Solely on the basis of God's grace, I have been given the responsibility of opening up the Word of God to you, to help you to understand it and to apply it to your lives. And so, with this in mind, I ask that you take your Bibles and turn to Daniel, chapter nine. If you haven't been with us, we go verse by verse through whatever book of the Bible we are studying. And we now come to Daniel's prayer of confession, and intercession here in Daniel nine. This will be part one of a little series on this because it'll take a little while to get through this. In fact, today I will be addressing basically the first three verses. But let me read Daniel's prayer through verse 19. Daniel nine beginning in verse one. "In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign, I Daniel observed in the books, the number of the years, which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, 'Alas, oh Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants, the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land. Righteousness belongs to you, oh, Lord, but to us, open shame, as it is this day, to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away and all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. Open shame belongs to us, oh Lord, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in His teachings, which He set before us through His servants, the prophets. Indeed, all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside not obeying Your voice. So the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us, and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity for under the whole heaven, there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. Therefore, the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us. For the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds, which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. And now, oh Lord, our God, who have brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself as it is this day, we have sinned, we have been wicked. Oh, Lord, in accordance with all your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city, Jerusalem, Your holy mountain, for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us. So now our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplications and for Your sake, O Lord, let your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name, for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. O Lord hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my god, do not delay because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.'"

What a magnificent model for prayer that we have here before us. Here we have an 82-year-old servant of God pouring out his heart before the Lord. The same model by the way we can see in an Ezra's prayer in Ezra nine. We can see it as well in Nehemiah's prayer in Nehemiah nine. And certainly, it's a pattern that we would all do well to emulate as we will discover. But I might add that the comprehensive structure of Daniel's prophecies for both Gentiles and Israel has earned it the well-deserved title of the revelation of the Old Testament. Daniel nine is perhaps the key to understanding God's redemptive purposes down through history. That's why it is so important for us to understand it very well, especially as it relates to God's chosen people, Israel and the coming of their Messiah, and our Messiah, to the earth to reign.

Now, by way of introduction, Daniel nine can be divided into two parts. The first 19 verses consist of Daniel's prayer. And the final verses consist of God's response. And today, I will briefly introduce God's response, but primarily focus on Daniel's prayer. And I might add that you cannot properly understand God's response apart from understanding Daniel's prayer. They go hand in hand; not only the contents and nature of his prayer, but also, I might add the heart attitude of this choice servant of God. And here, beloved, we will see that it's not merely a man's words that makes his prayer effective, it is the attitude of his heart. And here we will learn much of that as we study a man whose godly character shines most brightly in his prayer of confession and intercession.

So let's embark upon this amazing journey through Daniel nine. I'd like to do so under four headings. First of all, we will look at the impetus of his prayer. Secondly, the focus of his prayer. Thirdly, the humility of his prayer and finally, the burden of his prayer. And we'll just look at the first two this morning. So the impetus of his prayer, notice verse one. And this basically gives us the context, gives us the setting. Daniel writes, "In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans," that is the Babylonians. So, what we are reading here occurred after Darius the Mead, who was a subordinate of King Cyrus, was tricked into throwing Daniel in the lion's den. All right. So this occurs after that, and I have to stop and pause for a moment. Imagine all that Daniel, I mean, he's about 82 years old. Now imagine all that he has been through thus far in his life, to be exiled to Babylon, as a teenager, to receive divine revelation during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar concerning the great image of chapter two, concerning the high tree of chapter four. And then the vision of the four great beasts during the reign of Belshazzar. Imagine going through all of that. And then 14 years later, he sees the handwriting on the wall and explains that to the king, followed immediately by the invasion of the Medo-Persians. Then the subterfuge of his jealous colleagues that eventually land did him in a lion's den, on and on it goes, it's amazing. And yet through it all, he remained faithful, and God blessed him. And God blesses us because of him, as he is doing here today. Think of all the ways that God protected him, and used him, and how through the miraculous agencies of divine providence, Daniel, accomplished everything that God had ordained for him, and for the world; in the world to be accomplished in the secret counsels of his will.

