Introduction: During Solomon’s reign as King over Israel, God made the following promise to him and his people. (2 Chronicles 7:13-15) “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.” Years later, Daniel was among the Israelite captives in Babylon. Knowing God’s promise to His people, Daniel humbly, yet boldly, sought God’s help. Let’s read a portion of his prayer in Daniel 9:16-19.
The principle of God being willing to hear and help his people when they humbly call to him, applies to God’s Christian people as well.
Transition: As I pondered verse 18, I found four reminders about prayer that I want to bring to our attention this evening.
The first reminder about prayer is that
1. It is fine to humbly ask God to hear and see our needs.
Sometimes we may feel hesitant to ask God to listen to our prayers. We may think that our prayer is not that important. It could be that we are embarrassed to ask due to the nature of our request. Some people think that God is too busy to be concerned about their individual needs. All such feelings of hesitancy are wrong.
A. Note how Daniel asked God to listen.
(1) He asked him to incline his ear and hear. He literally asked God to bend down his ear so that he could hear.
(2) He asked him to open his eyes and behold. He knew that God was not asleep, but he still asked that God open his eyes and inspect or consider the request he was about to make.
B. We find similar requests in other Scriptures.
(1) (2 Kings 19:16) “LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.” (Cf., Isaiah 37:17)
(2) (Nehemiah 1:6) “Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.“
(3) It is perfectly fine for us to humbly ask God to listen to our request and examine our need. It is not about getting God to pay attention; it is about increasing our focus and faith in God.
The second reminder about prayer is that
2. It is good to express clearly our burdens to the Lord
A. Daniel named his burdens to the Lord.
(1) He said, behold our desolations. The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible describes desolations as, “A wind blowing over the land pulls the moisture out of the ground drying it up, making a place of ruin or desert. One in horror or in astonishment is one dried up in the inside.” Truly, Israel was in a ravaged and desolate condition. The walls of Jerusalem were torn down, and the temple was demolished.
(2) He said, behold the city which is called by your name. Jerusalem was God’s city. It was dear to God’s heart. The sad condition devastated Daniel, and he knew that God felt the same way.
B. The Lord actually asks us to give him our burdens.
(1) (Psalm 55:22) “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
(2) (Philippians 4:6-7) “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.“
(3) (1 Peter 5:7) “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.“
(4) (Hebrews 4:16) “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
(5) We can confidently know that it is good to express clearly our burdens to God.
The third reminder about prayer is that
3. We must never demand or think that we deserve God’s grace.
A. Daniel stated that they did not deserve God’s help.
(1) They were not righteous. They could not claim that they deserved God’s help because of their perfect record. As a nation, Israel had sinned repeatedly.
(2) They needed God’s grace. Grace is divine enablement, particularly undeserved help.
(3) Jeremiah prayed similarly. (Jeremiah 14:7) “O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.“
B. No Christian has the right to demand of God.
(1) We cannot hide our sins from God; therefore, we dare not imply that God owes us his help.
(2) God owes us nothing.
The last reminder about prayer is that
4. We must believe that God will supply solely on his mercy.
A. Daniel knew that God was great in mercies.
(1) His mercies are his empathetic overflowing compassion. Mercy is not earned or deserved.
(2) By his very nature, God is great in mercy. He designed and created the very concept of compassion. This Hebrew word for “compassion” is closely related to a woman’s womb. A mother’s natural care for her child helps us understand compassion.
B. Daniel was depending on God’s mercies, and so must we.
(1) Daniel’s hope for a divine answer to his prayer depended entirely on God’s great mercies.
(2) When we pray, that is true for us as well. When we beg God for help, we must never preface our prayer with a list of things we have done for God, but rather, we should confess our sins and cling to his great mercies.
Conclusion: As we worked our way through Daniel 9:18, did you note the four reminders about prayer that we found? 1) It is fine to humbly ask God to hear and see our needs.2) It is good to express clearly our burdens to the Lord.3) We must never demand or think that we deserve God’s grace.4) We must believe that God will supply solely on his mercy.
As God’s children, he delights to answer our prayers when they are prayed humbly and in faith. Ask him to hear.Tell him your burden.Confess your unworthiness.Claim his great mercies.