SPEAKER_00: If you would take your Bible and open with me to Daniel chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: As we turn to Daniel chapter 9, this is what many would consider to be the Mount Everest of Old Testament Bible prophecy.
SPEAKER_00: Some would consider the final verses of Daniel chapter 9 to be the most significant prophecy in the Old Testament and the most difficult prophecy to interpret in the Old Testament, and that's saying a lot.
SPEAKER_00: Entire books have been written on Daniel 9, 24 to 27.
SPEAKER_00: Theologians have turned to Daniel chapter 9 to wrestle with the end times theology that's present there.
SPEAKER_00: But we have to keep in mind that the prophecy that we find at the end of the chapter is preceded by 19 verses of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel is pouring out his soul in adoration and confession and supplication before his God.
SPEAKER_00: This is a chapter that highlights the prayer of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: It's the longest recorded prayer of Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the longest prayers that we have anywhere in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: It's powerful, it's fervent, it's sincere, it's effectual.
SPEAKER_00: And this prayer is going to be so instructive for us because even though we might not be in Babylon, we're still a long way from home as believers, aren't we?
SPEAKER_00: We're still a long way from home.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel teaches us how to pray as exiles, as sojourners, as those who are looking for a city which has a foundation whose architect and builder is God.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel is one of us, and he prays as a model for us, a model for weary pilgrims who are a long way from home.
SPEAKER_00: So let's turn our attention to Daniel chapter 9, and I'll start reading at verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahashuarus of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans in the first year of his reign.
SPEAKER_00: 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 seventy years.
SPEAKER_00: So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and supplication, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
SPEAKER_00: 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, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from your commandments and ordinances.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Why don't you bow with me for a word of prayer?
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we come before you, Lord, and Father, we are grateful for your inerrant word, this word that's authoritative, this word that's sufficient for all of life.
SPEAKER_00: All that we need for life and godliness is found in your truth.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, I pray that uh today that uh you would speak to our hearts, and Father, that you would use me as a weak instrument to be a blessing to your people, I pray, in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: The effectual, fervent prayer of Daniel and Daniel chapter 9 accomplished much, and it was answered not only by a prophecy at the end of this chapter, but it was also answered by a personal message from Gabriel who was sent from heaven.
SPEAKER_00: If you look down at chapter 9 and verse 20 of the chapter, it says, 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, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.
SPEAKER_00: So if you had any question about whether or not Daniel's prayer life was really effective, all you have to look at is the prophecy that he was given, as well as the personal message that he received from heaven.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you receive a personal visitation from an angel to say, hey, we're listening to your prayers, we're getting the message on the other end.
SPEAKER_00: So here you have Daniel as a model of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel was a man who was highly esteemed.
SPEAKER_00: In Ezekiel chapter 14, it lets us know that Daniel would have been one of three men who would have been rescued because of his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 33, it says that by faith he shut the mouths of lions.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel was so committed to prayer that he prayed three times every day and was willing to become lunch meat rather than neglect his quiet time.
SPEAKER_00: He'd rather be a meal for lions than neglect his time in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel was that committed to prayer.
SPEAKER_00: So if you think about Daniel and you wonder where did the power of his life come from, you have to look no further than the times that he spent before his God in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Many of you know the name Charles had in Spurgeon.
SPEAKER_00: Spurgeon was a preacher of the 19th century, a preacher and pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London.
SPEAKER_00: He's been called the Prince of Preachers and one of the greatest preachers that England ever produced, and we still read his sermons today.
SPEAKER_00: And there was a story that was told about some young ministers who came to his church who were wondering, you know, where did his power come from?
SPEAKER_00: And they they visited the sanctuary where he he preached, where he heralded God's word, and they said, This must be where the power is.
SPEAKER_00: And after he showed them his sanctuary, he invited these young ministers to come with them on a trip in the basement to the boiler room.
SPEAKER_00: And the young minister said, Well, you know, that's polite, but you know, we're gonna decline.
SPEAKER_00: Uh no need to go down into the basement.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we've already seen the church, and he he he he he encouraged them to come, he wouldn't let them go.
SPEAKER_00: And finally they came down into the to the basement where there were about a hundred people in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And he let them know that if they wanted to see where the power came from, it was right here.
SPEAKER_00: The same was true of Daniel's life, the power of his life came from prayer, and it's the same in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_00: His disciples examined his life, and they eventually came to the conclusion that there was something different about the way that this man prays.
SPEAKER_00: In Luke chapter 11, it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray.
SPEAKER_00: And think about what they didn't ask him.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't say, Lord, teach us to preach like you do.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can captivate thousands.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, no man has ever spoken the way that you do.
