Book Studies on Daniel –Influence in the Workplace Series V: Daniel’s Prayer (Dan. 9:1-19)
By Ps Michael Ngui
INTRODUCTION
Daniel 9 is often regarded as a significant or ‘model prayer’. How does this prayer reveal something about Daniel? How do we as people of God be salt and light in the ‘real’ world, the world beyond the religious and spiritual spheres? How are we, as Christ followers make and maintain influence?
Daniel 1: Daniel and his 3 friends decided to stick to their convictions despite the huge pressures.
Daniel 3: Daniel’s 3 friends refuse to worship the image of gold even at the cost of being thrown into the blazing furnace.
Daniel 6: Daniel could have compromised and saved his own life but he chose not to (Daniel in the den of lions).
From Daniel 1, 3 and 6, we can see that Daniel and his 3 friends refused to bend and compromise. They stood their ground even at the pain of death. How do they do it?
In Daniel 9, Daniel was now about 80 plus years old. He had been serving under 3 different kings in a very high position.
What was Daniel’s secret to sustain influence in the real world?
1.Begin with the bible
in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of theLORDgiven to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventyyears (Daniel 9:2).
Before launching into prayer, Daniel has been reading the scripture, in particular the book of Jeremiah.
This is what the LORDsays: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares theLORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.Then you will callon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. (Jeremiah 29:10-12)
Daniel has done his calculation. He and his friends were taken captives at 605BC. It was now 538BC, 3 more years before the 70-year prophesy would come true. He then realised that the people of Israel were spiritually not prepared and that drove him to his knees.
a.Study the Bible
The word ‘understood’ in verse 2 has been translated as ‘discern’, ‘observe’ or 'perceive’. Daniel spent a lot of time pondering on Jeremiah 25 and Jeremiah 29, both predicting the captivity and repentance of Israel in a 70-year timeline. At that point of time, nobody dreamt of returning to Jerusalem anymore. Although things seemed humanly impossible and hopeless, Daniel held on to the firm word of God that there will be return to Jerusalem. Daniel did not just do his daily ‘Jewish reading plan’; he STUDIED the word of God. Not only that, he consistently read the scripture throughout the 70 years because he wanted to understand God’s will and renew his mind in the midst of the pagan culture.
Are you facing situations where you have almost given up hope?
Is there something in the word of God that will speak to your situation but you have not found it because you have not spend enough time and thought on the word of God?
Daniel’s prayer was birthed out of his understanding of the scripture and he was not telling God what to do. He prayed that God will do what He said He will do. Our first responsibility as a Christian is to know God as revealed in scripture. The bible is not merely a manual for living, but the bible shows us who God is. The aim of life is not to live a good life, but to know God.
In order for Christians to be salt and light in the marketplace, we need to be renewed. Without that, we will just be social activist. We need to be ‘Christian activists’. Everything we do needs to be motivated and shaped by our view of God and how He sees the world. In every issue involving the poor and oppressed, we need to seek the will and the heart of God so that we may be convicted even more.
We have all been tainted by sin. The word of God is like the cleansing agent.
The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God;it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. (Romans 8:7)
b.Renew your Mind
The world’s influence on us is subtle and corrupting. The book of James says that the scripture is like a mirror and when we look into the mirror, we see how unbiblical our thoughts are. If scripture does not make us feel uncomfortable but is always comforting, we may be missing something. The scripture is there to challenge us and to renew our mind. Will we allow the word of God to shape our thinking?
Do not conformto the pattern of this world,but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasingand perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
We need to memorise and meditate on scripture to allow the word of God to sink in. For any learning to take hold, it has to be assimilated into our lives.
Pastor shared that because he was in the financial line, he was very tempted to invest in stock. However as an economist and a Christian, he often questioned if it is a good thing to participate in. He would constantly ask God what is the Christian perspective on this. There should be renewing of mind in our workplaces, buying habits, politics and so on.
In our workplaces, we should not only do ‘ninja evangelism’ where we only come out once in a while and talk about Jesus. More than that, we need to glorify God in the work that we do and give our best without idolising work.
Prayer is not getting God to work for us; it is His way of involving us in His work.
2.Pray in the right posture
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,and in sackcloth and ashes. (Daniel 9:3)
There are 3 particular postures:-
a.Turn your heart toward God
This may be Daniel’s secret of sustaining influence. Daniel turned his face and tried to orientate his soul towards God. Pastor gave the example of when you knock or turn the Astro dish in another direction, there will be no signal. The Astro dish has to be in a fixed position following the satellite position to have reception. However, solar panels are designed to move to face the sun to get maximum solar energy. That deliberate effort to face the sun was perhaps Daniel’s posture towards God. Daniel was ‘God-ward’, including God in every aspect of his life and constantly seeking His presence. God should be present 24/7 in our lives and not just an ‘occasional interruption’ in cell groups, prayer meetings and church.
b.Agonise in prayer
Daniel PLEADED with the Lord. The word ‘plea’ has the connotation of wrestling, the same word used when Jacob was wrestling with the angel in Genesis 32. His prayer was intense. We only agonise about things we care about and which are important to us. Are our prayers dull and repetitive because we do not really care about the things we pray about? When we do not agonise in our prayers, we need to pray and ask God to put that burden and concern in our hearts. Daniel cared enough about God’s word to agonise in prayer. Do we care enough about our neighbourhoods and workplaces to agonise in prayer?
c.Humble yourself sincerely
Daniel put sackcloth and ashes on himself. He went through a season of grieving and mourning. He fasted not to show people how pious he was but it was more of an expression of his sincerity. Similarly, we need to come humbly in prayer.
The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.
Humility is not about making small of yourself, but it is recognising who God is.
