When my church participated in a global prayer week, a few friends signed up for the “prayer room” at my home. That evening, we were scheduled to pray for the different states in our country. Yet, after navigating treacherous traffic on potholed roads for an hour to get to my house, one of my friends quipped, “Forget other states and countries. We need to pray for the roads right here.”
I live in the developing world. Without a doubt, it’s easy to criticize the poor infrastructure, rampant corruption, incessant traffic jams, and blatant injustice that are part of our everyday lives. Even if it looks different where you live, there is no escaping the brokenness of our world.
But if we were to take a page from Daniel’s prayer recorded in Chapter 9, instead of complaining, our first response would be to cry out to God.
When Daniel understood the prophecy about Jerusalem’s desolation from his reading of Scripture, his first response wasn’t resignation. Instead, he got on his knees.
He prayed with humility, while holding tightly to the character of God.
He prayed in repentance, believing that restoration would bring glory to God.
He prayed with his heart, rooting his cries in Scripture.
As we intercede for our cities, our countries, and our fractured world, how do we pray as Daniel did?
Pray in Humility
True prayer prompted by the Spirit of God is inherently humbling. When we pray, we are essentially saying, “Lord, on my own, I cannot. But I know that you are able.” A posture of prayer is a posture of dependence. As we read Daniel’s prayer, his very first words capture the vastness and power of God: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments…” (Daniel 9:4).
There is no formula to prayer, but there is wisdom in beginning with adoration of the almighty God who was and is and is to come. Reverent praise sets our hearts in the right direction. It moves our gaze upward instead of merely inward or outward. As we ponder and proclaim the nature of God, we begin to grasp our own fallenness.
Reverent praise sets our hearts in the right direction.
Despite his own upright walk with God, Daniel did not separate himself from the sins of his people. Throughout his confession, his language is marked by the pronoun “we,” not “they.” In sackcloth and ashes before God, he cried: We have sinned, we have not listened, we have rebelled.
Daniel’s prayer challenges us to stop pointing fingers and, instead, become people who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Instead of blaming others, we can emulate Daniel’s humility before God as we recognize our own frailties and fallenness.
Pray God’s Character
Prayer is a powerful way of reminding ourselves of who God is. As we sit in God’s presence and meditate on His attributes, we lift our hearts above our fears.
Beautifully woven through Daniel’s confession is the character of God. Daniel proclaimed that the Lord is righteous. He reminded himself that the Lord God is merciful and forgiving. He rehearsed the truth that God is the one who brought the Israelites out of Egypt.
When we speak back to God what He has revealed about Himself in the Word, our spirits are strengthened. Isn’t it true that when we are consumed by worship, our supplications often become an afterthought?
Yet God in His love invites us to cast our burdens on Him.
Pray Your Petitions
Daniel prioritized prayer. But prayer wasn’t just a spiritual discipline that he checked off his to-do list. It was a lifeline. He cried out with rawness of emotion:
“Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act!” (Daniel 9:19)
True prayer is never passive. It is a desperate plea, a passionate outpouring, a lament, an emptying, an ache laid bare before God.
Daniel didn’t pray a timid prayer for his people. He prayed with passion, believing that the Lord hears and acts.
True prayer...is a desperate plea, a passionate outpouring, a lament, an emptying, an ache laid bare before God.
As our world plunges into the depths of divisiveness and depravity, may we come before God as Daniel did. May we humble ourselves, confess our sins, ground ourselves in Scripture, cling to the character of Christ, and passionately plead for the healing of our land.
Ultimately, Daniel prayed for God to be glorified through the restoration of His people: “For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name” (Daniel 9:19).
This is not just about the Israelites. It is about God’s covenant love for His people. It is about God’s name.
So, we too weep as we pray: “For your sake, my God, do not delay.”
We invite His reign once again.
We cry out, “Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.”