Its Practice
“Daniel was a man of prayer” is what we sing with the children in Sunday school. The chapter that we are considering portrays a man of prayer. Prayer was the secret to Daniel’s life. Upon reading Jeremiah’s prophecy, Daniel fell to his knees in prayer. The wording suggests that he sought to seek the face of God by his supplications, fasting and prayers, possibly over a period of time. It was certainly not a one-minute prayer before he went to bed that night. Here was a man for whom prayer was a habit of his life. There obviously was prayer linked with his resolve in chapter one and with his interpretative ability in the next chapter. His commitment to prayer in the face of the threat (and reality) of the den of lions is legendary, to the point that even in a secular society men speak of being “in the den of lions” when faced with danger.
A consistent life of prayer is a life that can touch the throne in times of emergencies. The value of such a sister or brother in an assembly cannot be measured. Notice how Daniel speaks of his intercession: “While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing …” (v20).1 He speaks of “my God” (vv4,18,19,20). Here was a man on speaking terms with heaven. He was holding a conversation with deity, with the throne that rules over the universe!
Its Pattern
His Attitude of Heart
We are told that he set his face unto the Lord. Everything else was to take second place as he was wholly committed to laying hold of God in prayer. His fasting, sackcloth and ashes revealed his honesty in the presence of God and his intention to sacrifice the legitimate for the sake of supplicating on behalf of the nation. Life’s necessities and niceties are forgotten. A crisis demands commitment. To his supplications was added “confession,” according to the demands of the prophet Jeremiah.
His Approach
He began his approach to God with worship, ascribing glory to God for His faithfulness, love, mercy and greatness. The cynic may label this as flattery, but Daniel is going to make requests from God based on these very virtues that comprise the character of God.
He confessed that God had been righteous in all His dealings with the nation. And then Daniel linked himself with the nation and took their sin upon himself as a mediator for the people. Note how in verse 20 he says, “confessing my sin and the sin of the people.” This same solidarity with the nation is seen in his words earlier in the chapter (vv5,8,11,15). There was no attempt to divorce himself from the national condition. Although righteous himself, he humbly represented the nation in the presence of God.
It is also noteworthy that this is the only chapter in Daniel where the name of Jehovah is found (seven times). Daniel, wisely, is reminding God that He has revealed Himself to the nation as a covenant-keeping God. He was calling upon God to be true to His faithful character. Every word and phrase of Daniel’s intercession reveal his knowledge of God. The better we know God, the more effectively we can pray.
His Acknowledgment
Daniel catalogues the nation’s disobedience, defiance and departure. Listen to his recitation of their failure: “We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts” (v5). Then he adds, “Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets” (v6). The failure was all one-sided and belonged to the nation. In contrast, “righteousness belongeth unto thee” (v7). He justifies God for all that has happened to the nation in her captivity. He is literally worshiping the hand that sent him into captivity 70 years earlier despite his own separation from its evil! He owns as well that “confusion of faces” was their portion (vv7,8), but righteousness belongs to God.
His Appeal
His appeal is directed to God and based on mercy and the faithfulness of God (“for thy great mercies,” v18). God is the hope of His people – and He alone. It is crucial to notice that for which Daniel is praying. He makes supplication for the people (Israel), the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the Temple). No amount of spiritualizing can possibly transmute this into meaning the Church. His concern is for the people, nation and temple. God, through the angel, will address these very three things in His response. This is all about Israel and not about us.
We have an insight into the intensity of Daniel’s prayer as we hear him pleading, “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not” (v19). Daniel is in earnest, and he will not let go of God. How anemic our prayer life appears when measured by this man of prayer!
Its Paradox
By this time in the article, there is likely more than one reader who is asking, “If God promised to restore His people after 70 years, why did Daniel have to pray for it?” I thought you would never ask. The cynic will add to this that if God has already ordained the ends, why do we bother praying? What good can it do?
But we have to remember that God has not only ordained the ends, but He has also ordained the means to that end. Prayer is one of the means that God uses to effect His ends. He gives us a share in His work by allowing us to pray and accomplish His purposes. In prayer, God allows us to “partner” with Him in His work on earth. So, we can think of prayer as an exercise that does not get my desires done in heaven but accomplishes God’s will on earth.
Though we cannot fully understand how prayer integrates with God’s sovereign ways, we are encouraged, exhorted, even commanded to pray. It was a praying Daniel, representing the nation, who fulfilled the requirement for repentance that led to restoration.
As we shall see in the next article, it was to a man praying that God revealed that He is able to do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