SPEAKER_00: Can you teach us how to outline a sermon like you do?
SPEAKER_00: They didn't come to Jesus and say, Can you teach us how to perform the miracles that you do?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that walking on water thing, that's really impressive.
SPEAKER_00: I'd really like to do that sometime.
SPEAKER_00: Can you teach us how to do the miracles that you do?
SPEAKER_00: They didn't ask any of that, but they did come to Jesus and say, Lord, can you teach us how to pray like you do?
SPEAKER_00: There was something significant about his prayers.
SPEAKER_00: And in Daniel chapter 9, we're taken to the place where Daniel knelt on his knees.
SPEAKER_00: It was his own boiler room.
SPEAKER_00: It's where he offered this effectual and fervent prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel teaches us in Daniel chapter 9 how to pray.
SPEAKER_00: This is Daniel's prayer class 101.
SPEAKER_00: So I hope you're all signed up for the class.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel chapter 9 teaches us how to pray, not by precept, but by example.
SPEAKER_00: And in broad terms, this text answers three questions about powerful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: What is it that provokes powerful prayer in verses 1 and 2?
SPEAKER_00: What's the posture of powerful prayer in verses 3 to 4?
SPEAKER_00: And also what's the pattern of powerful prayer?
SPEAKER_00: That shows up later in verses, uh, the end of verse 4 down to verse 19, but today we'll just cover the what provokes powerful prayer and what's the posture of powerful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: So let's take a look at the first point.
SPEAKER_00: What is it that provokes powerful prayer?
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 1 again.
SPEAKER_00: It says, in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahashuarus of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.
SPEAKER_00: And you might not think that that's significant, but that is extremely significant, that historical detail.
SPEAKER_00: We're introduced to Darius back in chapter 5 and verse 31, where it says that Darius the Mead received the kingdom at about the age of 62.
SPEAKER_00: And this man received the kingdom from the Babylonians.
SPEAKER_00: He came and took over.
SPEAKER_00: Darius actually is a regal name, it's a name that means hero among rulers.
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, obviously they're really humble guys, that's how they called themselves.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm the hero among rulers.
SPEAKER_00: And Darius shows up and he takes over the kingdom of the Babylonians, the Medo-Persian kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: This hero among the rulers came and took over the kingdom of Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: But think about what this meant for Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel had just seen the rise and fall of an entire empire.
SPEAKER_00: He was there when it started, the Babylonian kingdom, 605 BC, in Daniel chapter 1, in verse 1, it says Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
SPEAKER_00: And that was the rise of the Babylonian Empire, 605 BC.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel, along with a number of other men, were taken to Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: And now Daniel is still here at the end of the Babylonian Empire when another kingdom is coming into power.
SPEAKER_00: So Daniel has seen the rise and the fall of an entire empire, and guess where he still is?
SPEAKER_00: He's still in Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: This entire time I've seen the rise and fall of an empire, but I still haven't seen my prayers answered yet.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel was there 66 to 67 years.
SPEAKER_00: He prayed every day, three times a day.
SPEAKER_00: If you add that up three times a day, 365 days a year for 67 years, that's 73,365 prayers that he offered to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And you thought you were praying for a long time.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel has been persevering in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And the first question that we ask is what is it that provokes powerful prayer?
SPEAKER_00: My first answer is this a prolonged time under tension.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel has been here for an extremely long time.
SPEAKER_00: I've heard that uh that time under tension grows muscles.
SPEAKER_00: You know, for those of you who are into the fitness, you know, moving a weight slower rather than faster, you can build your muscles, you know, a little bit stronger.
SPEAKER_00: But if you go too slow and the weight's too heavy, you can pop your muscles rather than strengthen your muscles.
SPEAKER_00: I've seen those, you know, videos where you know guys are lifting these weights and the bicep just rolls up into their shoulder because it's too long under the pressure, too long under the weight.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel has been here for a long time under this weight.
SPEAKER_00: He's been here to see the rise and fall of the kingdom, and he's been stretched beyond his limits.
SPEAKER_00: And the Psalms are filled with expressions of those who are stretched beyond their limits.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 6, verse 3 says, Oh, my soul is greatly dismayed, but you, O Lord, how long?
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 74, verse 10, how long, O God, will the adversary revile and the enemy spurn your name forever?
SPEAKER_00: Is this going to go on and on forever, Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 94, verse 3, how long shall the wicked exalt, O Lord?
SPEAKER_00: How long shall the wicked exalt?
SPEAKER_00: And a prolonged time under tension can provoke us to prayer, like, Lord, I've been here for so long.
SPEAKER_00: Is there going to be any relief to this?
SPEAKER_00: Daniel's been under this tension for a long time.
