During my devotions last Saturday, while reading in the book of Daniel, I read the following prayer by Daniel;
Daniel 9:4-19 NIV; “I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.
“Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
“Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.””
The first thing that struck me is that Daniel used the personal pronoun, “we”. He included himself as a participant of the sin that caused the destruction of Israel and the bondage his people were then suffering. Although recognized as a righteous man before God, he saw himself as a participator of the sinning that caused God’s wrath.
As you continue to read in that, and the next chapter, God sent His angel to give Daniel the answer the moment Daniel began to pray. We need that kind of response from God now.
That speaks to me about my participation in the multiple crisis our country is suffering right now. Although I can say without any fear of contradiction that I have been faithful to:
- Pray for our country everyday
- Speak out against the wrong and stand firm for the right
- Willing to be used of God in any way necessary to save our nation and see a genuine;
- Spiritual Revival
- Moral Revival
- Family Structure Revival
- Education Revival
- Constitutional Revival
- Public Service Revival
- Nationwide Financial Revival
- National Pride Revival
- Pray for President Obama and all our political leaders National, State and Local. Paying God’s wisdom be upon them and His guidance pervade their thinking and for genuine Revival to sweep through them.
- Pray for our military everyday
Yet, I could be doing more. I have sinned in many ways, because, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). Like Daniel, I must include myself in any prayer petitioning God for forgiveness and national healing.
The famous passage often quoted here 2Chronicles 7:14;
“…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (NIV)
Let’s look at this passage. Solomon had just finished building the Temple of God. Israel gathered around him for the dedication. In 2Chronicles 6 we find the prayer Solomon prayed which turned out to be the “Prayer Covenant” Solomon wanted to establish with God and Israel. God’s answer was in the form of fire that came down out of heaven consuming the dedication sacrifices. How’s that for an answer to prayer.
In order to understand 2Chronicles 7:14, we have to look back at 2Chronicles 7:11-13; 11;
“When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.”
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,” (NIV)
There is so much we can discuss here, but let’s focus on this guideline to successful prayer with God as it applies to Daniels prayer and how we need to adapt it for our prayer for America.
- “If My People who are called by My Name”:
- “If” suggests a choice that has to be made. A DELIBERATE choice.
i. I have found consistent with God is His demand that we do everything with Him by DELIBERATE choice.
ii. We are to pray by choice, and to pray according to His “Prayer Book”.
- God’s prayer book is His Word, our Bibles. There we have His will expressed, His desires explained and our covenant with Him confirmed through Jesus.
- “My People”. If you belong to God, through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and are filled with His Spirit, then you are included in “My People”.
- “Will humble themselves”:
- Daniel obeyed this by including himself as a sinner. The Apostle Peter said in 1Peter 5: 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (NIV) Humility is a must. We are the weaker; His is the strong. He doesn’t need our strength, but we certainly need His.
- “…pray and seek my face”:
- Praying while seeking HIS face infers that our focus must be only on God, in Jesus Name, as the source for the solution we need, especially the healing of our nation.
- If you look back at all the historical evidence surrounding the Revivals that have happen in the Church, you will see consistently that God’s people determined to seek His face.
- “…and turn from their wicked ways”:
- The word the Bible uses for repentance literally means, “Turn around and go the opposite way you were traveling.” If we are serious about repenting for our sins, and the sins of the nation, means we must be serious about going in the opposite ways away from the coarse that led to the sin.
- “…then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”:
- In order to grasp this statement of God we must look at it this way, “Then, AND ONLY THEN, will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Leave out any of the steps (ingredients) and we fail.
- God sets the standards and requires us to follow them. That is reasonable. We need from Him, He, therefore, can set the requirements for approval.
Using Daniels prayer as a template, I propose we, God’s people through our Lord, and Savior, Jesus the Christ, His Son, deliberately humble ourselves to pray, seek God’s face, turn from our wicked ways, and pray something like this;
“Heavenly Father, in Jesus Mighty Name, we seek You, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments. We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our Spiritual leaders, our Pastors and our teachers, which included speaking to all the people of our Country which You created deliberately so we could worship You freely and spread You Gospel worldwide.
“Lord, You are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of America and the inhabitants of Washington D.C., our State Governments and our local Governments, because of our unfaithfulness to You. We and our political leaders, our self-appointed cultural leaders and our self-appointed Spokesman are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against You. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets and the Teaching of Jesus Your Son and the Holy Spirit Jesus sent. All the people of the United States of America has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey You.
“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in Your Word have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to America. Just as it is written in Your Word, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to Your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
“Now, Lord our God, who brought Your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for Yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from America, Your Country. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made America and Your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
“Now, our God, in Jesus Mighty Name, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servants. For Your sake, Lord, look with favor on Your country, America. Give ear, our God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the nation that You created for Yourself. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, please forgive us in Jesus Name! Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, my God, do not delay, because Your nation and Your people bear Your Name. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen””
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