Our Prayer, His Promise: Lessons from a Man of God

Take a few minutes to catch up, tell stories, and laugh together. Trust and friendship take time to build. If you’re launching a new DNA, one person should tell their story — what do we need to know about you? Next week, have another person in your DNA share their story.

Today, we'll be reading Daniel 9. This chapter describes the prayer of Daniel for forgiveness and restoration for Jerusalem, and a vision he received regarding his people, Jerusalem, and "The Anointed One" (Jesus). Here we see Daniel as a diligent student of Scripture who built his prayer life on the Word of God.

Read Daniel 9.

In Daniel 9, we learn several lessons on how to approach God in prayer:

1. Let God speak to me first before I speak to Him.
   
   1 It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. 2 During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.” (Daniel 9:1-2 NLT)
   
   10 For this is what the Lord says: “When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."  (Jeremiah 29:10-12 CSB)
   
   Two main factors we see in these verses. God's timing + my praying.

2. Focus my attention on God. 

“Turn my face” / “gave my attention”
“Then I turned my face to the Lord God, SEEKING him…” (Daniel 9:3a ESV)
“So I gave my attention to the Lord God, to SEEK Him by prayer…” (Daniel 9:3a NASB)

3. Express my desire with emotion. 

“Poured out my heart.”
"So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer…”  (Daniel 9:3b NLT)
“I poured out my heart, baring my soul to God…” (Daniel 9:4b MSG)
“In those coming days,” says the Lord, “the people of Israel will return home together with the people of Judah. They will come weeping and seeking the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Jerusalem and will start back home again. They will bind themselves to the Lord with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten. (Jeremiah 50:4-5 NLT)

4. I need to demonstrate my seriousness. 
   
   “I...pleaded with him in prayer and fasting.”
   "So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes." (Daniel 9:3 NLT)

5. Always thank God for His love and promises.
   
   “You always...keep your promises."
   “I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands” (Daniel 9:4 NLT)
   “But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him” (Daniel 9:9 NLT)

6. Humbly confess. 

(See Daniel 9:5-18)

Questions to Discuss:

1. Open up to your DNA about what role prayer plays in your life at the moment (i.e. What does it look like currently? What’s your motivation for praying? Which of these 6 lessons would you like to improve upon?)
2. We know that Daniel prayed at least 3 times a day. What might your life look like if you did the same? What are some practical ways you can implement this into your day to day life?
3. How often do you engage your emotions in prayer? Is this easy or difficult for you? Why?
4. What is something you need to thank God for today?

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the gift of prayer. Thank you that you always give us what we need, even if it's not always what we want. Help us to truly know who we are in Christ & to understand that You always hear us. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.