SPEAKER_00: And he's only been told that things are going to get worse.
SPEAKER_00: If you look back in Daniel chapter 8 and verse 26, Daniel has just been told uh uh given a vision about the destruction and devastation of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 26, it says, the vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel, it's going to get worse before it gets better.
SPEAKER_00: And how does Daniel respond?
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 27.
SPEAKER_00: Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick four days.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone exhausted out there?
SPEAKER_00: Like, like, Lord, it doesn't seem like anything's gonna change.
SPEAKER_00: I've been here for such a long time.
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that's going to change about my situation?
SPEAKER_00: You know, maybe there's that prodigal son or daughter that you're still waiting on to come back home.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, how long is it going to be?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's a marriage that's going through those vicious cycles, you know, where you think that you're just getting out of it, you know, there's going to be peace in our home, and then all of a sudden you're right back down into the same pit that you just dug yourself out of.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, Lord, how long?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's a tension in the family or the workplace.
SPEAKER_00: You know, every time you seem to get out of the penalty box, you're back in it again.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, Lord, like like here I am, I'm trying to serve you, I'm trying to be faithful, but but Lord, how long am I going to have to endure this trial?
SPEAKER_00: How long, oh Lord?
SPEAKER_00: There might even be a physical affliction that you're under that just doesn't let up.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I need some help.
SPEAKER_00: How long is this going to be, Lord?
SPEAKER_00: A prolonged time under tension provokes powerful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Earnest prayer, fervent prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what else provokes powerful prayer?
SPEAKER_00: Not only a prolonged time under tension, but also scripture under consideration.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 2.
SPEAKER_00: It says, In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books, I love that, 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.
SPEAKER_00: This is so incredibly instructive for us.
SPEAKER_00: And if if you don't consider the historical context here, you'll miss the significance of what Daniel is saying here.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel recognizes the words of Jeremiah as the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: What I'm reading is the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: In the books, that's uh Sephair in Hebrew, in Greek, it's biblos, where we get our word Bible from.
SPEAKER_00: And he's he's reading the book of Jeremiah, and it's obvious to him that this is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And we don't know how Daniel got his hands on the writing of Jeremiah because Daniel was already exiled in Judah while Jeremiah was still fulfilling his ministry back in Judah.
SPEAKER_00: You know, so Daniel's already in Babylon and Jeremiah's finishing his ministry up in Judah.
SPEAKER_00: But somehow, maybe through the later exiles who came and you know came to Babylon, they came with the scroll of Jeremiah and they they handed it to Daniel, and he reads this and he understands, I am reading the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Why is that so significant?
SPEAKER_00: Daniel does not have to wait for some later Jewish council to get together to determine whether or not Jeremiah is really inspired.
SPEAKER_00: He's not waiting for some Catholic council to get together to say, you know what, I think that Jeremiah belongs in the books of the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: He's not waiting for some uh higher biblical critic to say, you know what, I'm gonna move this bead over here and determine that Jeremiah is really the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: No, from the time that he read it, he understood this is the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Tuck that away the next time somebody tells you that, you know, there's some kind of uh organization or church that created the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: No, the Bible creates us.
SPEAKER_00: We don't create the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of God before any councils, before any popes.
SPEAKER_00: This is still the authoritative word of God.
SPEAKER_00: So this is the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And these writings of Jeremiah that he's reading are telling him about a specific number of years that were determined for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: 70 years.
SPEAKER_00: And where was Daniel reading to get that 70-year prophecy from?
SPEAKER_00: Why don't you flip back to Jeremiah chapter 25 just to show you what Daniel was reading?
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah 25.
SPEAKER_00: And as you're turning to Jeremiah, Jeremiah is known as the weeping what?
SPEAKER_00: The weeping prophet.
SPEAKER_00: Why is he weeping?
SPEAKER_00: Because he's talking about the desolation, the destruction of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: But he not only had bad news, he also had some good news to share as well, because there's coming an end to that.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Jeremiah 25, look at verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: He says, This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for how long?
SPEAKER_00: Seventy years.
SPEAKER_00: Then it will be when 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation.
SPEAKER_00: Flip over to Jeremiah 29.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Jeremiah 29.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah 29 and verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: It says, For thus says the Lord, when how many years?
SPEAKER_00: 70 years have been completed for Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Daniel has been reading.
SPEAKER_00: 70 years.
SPEAKER_00: And he's looking at the clock and he says, the 70 years is about up.
SPEAKER_00: And look at what he says next, what Jeremiah says next in verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: And I know that this might be on a bumper sticker somewhere, or you know, you got a plaque somewhere at home.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but just make sure you you refer back to the context every once in a while, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.
