Daniel 9: 3-4,  “I turned to the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.  And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,”

If there is one thing most everyone knows about Daniel it is that he was a man of prayer, even if it were to cost him his life!  How seriously do you take prayer in your every day life?  Daniel was devoted to prayer!  He is such a great example to us on so many levels, but today let’s just think about prayer for a moment.  I would like to encourage you to take the time to read the full chapter of Daniel 9 because in this prayer he is praying for his nation and no matter where in the world you may live I am certain that your nation needs prayer!  The nation of Israel desperately needs our prayer!  The United States needs prayer with our current election coming up in a few days!  What else in your life needs some serious prayer ~ your finances, your children, your pastor and church, your marriage, all of those you know who need to accept Jesus as their Savior?  

Daniel was praying about the fact that they were still captives and the prophesied time of release was close and he was praying for God to forgive them, the whole nation, not just himself, but the Jewish nation!  Daniel was a man of faith and that was even a part of his prayer, “great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy…”. We need to be praying for those we love that God will show them mercy and draw them into a life that honors Him.  Intercessory prayer is so important and too often  it is neglected.  Pray for those you love and pray for those that maybe you find very difficult to even like let alone love.  How much better would your world be if those people who drive you crazy were to get their hearts right with God because they were forever in your prayers?!

Life can be downright overwhelming at times but we have been given this tremendous opportunity to talk to God ~ God!  Take the time to read Job chapter 38  (if you have time read all the way through to the end of chapter 41) and remind yourself of just who it is you get the opportunity to go to for every little thing!  Several years ago after watching the movie, “War Room” I decided that having a designated place to spend time in prayer was a great idea!  My closet at the time was quite small so that wouldn’t do so I used a spare bedroom.  The house I live in right now has a HUGE closet in my bedroom so that is it.  I would encourage you to find a quiet place and time each day even if you don’t have space that you can rearrange, it is just doing it that makes the difference.  If you do have space then by all means set it up.  Take the time to ask Him what His dreams are for your life!  Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  I believe that there is a two-fold message in that verse:  1) If you ‘delight yourself in the Lord then the desires of your heart will line up with His!  2) In my Jewish study Bible verses 3 and 4 say, “Trust in ADONAI, and do good; settle in and, and feed on faithfulness.  Then you will delight yourself in ADONAI, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  When you are walking with Him and obeying Him then you can know that He hears your prayers and He will always do what He knows is best, it may not happen in your timing and it may be a bit different than what you are expecting, but you can trust Him and His love for you and rest assured He is working on it!  

I wish I could say that there was a way to get those prayers answered quickly but that just hasn’t been my experience most of the time but just persevere and trust Him and His heart and timing.  He loves you!  Now, here’s how Daniel ended his prayer and I believe that if we are praying prayers that line up with His Word, promises and a heart that loves Him and wants to serve Him then it is a great way to end our prayers :  

Daniel l9: 18-19,  “…For we plead with you not because of our own righteousness, but because of your compassion. ADONAI, hear!  ADONAI, forgive!  ADONAI, pay attention, and don’t delay action ~ for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people bear your name!”  Pray for Him to show up mighty in your life so it will bring Him glory!  Pray for His desires to become yours and for His will to be done in every situation because you can trust Him!  Don’t take prayer lightly it has the power to change everything because of who He is!!!  When we pray and we give it all to Him and we learn to trust Him with it all then we will know that truly His best is yet to come!

Quote:  “Prayer is a path where there is none.”  ~ Noah benShea