So, we move on, "In the first year," verse two, "of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord," or of Yahweh, "to Jeremiah, the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 sevens." So, he observes the word of Yahweh, which is the personal covenantal name of God. In verse four, he describes him as the one who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments." And so Daniel had the utmost confidence in Israel's covenant relationship with YAWEH. So this is where he goes. And he's inquiring about the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years. And here in beloved is the impetus of his prayer. This is what is driving him to his knees. This is the great burden of his heart. He has studied the Word of God that God has given to his servant Jeremiah, concerning the 70-year judgment that God imposed upon his nation, Israel, because of their idolatry, and because of their neglect of his appointed sabbatical years. And he gave this warning, God gave this warning back in Leviticus, chapter 26, verse 14, he says, "If you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments," and he goes on to list things that he's going to do, which include beginning in verse 31, "I will lay waste your cities as well, and will make your sanctuaries desolate and I will not smell your soothing aromas. I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it. You however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate, and your cities become waste, then the land will enjoy it Sabbath's all the days of the desolation, while you and your enemies' land, then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbath. All the days of its desolation, it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your Sabbath while you were living on it." So the covenant people violated the commandments concerning many things, but especially the land Sabbath, and this became the basis of God's punishment upon them, the 70 year judgments that they are now experiencing a Babylonian captivity.

By the way, I hope you get the idea that God is serious about his commands. He means what He says. Now, Daniel would have also been very familiar with the last seven chapters of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 28, through 34. And in those last seven chapters, we have as David Larson says, "The Matrix out of which the great prophecies of the Old Testament regarding Israel emerge." Let me take you there for a moment. I believe there is an overhead to this end. But in Deuteronomy 26, verse three through verse 13, and Deuteronomy 28, verses one through 14, we read about the conditions of blessing to follow obedience. Evidently, you don't have an overhead. I'm sorry, that was supposed to be... I'll tell you what, I will get this to you. Okay. So I won't read all of these verses. I'll just give you the flow, alright? So if you look at these chapters, you will see first the conditions of blessing to follow obedience. Then the coming apostasy. He warned of the affliction that God would bring upon Israel while still in the land because of her apostasy. We read about how Israel will be taken captive, the enemies of Israel will possess her land for a time, the land itself will remain desolate. Israel will be scattered among the nations, though punished, Israel will not be destroyed. If she repents, Israel will repent in her tribulation. And finally, in chapter 30, verses three through 10, Israel will be gathered from the nations and brought back to her divinely given land. Daniel would have been aware of all of these things because he was a great student of the word. He knew what God said. But what he didn't know is when and how these events would occur.

So back to verse two, he says, "I observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, the prophet, for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years.' Now, we know that the prophet Jeremiah predicted this, in 605 BC, 67 years prior to Daniel's prayer. Jeremiah's prophecies were first uttered in Jerusalem when Daniel was just a young teenager. We read about them in Jeremiah 25, beginning in verse 11. There, the Spirit of God speaks through His servant and says, "'This whole land will be a desolation and a horror and these nations will serve the king of Babylon 70 years, then it will be when 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' declares the LORD, 'for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans and I will make it an everlasting desolation.'" It's interesting to note that according to Jeremiah 26, Jeremiah's words were so abhorrent to King Jehoiakim, king of Judah, at that time, that he had them cut in little pieces, in stages, almost like a ceremony, and had them thrown in the fire. Sinful people only hear what they want to hear, right? It's always been that way. People that have no fear of God, they care nothing about what God has to say. This is precisely what we see in our country today with politicians that criminalize biblical morality, and they legalize immorality give free reign to public schools and educators to indoctrinate their children in the disgusting sexual deviancies of the LGBTQ lifestyle and the racist Neo Marxist ideologies of critical race theory. And it goes on and on and on.

So God's covenant people Israel heard the word but they ignored what God said. They despised the prophets. They rejected them despite their warnings, and they embraced the wicked culture around them. Oh, how people hate the truth when it does not fit their agenda. It's always been that way, always will be. It's for this reason that Paul says that they will "turn away their ears from the truth and they will turn aside unto myths." And the myths just go on and on even in our culture today. I mean, what moron would believe that there are more than two biological genders. Jesus said this is why eternal judgment comes upon man. Although the light of Christ has come into the world, Jesus said that "men love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil." So this is what happened back in Jeremiah's day, and Daniel's day. Let me give you a little of the history from the Word of God with respect to the fall of Jerusalem.

In Second Chronicles 36, beginning in verse 16. We read "they continually mocked the messengers of God," boy, doesn't that sound familiar today? "They continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy. Therefore, he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary." Literally he took young men into the sanctuary of the temple and butchered them there. Goes on to say, "he had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them," God gave them, "all into his hand. All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia," catch this, "to fulfill the word of the Lord, by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until 70 years were complete." Ah, but God warned them. He warned them, for example, through Jeremiah the prophet, but they would not listen. In fact, King Zedekiah also resented Jeremiah's prophecies, resented the warnings about impending judgment. And it was King Zedekiah that had Jeremiah lowered by a rope into a waterless system until he sank into the mire. We read about that in Jeremiah 38. He would have perished had God not rescued him. Dear friends, please hear me, whether you like it or not, whatever the Lord God says, he will surely do. And when he commands you to repent, and place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he means what he says. And if you reject that, you will perish in your sins and spend eternity in hell. God means what he says and we see this all through redemptive history, all through Scripture.