SPEAKER_00: This this is the prophecy that Daniel has been reading, and that's specifically talking about the plans that the Lord has to bring Israel out of Babylon and the other places that they've been driven to, back to the promised land.
SPEAKER_00: God says, I'm gonna bring you back.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna bring you back after 70 years has expired.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel is checking his calendar, and he says, the time's about up.
SPEAKER_00: I've been here about 66 to 67 years.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's we should be right on schedule here.
SPEAKER_00: Seven years is 70 years.
SPEAKER_00: And he's checking his calendar.
SPEAKER_00: He he's been here praying for how long?
SPEAKER_00: 67 years?
SPEAKER_00: 73,365 prayers he's been offering, and now he discovers my prayers are about to be answered as he's been reading the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: So, what does Daniel do now having just discovered that all my prayers are finally going to be answered?
SPEAKER_00: I've read it in the book.
SPEAKER_00: This is the guaranteed certain word of God, it's going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: What does Daniel do?
SPEAKER_00: Flip back to Daniel chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: What does Daniel do having just understood all that the Lord has given?
SPEAKER_00: All that the Lord has promised?
SPEAKER_00: How does Daniel respond to that?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
SPEAKER_00: And you wonder, like, Daniel, did you did you forget what you just read?
SPEAKER_00: Like you just read that your prayers are going to be answered.
SPEAKER_00: Shouldn't you be celebrating?
SPEAKER_00: You know, shouldn't you be, you know, blowing up the balloons and shooting off some confetti or something like that?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, this is about to be over with.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the fireworks should be going off at this point.
SPEAKER_00: What are you doing putting on sackcloth and ashes?
SPEAKER_00: Why are you fasting for?
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't seem to make sense.
SPEAKER_00: It seems like it's totally out of place.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, shouldn't there be a sigh of relief?
SPEAKER_00: What are you doing mourning?
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you why.
SPEAKER_00: This is the posture of powerful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And if your view of the sovereignty of God leads you to have a deficient prayer life, you have a poor theology.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel doesn't just resign himself to, hey, you know, prayers are going to be answered, you know, sovereignty of God, don't have to worry about anything.
SPEAKER_00: He understands that God not only ordains the ends, but he also ordains the means.
SPEAKER_00: He ordains the means.
SPEAKER_00: And as he's been reading in Daniel, in uh Jeremiah, he's been reading that that there's a part of this prophecy that involves me.
SPEAKER_00: Back in Daniel and uh Jeremiah 29, it says in verse 12, You will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
SPEAKER_00: In the same context where God is saying, I'm going to fulfill these things, he also says, and you're going to pray for it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to fulfill it, and you're going to pray for it.
SPEAKER_00: Does God sovereignly elect people to salvation?
SPEAKER_00: Anybody believe that?
SPEAKER_00: If you don't, it's in your Bible, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: He chose us in him before the foundation of the world.
SPEAKER_00: God sovereignly elects, chooses people to salvation.
SPEAKER_00: But does that mean you just sit at home, you know, laying on your couch, eating some pretzels and donuts and just waiting for the Lord to do his work?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And how will they hear without a preacher?
SPEAKER_00: Somebody needs to preach the message.
SPEAKER_00: So God not only ordains the ends that people will be saved, he also ordains the means that you are going to bring the message to them.
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe that God's will is going to be done?
SPEAKER_00: His kingdom is going to come?
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe that?
SPEAKER_00: His kingdom's coming to earth.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you do.
SPEAKER_00: It's in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: But what does Jesus teach his disciples to pray?
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 6.
SPEAKER_00: Pray then in this way our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, but I thought it was already going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but you're going to pray for it.
SPEAKER_00: Why are we praying for what God has promised to come?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what God has taught us to pray.
SPEAKER_00: That's how God has taught us to pray.
SPEAKER_00: That's the posture we're to come before God with.
SPEAKER_00: In the book of Revelation, Revelation gives a whole 22 chapters where it says that Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming.
SPEAKER_00: He's coming.
SPEAKER_00: And what does John say at the end?
SPEAKER_00: Even so come, Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Like I've just spent 22 chapters telling you I'm gonna come.
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you're still supposed to pray for it.
SPEAKER_00: We're still earnestly desire what the Lord has promised.
SPEAKER_00: Even so come, Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And in the same way, Daniel's prayer was one of the means that God used to fulfill his promise.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel rightly understood that I'm a part of this, that I need to pray for what God promises.
SPEAKER_00: And you are to pray for what God promises.
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes I think that people have this idea of prayer, you know, that we just wear God down until he finally says, All right, you know, uncle, uncle, I'm tired.
