Daniel’s Great Prayer
of Confession and Intercession
Daniel 9
Daniel 9:
Daniel’s prayer is one of the longest and
most important prayers in the Bible.
Daniel 9:
Daniel’s prayer is one of the longest and
most important prayers in the Bible.
God’s answer is one of the most miraculous
and important prophecies in the Bible.
Albrecht Dürer
I. Daniel’s Prayer (Dan 9:1-19)
Dan. 9:1 In the 1st year of Darius, who was
the son of Ahasuerus, was a Mede by birth, and
was ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—
2 in the 1st year of his reign, I, Daniel,
understood from the scrolls according to the
word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet that
the number of years for the desolation of
Jerusalem would be 70. 3 So I turned my
attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer
and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Jer. 25:8 “Therefore, this is what the
LORD of Hosts says: ‘Because you have
not obeyed My words… 11 This whole
land will become a desolate ruin, and these
nations will serve the king of Babylon for
70 years.
Jer. 29:10 For this is what the LORD says:
“When 70 years for Babylon are complete, I will
attend to you and confirm My promise
concerning you to restore you to this place. …
12 You will call to Me and come and pray to
Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek
Me and find Me when you search for Me with
all your heart. 14 I will be found by you”—the
LORD’S declaration—“and I will restore your
fortunes and gather you from all the nations and
places where I banished you”—the LORD’S
declaration. “I will restore you to the place I
deported you from.”
Do you have a regular time in God’s Word
each week outside of this meeting?
Daniel uses 3 of the most important
Hebrew Names for God in his prayer:
“God”
Hebrew: Elohim = The Majestic,
Sovereign, Supreme Being
“LORD”
Hebrew: Yahweh = God’s Personal
Name, the Promise-Keeper to Israel
[used 7 times in Daniel—all in Chapter 9!]
“Lord”
Hebrew: Adonai = Master, Owner
Dan. 9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God and
confessed: Ah, Lord—the great and aweinspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant
with those who love Him and keep His
commandments—
5 we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly,
rebelled, and turned away from Your
commandments and ordinances.
6 We have not listened to Your servants the
prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings,
leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.
Dan 9:7 Lord, righteousness belongs to You,
but this day public shame belongs to us: the
men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and
all Israel—those who are near and those who
are far, in all the countries where You have
dispersed them because of the disloyalty they
have shown toward You.
8 LORD, public shame belongs to us, our kings,
our leaders, and our fathers, because we have
sinned against You.
9 Compassion and forgiveness belong to the
Lord our God, though we have rebelled against
Him
Dan 9:10 and have not obeyed the voice of the
LORD our God by following His instructions
that He set before us through His servants the
prophets.
11 All Israel has broken Your law and turned
away, refusing to obey You. The promised curse
written in the law of Moses, the servant of God,
has been poured out on us because we have
sinned against Him.
12 He has carried out His words that He spoke
against us and against our rulers by bringing on
us so great a disaster that nothing like what has
been done to Jerusalem has ever been done
under all of heaven.
Dan 9:13 Just as it is written in the law of
Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we
have not appeased the LORD our God by turning
from our injustice and paying attention to Your
truth.
14 So the LORD kept the disaster in mind and
brought it on us, for the LORD our God is
righteous in all He has done. But we have not
obeyed Him.
15 Now, Lord our God, who brought Your
people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty
hand and made Your name |renowned| as it is
this day, we have sinned, we have acted
wickedly.
Dan 9:16 Lord, in keeping with all Your
righteous acts, may Your anger and wrath turn
away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy
mountain; for because of our sins and the
injustices of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your
people have become an object of ridicule to all
those around us.
17 Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the
petitions of Your servant. Show Your favor to
Your desolate sanctuary for the Lord’s sake.
18 Listen, my God, and hear. Open Your eyes
and see our desolations and the city called by
Your name. For we are not presenting our
petitions before You based on our righteous
acts, but based on Your abundant compassion.
19 Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and
act! My God, for Your own sake, do not delay,
because Your city and Your people are called by
Your name.
Daniel’s prayer is a model for how
we can pray:
Adoration:
Worshiping God (vs 4)
Confession:
Admitting our sins (vss 5-15)
Petition:
Asking for things (vss 16-19)
Daniel confessed 12 sins on behalf of the
Israeli nation—1 for each of the 12 tribes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
we have sinned (vss 5, 11, 15)
we have done wrong (vs 5)
we have acted wickedly (vs 5)
we have rebelled (vs 5)
we have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances (vs 5)
We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your
name (vs 6)
we have rebelled against Him (vs 9)
we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by following His
instructions (vs 10, 14)
All Israel has broken Your law (vs 11)
we have turned away, refusing to obey You (vs 11)
we have not appeased the LORD our God by turning from our injustice
and paying attention to Your truth (vs 13)
The injustices of our fathers (vs 16)
Daniel asked God to do 7 things:
1. May Your anger and wrath turn away (vs 16)
2. Hear the prayer and the petitions
(vss 17, 18, 19)/ Listen (vss 18, 19)
3. Show Your favor to Your desolate sanctuary
(vs 17)
4. Open Your eyes and see (vs 18)
5. Forgive! (vs 19)
6. Lord, listen and act! (vs 19)
7. Do not delay (vs 19)
Daniel talked to God based on 2 things:
1. God’s will revealed in the Bible
Your commandments and ordinances (vs 5)
Your servants the prophets, who spoke in
Your name (vs 6)
His instructions (vs 10, 14)
Your law (vs 11)
Your truth (vs 13)
Written in the law of Moses (vss 11, 13)
Prayer is us talking to God.
The Bible is God talking to us!
Daniel talked to God based on 2 things:
1. God’s will revealed in the Bible
2. God’s character revealed in the Bible
Dan 9:18 …we are not presenting our petitions
before You based on our righteous acts,
but based on Your abundant compassion.
Daniel’s heart had become so much like
the Lord that he took upon himself the
awesome privilege and heavy burden of
interceding for the entire nation of Israel.
One or our great privileges as Christians is
to intercede for others. That’s what Jesus
does for us!
II. God’s Answer (Dan 9:20-27)
Dan. 9:20 While I was speaking, praying,
confessing my sin and the sin of my people
Israel, and presenting my petition before
Yahweh my God concerning the holy mountain
of my God— 21 while I was praying, Gabriel,
the man I had seen in the 1st vision, came to me
in my extreme weariness, about the time of the
evening offering. 22 He gave me this
explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you
understanding. 23 At the beginning of your
petitions an answer went out, and I have come
to give it …
Paul:
“I am the least of the apostles” (1 Cor 15:9)
“I am the least of the saints”
(Eph 3:8)
“I am the worst of sinners.”
(1 Tim 1:16)
Dan. 9:20 While I was speaking, praying,
confessing my sin and the sin of my people
Israel, and presenting my petition before
Yahweh my God concerning the holy mountain
of my God— 21 while I was praying, Gabriel,
the man I had seen in the 1st vision, came to me
in my extreme weariness, about the time of the
evening offering. 22 He gave me this
explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you
understanding. 23 At the beginning of your
petitions an answer went out, and I have come
to give it …