Daniel’s Prayer

Study the Scripture

Read in  Daniel 9:3-19

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REFLECTION

Coming Face to Face

 by Mary McGinnis

Suppose you must meet with someone in your life who is a voice of authority, face to face, to discuss some serious failures for which you need to take full responsibility. You know they already know all the details of the situation. They cannot be fooled, and you cannot hide from them. What does your face look like as you approach this authority figure? How do they greet you? What does their face look like?

In today’s reading, Daniel, a man devoted to God, sees how far his people have fallen away from God. He earnestly prays for his people, “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.”

As Daniel comes face to face with God in prayer, he remembers these things:

• He seeks the face of the Lord, who is – “the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him.”

• Daniel humbly falls face down in honest confession, saying, “We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled.” He faces up to being part of the problem, using the language of “we” and not “they.”

• Daniel remembers that God’s face is pure and blindingly righteousness. He does no wrong. He sees all and knows all. Nothing is hidden from Him and He exposes all wrongs. “To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame.

• Daniel was consumed with praying for God’s work to be accomplished and His cause glorified. “Now therefore, O God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear.”

• Daniel fully expect God to hear, forgive, see and to act. “O Lord hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act.”

   

May we turn our eyes upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face.

May we humbly confess, seek the Lord’s merciful face, and earnestly pray for ourselves, our Nation, and our World.  

May we be consumed with pleas for His plans to be revealed and the Glory of His Face to shine. 

Our God will hear, will forgive, will see and will act!  

   

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER - SATURDAY

Prayer Practice: Daniel’s prayer is a cry of faithfulness to God in the midst of very difficult circumstances. Today as a prayer practice, copy Daniel’s prayer by hand. As you write the words, make them your own, praying for God to strengthen and deliver you in the midst of your struggles.