SPEAKER_00: You know, just I'll give it to you.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I think that's how people think that prayer is.
SPEAKER_00: But then you think, well, isn't that what happened in Genesis 32?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, wasn't Jacob wrestling God and God finally relented and said, okay, I'll give it up.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm not gonna let you go until you bless me.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, all right, Uncle, just stop.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think that that's what was going on?
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 25 of Genesis, God already promised Rebekah, Jacob's mother, that Esau would serve Jacob.
SPEAKER_00: The older would serve the younger.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 27, Isaac told Jacob that he would be blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Genesis chapter 28, God says, Behold, I'm with you, I will keep you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.
SPEAKER_00: Genesis 31, verse 3, God says, Return to the land of your fathers to your relatives, and I will be with you.
SPEAKER_00: And then in Genesis 32, Jacob's there praying, God be with me, oh, please be with me.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let me go, I won't let you go until you bless me.
SPEAKER_00: But but that's what God had already promised.
SPEAKER_00: I promised you that I'd be with you.
SPEAKER_00: So what is Jacob doing?
SPEAKER_00: Is he rustling God down?
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm gonna defeat you, I'm gonna wrestle you against your will.
SPEAKER_00: No, this is what God had already promised him.
SPEAKER_00: You know, in a moment of desperation, it's it's like, you know, he's weak in his faith and he's just struggling here.
SPEAKER_00: But he's still praying for what God had already promised him.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that's what we do?
SPEAKER_00: Moses, the same thing happened in the book of Exodus.
SPEAKER_00: The children of Israel corrupted themselves, they created the golden calf.
SPEAKER_00: You know, this ridiculous idea that Aaron had.
SPEAKER_00: And then he comes up with the excuse, like, hey, Moses, I don't know what happened.
SPEAKER_00: You gave me the gold, I threw it in the fire, it popped out a calf.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what am I what am I supposed to do?
SPEAKER_00: God says in Exodus 32, Moses just let me alone, my anger that my anger may burn against them and I will destroy them.
SPEAKER_00: Just get out the way, Moses.
SPEAKER_00: And what does Moses do?
SPEAKER_00: He entreats the Lord, why does your anger burn against your people?
SPEAKER_00: Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, with evil intent, he brought them out to kill them?
SPEAKER_00: Oh Lord, turn from your anger, change your mind about doing harm to this people.
SPEAKER_00: But guess what Moses is praying?
SPEAKER_00: He sprayed for what God already said that he would do.
SPEAKER_00: God said that he would bring his people out.
SPEAKER_00: Exodus 3, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.
SPEAKER_00: God already promised that he would do that, and now Moses is just praying for what God had already promised.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the core of powerful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: This is the core.
SPEAKER_00: We're to align ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: This is it.
SPEAKER_00: If you get nothing else, powerful prayer is aligning yourself with the will of God and praying in that direction.
SPEAKER_00: You align yourself with God's will and you pray in that direction.
SPEAKER_00: 1 John 5, 14.
SPEAKER_00: This is the confidence which we have before him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
SPEAKER_00: It's not the name it and claim it, blab it and grab it, you know, whatever I want, I can get it.
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm aligning myself with the will of God and I'm praying in that direction.
SPEAKER_00: What does God want for my life?
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to submit myself, not my will, but your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: What is the will of God?
SPEAKER_00: And I pray in that direction.
SPEAKER_00: That is the core of powerful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Daniel is doing.
SPEAKER_00: He's praying according to the will of God.
SPEAKER_00: And he's confessing his sins.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 4 says, I pray to the Lord my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant, loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments.
SPEAKER_00: And actually, what we find here is this is an example of Daniel praying scripture itself.
SPEAKER_00: We actually find this same language back in Deuteronomy 7 and verse 9 about God who keeps covenant and loving kindness.
SPEAKER_00: So Daniel is praying scripture, bringing scripture back to God, praying it to God.
SPEAKER_00: Same thing happened, Nehemiah quoted from Daniel.
SPEAKER_00: So it's scripture, quoting scripture, praying scripture, and that's what we need to do.
SPEAKER_00: And the most powerful times that I've had in prayer have always been with an open Bible.
SPEAKER_00: It's an open Bible, looking at what God says and praying according to his will.
SPEAKER_00: That has always been my most powerful time of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: It's the word of God that generates powerful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Dale Ralph Davis writes this in his commentary.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Christians should let the Bible become their prayer book.
SPEAKER_00: If I'm reading the marvelous description of Yahweh's kingdom in Micah, should it not goad me to prayer?
SPEAKER_00: Should I not pray for the fulfillment?
