As Daniel studied the scriptures, he was dismayed at how far the people had drifted from God. His prayer of corporate repentance provides a helpful guide as we seek a needed wake-up call from God.
- To apply Daniel 9 most accurately, we need to pray for the Church more than the country.
- Daniel’s prayer of corporate repentance shows us four key things to include in our prayers.
1. Pray According to Scripture (9:1-2)
- The Word of God should serve as a catalyst and a guide for your prayers.
- God’s Word is His revelation to us; our prayers are our response to Him.
2. Pray Aligned with Humility (9:3)
- You will never seek the Lord by accident.
- The fact that God is sovereign should not reduce our prayers but intensify them.
3. Pray Honestly About Sin (9:4-15)
- Repentance should not be isolated to personal choices but also include collective straying.
- Don’t be shocked if God allows you to sit in the hole that you dug.
4. Pray Confidently by Grace (9:16-19)
- Our prayers should be admissions of our need for mercy that we do not receive what we ultimately deserve.
- Prayers focused on our circumstances more than God’s glory prove that we’ve learned nothing.
- When God’s people have continually turned aside, we must return with sincere urgency.
- It is time that the people of God repent because we have taken God too lightly and ourselves too seriously.