Daniel praying in awe of God! The prayer of revival is worshipful & reverent!

Personal Confession Of Sin

Notice, that Daniel’s prayer gets personal (v.5). But, not in the sense of asking anything for himself! Rather, he confesses his personal responsibility for sin; and, for the nation— “…we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from Your commands and ordinances. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name …”  He confesses two types of sin! He confesses sins of “transgression” (v.9); and, sins of “omission” (v.10).  “We knew Your Word & we still rebelled against it,” he said. Daniel shows us that the prayer of revival admits “brokenness”—  “public shame belongs to us” (v.7); and, he repeats that in the next verse!  He was sensitive to sin! He named it; and, he owned it! How desperately does the church today need to respond to her sin the way that Daniel did in his day.  The Apostle Peter tells us where revival begins:  “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” 1 Peter 4:17.