There were two ducks and a frog that lived happily in a farm pond. When summer came, the pond began to dry up and they realized that they had to leave. The ducks carried a stick in between their two beaks and told the frog to bite on. The ducks and the frog then flew away. The farmer saw them and said, ’What a brilliant idea! I wonder who thought of that idea.’ The frog then said ‘It’s MINE!’ Of course, the frog fell to his death. The moral of the story is pride makes us do stupid things. If we want God to work in and through us, we need to humble ourselves.
3.Pray in Truth
Daniel prayed in two ways:-
a.Truth about God.
In Daniel’s prayer, he rehearsed the attributes and the works of God. Some examples include:-
Lord, the great and awesome God,who keeps his covenant of lovewith those who love him and keep his commandments, (Daniel 9:4)
Lord, you are righteous…(Daniel 9:7)
…..your great mercy (Daniel 9:18)
We need to pray in truth about God. In order to do that we need to study the scripture to know who God is. When we know God and His will, we know how to pray according to His will and we know that He will hear our prayers. When we doubt, we are doubting God and His character. When we sin, the word of God tells us to confess our sins for He is faithful and just to forgive our sins. We need to confess the truth of God when we pray.
b.Truth about our MORAL FAILINGS.
we have sinnedand done wrong.We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned awayfrom your commands and laws (Daniel 9:5)
Daniel who had a seemingly unblemished record said ‘WE have sinned against you’. In Daniel’s prayer he confessed the sins of Israel and the consequences of those sins. Notice Daniel did not say ‘THEY have sinned. I have been good!’ Daniel assumed shared responsibility with the rest of the people of Israel in exile. When we come and pray for our nation, do we say ‘Lord, look at what THEY have done?’ Instead, let us ask God how we are also responsible for what is happening in our nation.
A Sunday school teacher once asked the class, ‘What is meant by the word repentance?’ A little boy put up his hand and said ‘It is being sorry for your sins.’ A little girl quickly raised her hand and said, ‘That’s true but it is also being sorry enough to QUIT.’ True confession carries with it a desire and willingness to change.
How much is confession part of our lives? We need to confess our sins more just once a month during Holy Communion. Daniel only brought his requests before God after acknowledging the truth of Israel’s sins. The bulk of his prayer was in confession.
Daniel’s motivation in prayer was not so that the people of Israel may go home, but to see God glorified.
For your sake,my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name. (Daniel 9:19)
When we look at the state of our nation, we need to recognise that we are accomplices in all that have been going on and we need to pray for God to be glorified in our nation.
CONCLUSION
Daniel’s prayer was born out of intimacy with the scripture. He allowed scripture to change and renew him constantly. His prayer was postured on ‘God-wardness’ and deep humility. His heart was turned towards God and he cared deeply about his situation and God’s people. His deep care was reflected in his prayer and he humbled himself before God. Lastly, Daniel’s prayer was based on truth, truth about God and truth about his sins and the sins of the people. He accepted shared responsibility for his situation.
Daniel had survived and sustained influence in a pagan society.
How much has the word of God been a part of our lives, shaping us to be transformational agents?
How often do we turn our hearts toward God and agonise about the things we care about?
In as much as we yield ourselves to God and His word, in ‘God-wardness’ and humility, that is as much as we will be an influence for Christ in our nation.
Sermon summary contributed by Lee Chuey Ee
Journal and Prayer Points contributed by May Ng
Loving Others
Scripture:
Observation:
James wrote the above to encourage that as we approach God in prayer in His throne of grace, we have to have faith; we have to have faith that God is willing and able to heal the sick and make people well again. And if anyone has committed sin, they shall be forgiven of them.
Application:
I have been caught in certain health-related issues in recent times, and while I do take doctor’s prescription, I know God is my only Healer, and doctors are His vessels. I always approach God and rely on Him for my complete healing and I have come to learn that I have to have faith – in fact, God has given us all a measure of faith, and all we need is a faith of mustard seed! I have also learnt to ask God to show where I have sinned in my life, so that I can confess them to God and repent of the same.
Response:
Abba Father, I thank You that by Jesus’ stripes, I am healed. I thank You that it is Your will that all man walk in divine health. I take authority in the name of Jesus and I command all foul spirit of illness to leave my body and never to return. I thank You Father that Jesus’ body was bruised for my inequities. Show me Lord the areas in my life where I need to correct with Your wisdom. I thank You Father for Your gift of forgiveness. In Jesus’ most precious name. Amen.
Result:
I know with Jesus’ finished work at the Cross, no evil will befall me. I have learnt to walk closely with our Lord and be completely reliant on Him for my speedy and complete healing. I will not rely on my own wisdom, but to depend on the wisdom of God and to trust Him that He wants me well. I shall fear no evil, for our Lord is always with us and have gone ahead before us.
MINISTRIES & EVENTS: Baptism & Membership Encounter Weekend (6-7 April 2013)
Pray:
- Fresh encounter with the triune God – the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
- Pastor Chris’ preparations to share God’s Word with the participants.
- Christ-centred fellowship amongst the participants with long-lasting friendship formed.
- God’s love to touch every participant leading to a renewal of mind and fresh revelation of and from God.
For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
ATRANSFORMED WORLD: Rebellion in Syria
More than 70,000 people have died in the bitter conflict that ensued since 2011 demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family had ruled the country for 40 years, and calls for the West to give more help to the Syrian rebels are rising.
Pray:
- God who is all-powerful and merciful to help to set Syria free from all the rebellion.
- Righteousness and justice to prevail in the administration of the Syrian government.
- Holy Spirit to flood the lives of the Syrian people and a fresh revelation of God.
- Holy Spirit to move to send all necessary help to the helpless in Syria and be touched by the presence of God.
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. (Luke 10:19)
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