The Great 19th century Jewish historian and scholar Alfred Edersheim, who by the way, was a Jewish convert to Christianity, gives us some historical details of the final Babylonian takeover because it did happen in stages. Edersheim says this, "Then the king and all the regular army sought safety and flight during the darkness of the night, Jeremiah 39 four, as the Chaldeans held the northern part of the city they fled southwards between the two walls, through the Tyropoeon, then out of the fountain gate and through the king's garden. They made haste to gain the Jordan, but their flight could not remain unobserved, they were pursued and overtaken in the plains of Jericho. The soldiers dispersed in various directions, but the king himself and his household were taken captives, and carried to the headquarters at Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar himself was at the time. Here, King Zedekiah was formally arraigned and sentence given against him. His daughters were set free, but his sons were slain before him. It was the last sight the king saw. His eyes were then put out, he was bound hands and feet with double fetters of brass, and so carried to Babylon. There he died in ward, Jeremiah 52:11." How tragic. Let's put this in perspective. What if China comes and takes us over? Slays your children in front of you, kills perhaps your wife, your husband, your loved ones, and then takes you to be a slave to China. That's what we're talking about here friends. Fascinating story, however, regarding Jeremiah's unfailing commitment to the Lord his God trusting in all that he promised, he was so certain that God would restore Israel both spiritually and physically; restoring them to their land that we read that while he was in prison, the Lord had him purchase a piece of property, Jeremiah 32 and verse eight. It says "a field that is in Anathoth," which is in the country of Benjamin, and he purchased that for 17 shekels of silver. It's a fascinating story. Let me read you just a little of it because it encourages all of us to see one who was so faithful in trusting in what God says he will do. Jeremiah 32, beginning in verse 11. Jeremiah says, "Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard." By the way, what we see here in this context is they were all imprisoned here. All right, so all of this happened in that context. Then we read, "And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, the seal deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time." For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Houses and fields and vineyards will again, be bought in this land."" What amazing confidence. Truths that God had revealed to him. Jeremiah then prayed for understanding. He was wanting to understand more, why would you have any purchased this land. And then we read more in that chapter of God's assurance of Israel's future restoration. Jeremiah 32, verse 37, and following, he says this, "'Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, and My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place, and make them dwell and safety. They shall be My people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul. For thus says the Lord, 'Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.'" Then he says this, "'Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, "It is the desolation, without man or beast, it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.'" And then he goes on to add, "'Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev, for I will restore their fortune,' declares the Lord.'" Of course, none of this has happened yet. Neither spiritually, nor physically, nor can it happen, until God does a work of grace in the heart of his people and they come to faith in the living Christ that they have rejected, only then will they return to their ancient land, which is consistent with the terms of the new covenant that we read in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 37. That's when all of the land promises will be fulfilled.

So with this knowledge, Jeremiah could now anticipate that one day, think about this, one day in his resurrected body, God would allow him to redeem the land that he had purchased while in prison. It's an amazing thought, oh, what glorious anticipation? What an encouragement to that beleaguered imprisoned prophet and all that were around him. Ezekiel speaks of this as well in Ezekial 36 beginning in verse 35, "'They will say, '"his desolate land has become like the Garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited." Then the nations that are left around about you will know that I the Lord have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD have spoken, and we'll do it.'"

Now, back to Daniel nine, and the impetus of his prayer. While praying about these issues, after studying these ancient scrolls of Jeremiah, again, he's reminded in verse two, "Of the years which was revealed, as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years." So this makes perfect sense, he's 80 plus years old, and he's thinking you know what, this time period should be pretty much over. What's fascinating is he did not question the literal fulfillment of this prophecy or a literal interpretation of the words, the numbers of 70, the time period of years. But rather, he was wondering when did the clock start ticking so we can determine when it will stop ticking. That's the burden of his heart. He had certainly read what Jeremiah wrote to his fellow exiles in Jeremiah 29, beginning of verse 10, "For thus says the Lord, 'When 70 years had been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart, I will be found by you declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you in to exile.'" By the way, this text is sadly used out of context, very often as a warning, and an encouragement to America. As if God is addressing America here. Beloved, I hope you understand that is ridiculous. America is not a theocracy. God's plans for America is the same plan that he has for every other pagan nation. It is a plan of judgment. One day, this great country will disappear and it will be replaced forever by the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. So please don't be, I know some of you probably have that up on your wall or on facebook, please take it down or at least explain the context there. Okay?