SPEAKER_00: When I happen upon Romans chapter 11, ought it not incite me to pray that God would graft Israel back into his people again?
SPEAKER_00: When I read about the assurance in Isaiah 33 that God would be the stability of your times, don't wavering and suffering believers come to your mind?
SPEAKER_00: Don't you delight to ask that God would show himself to them in his character?
SPEAKER_00: Let scriptures drive your prayer.
SPEAKER_00: MacArthur writes this.
SPEAKER_00: He says, the word generates prayer because when it speaks of God, we long to commune with him.
SPEAKER_00: When it speaks of blessing, we long to praise him.
SPEAKER_00: When it speaks of promise, we long to receive it.
SPEAKER_00: When it speaks of sin, it leads us to pray for the loss and to confess our own sins.
SPEAKER_00: The word of God causes prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel's prayer, like all true prayer, began with an understanding of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel aligned himself with the will of God and prayed in that direction.
SPEAKER_00: And he gave his attention to it.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: He says, So I gave my attention to the Lord God.
SPEAKER_00: That word to give attention, it's it literally in the Hebrew means to give him my face.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if any of you have had the privilege of you know trying to teach children maybe in a classroom, maybe some of your own children.
SPEAKER_00: And then they have the wandering eyes, they're over here, they're over there, they're looking down here.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, what's that on my thumb?
SPEAKER_00: And you're trying to teach them something.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, hey, hey, hey, hey, up here, up here, eyes on me.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing in Hebrew.
SPEAKER_00: Give me your face.
SPEAKER_00: Face up, lift up your face, don't look down here, don't look over there.
SPEAKER_00: Look at me, look at me.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what Daniel is doing.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I'm I'm giving you my attention.
SPEAKER_00: I'm giving you my face.
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking to you, Lord, and I'm seeking after you.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 27, verse 8 says, When you said, Seek my face, my heart said to you, Your face, O Lord, shall I seek.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what Daniel's doing.
SPEAKER_00: He's seeking the face of God, giving him his face, his undivided attention.
SPEAKER_00: And how does he pray?
SPEAKER_00: How does he pray?
SPEAKER_00: We find here he says that he sought him by prayer, supplication, general word for prayer, specific petitions and prayer, prayer, supplications.
SPEAKER_00: But he also says, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
SPEAKER_00: And these were symbols of mourning.
SPEAKER_00: Mourning.
SPEAKER_00: So not only are we to pray for what God promises, we're to mourn over that which God punishes.
SPEAKER_00: We're to mourn over our sin.
SPEAKER_00: And he's earnest about this.
SPEAKER_00: Fasting, sackcloth, ashes, all signs of grief.
SPEAKER_00: There's a link between fasting and mourning.
SPEAKER_00: If you do a word study on fasting in scripture, you'll see that it's the overwhelming conclusion is that fasting is associated with periods of mourning, urgency, repentance from sin, life-changing decisions.
SPEAKER_00: And what a person was doing externally is what's going on in their hearts internally.
SPEAKER_00: Like, Lord, I'm just crushed on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like I've lost my appetite for anything else.
SPEAKER_00: They're just crushed.
SPEAKER_00: The idea that fasting is just, you know, hey, we just put it on the calendar and you know, we fast two days a week, and it's just part of my spiritual, you know, kind of system that I work through, and this is how I get closer to God.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's not what it is.
SPEAKER_00: It's not some kind of like key to unlock your spiritual potential.
SPEAKER_00: Like if I just fast, you know, I'm gonna get this and that.
SPEAKER_00: No, fasting was associated with these times of just desperation.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the teaching that, you know, I need to weaken my body in order to get closer to God has more in common with pagan religion than Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Colossians speaks about that, you know, just kind of you know, beating my body, you know.
SPEAKER_00: I I don't do that to try to get closer to God.
SPEAKER_00: Somehow I'm gonna get closer to God if I do this.
SPEAKER_00: No, that's not what it's about.
SPEAKER_00: But it is about what's on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: What's going on in your heart?
SPEAKER_00: Fasting was a means of demonstrating externally what was going on internally.
SPEAKER_00: And this is how Daniel responded.
SPEAKER_00: He he looks at the situation of Judah, Israel, and he says, I'm just in such grief about what's going on in my nation.
SPEAKER_00: Why are we in exile in the first place?
SPEAKER_00: Because we've sinned.
SPEAKER_00: And the nation doesn't even realize just how desperate they should be for God.
SPEAKER_00: How did the nation respond when they heard the word of the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Flip back to Jeremiah 36.
SPEAKER_00: How did the nation respond when they heard God's word?
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah 36.
SPEAKER_00: It says, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, I know some of you are still turning there, but Jeremiah 36.
SPEAKER_00: In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you from the days of Josiah, even to this day.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I planned to bring on them, in order that every man will turn away from his evil, turn from his evil way.
SPEAKER_00: Then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to give this word, and maybe they'll hear me.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they'll ask for forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they'll recognize their iniquity.
SPEAKER_00: How did the nation respond?
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 21 of the same chapter.
SPEAKER_00: Then the king sent Jehudi, one of his servants, to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Velisham of the scribe, and Jehudi read it to the king, as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king.
SPEAKER_00: Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month with the fire burning in the brazier before him.
SPEAKER_00: When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with the scribe's knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brasier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brasier.
SPEAKER_00: Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments.
SPEAKER_00: You know what the word of God is good for?
SPEAKER_00: It's good for fuel for my fire.
SPEAKER_00: Don't bring that word to me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not afraid of that word.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to mourn over that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to rend my garments.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel says, if they won't rend their garments, I'll do it for them.
SPEAKER_00: If they won't fast, if they won't mourn over their sins, I will mourn for them, because I am so grieved to see the sins of my people.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that should break our hearts the way that sin does.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel refused to be comforted with food.
SPEAKER_00: I don't even want to eat right now because I'm so overwhelmed at the grief of the sins of my people.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want my body to be comforted.
SPEAKER_00: You know, sackcloth was this rough, scratchy, itchy material made out of coarse goat's hair.
SPEAKER_00: It's like I don't even want my body to feel comfort right now because of what's going on on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: Refuse to be comforted with uh with even a bath.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna sit in the dirt, the ashes, just pour that on.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, it wasn't like a little dab on the forehead.
SPEAKER_00: It was, it was he bathed in the dirt, you know, just burnt earth, just throwing on top of himself.
SPEAKER_00: He says, This is how I this is how I feel on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: Abram said, you know, I've ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.
SPEAKER_00: Like that's all I am, just dust and ashes.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel recognized this before, God.
SPEAKER_00: By the time we get to the New Testament, you know, the ashes and all that became just an external sign instead of what was going on on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus says, When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face.
SPEAKER_00: Don't walk around with the ash on your face anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Just wash your face, go take a bath, because it's not representing what's going on on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: It's become a show.
SPEAKER_00: You know, rend your hearts and not your garments, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's like, let it be true of you on the inside.
SPEAKER_00: Don't do it for show, don't do it so everybody can see it.
SPEAKER_00: Wash your face, you know, put some lotion on, the Vaseline, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: Don't don't walk around with all the ash on because it's not true of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Let it be true of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever mourned over your sin?
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever grieved for your sin?
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever gotten to the point where you just lost your appetite because of your sin?
SPEAKER_00: Like just overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Daniel does.
SPEAKER_00: And he does it not for himself, he does it for his people.
SPEAKER_00: Look back at Daniel chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I gave my attention to the Lord to seek him by prayers, supplications, fasting, sackcloth, ashes.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant, loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from your commandments and ordinances.
SPEAKER_00: But you need to think about this question.
SPEAKER_00: Was that what Daniel was doing?
SPEAKER_00: Was Daniel sinning, committing iniquity, acting wickedly, rebelling, turning aside from the commands?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the whole reason he was before the Lord in prayer is because he's paying attention to the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: He was like Isaiah talks about the one who trembles at my word.
SPEAKER_00: So here Daniel is, he's trembling at the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: He's tried to live a circumscribed life, he's tried to walk in a righteous way before the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Even the scriptures talk about his holiness of life.
SPEAKER_00: And now he says, I come before you just confessing my sins and my iniquity and my wickedness and my rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: I've turned aside from your commandments.
SPEAKER_00: And you want to say, Daniel, Daniel, hold on a minute.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's not you.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that might be your people, but but you haven't done that.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you confessing the sins of your people?
SPEAKER_00: Why are you identifying yourself with the wickedness of Israel?
SPEAKER_00: Daniel, why are you doing this?
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Scripture talks about another person who identified himself with wickedness.
SPEAKER_00: Why don't you flip over to Matthew chapter 3?
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 3, we find John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_00: He's baptizing the nation, preparing them for the Messiah to come.
SPEAKER_00: You know, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
SPEAKER_00: He's preparing them for the Lamb of God, the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: And he's baptizing them.
SPEAKER_00: And the closest picture that we have to baptism from this point, if they were to look back in history, the closest picture to this would have been Gentile proselyte baptism, where a Gentile said, I wanted to follow the, I want to follow the true God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
SPEAKER_00: And he would repudiate his entire way of life.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to disassociate myself with all that I was, all my customs, all my upbringing.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to disassociate myself from all my old habits of life.
SPEAKER_00: I want to become a new person.
SPEAKER_00: I want to give myself to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: And what they would do is they would say, Well, you know, there's this ritual of baptism, which symbolizes you dying to self and being raised in new life.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to die to yourself.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to recognize that your whole way of life is filthy.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just that you've touched something that's unclean, you are unclean.
SPEAKER_00: And now John the Baptist comes and says, You know what, Israel, you've got to do the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just that you've touched something and become ceremonially defiled.
SPEAKER_00: No, you are defiled.
SPEAKER_00: You are what is defiling.
SPEAKER_00: You are the one that's unclean.
SPEAKER_00: So they came to John the Baptist, verse 6, as they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
SPEAKER_00: So here they are, recognizing I'm filthy, I'm unclean, I'm not worthy, confessing their sins.
SPEAKER_00: And then guess who shows up at this baptism?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And you're just saying, Jesus, what are you doing here?
SPEAKER_00: This is not for you.
SPEAKER_00: You are the sinless one, you are the holy one.
SPEAKER_00: What are you doing coming here to identify yourself with the sins of these filthy people?
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to be here.
SPEAKER_00: It's like your mouth should hit the floor when Jesus shows up, right?
SPEAKER_00: What are you doing here?
SPEAKER_00: And that's how John responds, verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: But John tried to prevent him, saying, I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?
SPEAKER_00: Like, Lord, I'm the one who's filthy in your presence.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to come down here to get washed.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you here for a baptism of repentance?
SPEAKER_00: What do you have to repent of?
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus answered him in verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered and said to him, Permit it at this time, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Then he permitted him.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ identified himself with sinners, took on the shame of their sins, so that we might be identified with him and his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus would go even further than that.
SPEAKER_00: Not only would he identify himself by getting into a river and baptizing, being baptized, he'd also identify himself with sinners by going on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And as he hung on the cross, he hung there not because of any sins that he had done.
SPEAKER_00: He hung there because of our sins.
SPEAKER_00: And 2 Corinthians 5 says that he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, what are you doing there?
SPEAKER_00: You don't have any sins to be hanging on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: What are you doing on the cross for?
SPEAKER_00: We're the ones that are filthy, we're the ones who are wretched.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus comes and says, I'll identify with you.
SPEAKER_00: I'll hang on the cross for you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to identify myself with the sinful people so that you can be identified with my righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And if if you would accept me, if you would turn to me, if you would see me truly as the Lamb of God who's come to take away the sins of the world, I will cleanse you, I will forgive you.
SPEAKER_00: Even though your sins are like scarlet, they'll be washed as white as snow.
SPEAKER_00: Come to me and find life.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what Jesus did.
SPEAKER_00: He identified himself with our wickedness so that we could be identified with his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: And here we have Daniel who's saying, I'm willing to identify myself with these people.
SPEAKER_00: I'm willing to come and mourn over their sin.
SPEAKER_00: I'm willing to confess their sins, even for those who won't confess their own.
SPEAKER_00: If they won't mourn, I'll come and mourn for them.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was put to an open shame.
SPEAKER_00: He endured the cross so that he could become the author and perfecter of your faith.
SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to walk around in the shame and the guilt of sin.
SPEAKER_00: You can walk in the freedom of forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: If you would but turn to him, would you turn to Jesus Christ and find life?
SPEAKER_00: But the only way that you can turn to him is that you first have to acknowledge your sin.
SPEAKER_00: If you would acknowledge your sin, acknowledge that I am the one who's unclean, Jesus Christ will offer his forgiveness to you.
SPEAKER_00: What a wonderful exchange that is.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this text.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for what Daniel has taught us in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we're grateful that we don't have to walk in the shame of our sin, but that we can walk in the freedom of forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for the example that Daniel gives to us of one who's a model in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray that we would pray according to your promises.
SPEAKER_00: That we would mourn over what you punish.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, that we would find the freedom that can only be found in you.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, I pray that you'd be gracious to us.
SPEAKER_00: Forgive our iniquity because our iniquity is great.
SPEAKER_00: But we thank you for a wonderful, merciful Savior.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the freedom that we have in Him.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we praise you and give you thanks.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: And now, for a parting word for Pastor Jesse Johnson.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER_01: If you're in the Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER_01: area, I would love to see you at Emmanuel Bible Church.
SPEAKER_01: For more information on our church or our current service times, go to IBC.church.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about the Master Seminary and their Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER_01: location, go to TMS.edu.
SPEAKER_01: I hope this resource has been a blessing to you and it helps you seek the Lord daily, serve others around you, and share the gospel with boldness.