So Daniel is longing for this calamity to end, his longing for a restoration to begin, and we can now see in history, that the first 69 weeks of years were completed at Christ's first coming as promised in Daniel 9:26. We'll study that more when we get there, though Daniel didn't understand that meaning. And now in this 21st century era of redemptive history, and because of the New Testament record, we can understand something more that we will discover once we get there. And that is that there exists an extended period of time, prior to the final 70 years, that final seven-year period, a seven year period that will culminate in Christ's glorious return and the establishment of his kingdom. That's a period known as the Great Tribulation. There is no seven-year period in history that has clearly fulfilled the last unit of seven in Daniel's prophecy. The culmination of Daniel's prophecy is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we await. And when he returns, the 70th seven of Israel to judgment will be fulfilled. And the times of the Gentiles will be over, all of which are pictured in Daniel's prophecies of the four great world empires that we have been studying. But Daniel didn't understand this. And he's praying that the 70-year judgment had run its course. After all, Daniel's vision recorded in Daniel nine occurred in 538 BC, about 67 years after the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and Daniel had been taken into captivity 605 BC. I might add a footnote here, through the angel Gabriel we are going to see in verses 24 and 27 that God will graciously give him a very detailed and very stunning answer to his prayer. The "terminus a quo," or the earliest possible date of the starting point for all of this would have been 605 BC. Which also takes into consideration the desolations of Jerusalem, which would have been the destruction of all the territory that occurred around Jerusalem that predated her actual fall. And the "terminus ad quem," or in other words, the close of the period, as we will see is 539 BC, when the Jews returned to the land. And when they returned to the land, I might also add, that God providentially prevented them from actually rebuilding the temple until the actual 70 years after the destruction of the previous a temple had elapsed. So I'm just giving you kind of an overview here, God is very precise with these things. More details coming when we get to verses 24 and following.

So Daniel knew that these promises were going to be fulfilled literally. But what is also true is that Daniel knew, now catch this, that God uses human agency to accomplish his sovereign purposes. He uses the faithful, humble prayers of his saints, to accomplish what he has ordained. Thus, Daniel prays. Moreover, Daniel knew that effective prayer requires utmost humility and confession and faith and obedience on the part of the supplicant. James 5:16, tells us that "the effective prayer," that the fervent passionate prayer, "of a righteous man can accomplish much." Those who know themselves to be both sinners, as well as righteous because of Christ. Those people when they humbly come before God, and their lives are centered upon the word of God, when they pray, it moves the heart of God to accomplish what he has already ordained. Daniel is a prime example of this.

So we've now understood the impetus of his prayer, when the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely the 77 years would occur when they'd be over. And now we move secondly to the focus of his prayer in verse three, he says, "So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer, and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." As I alluded to earlier in my discussion of the prophetic matrix of Israel's history that we see in Deuteronomy 28, through 24, Daniel understood that the final curse would result in her exile. But he also knew that according to Deuteronomy 30, verses one through five, God is going to restore them, if they will repent. And so he's going to pray to that end. And it is with this spirit with this heart attitude, of genuine repentance, not just for his people, but for himself, he comes before the throne of grace, verse three, "So I gave my attention to the Lord;" gave my attention could be translated, "so I set my face, I turned my face," it's like God, I'm looking for you. To address you face to face, he's probably looking heavenward. And because of his deep burden for his rebellious countrymen, and because he accurately assesses even his own depravity, what he does here is, he removes all of the distractions in his life that might divert his attention, so he could focus exclusively on the Lord, give his undivided attention on he says, "the Lord God," Lord here is Adonai; Lord, master. He alone is the ruler of heaven and earth. So he approaches him, he is the object of Daniel's faith, the object of his worship, I trust, the same can be said for you. When you approach the Lord your God, do you see him not only as the covenant making, the covenant keeping God, but do you also see him as the Lord and Master, the ruler of heaven and earth. Too often we come into the presence of God as if we're multitasking, distracted with other things. As if we're talking with him while looking at our cell phone. You've seen people do that in restaurants. They'll come in and usually before they sit down, they pull out their phone and they start looking at their cell phones. You'll have four people sitting at a booth and not one of them are looking at each other. Folks, by the way, that is rude. That is rude. Often, that's how we pray. We're so distracted with other things. We're self-centered rather than God centered. And when we do that, we show a lack of respect for the Lord our God and no real burden. Beloved, get serious about your prayer life. When you come into the presence of the Lord, make it an event, not an afterthought. See it as a priority worthy of your utmost attention, not some intrusion on your time. See him as the thrice Holy God of Isaiah six, who is surrounded by the seraphim, seated upon his throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe, filling the temple and on and on, see him that way. And when you see him as he really is, believe me, you will not be distracted by anything else. That's the attitude that we need to have, when we pray. Don't see him as some smiley face deity that's lucky to have you on his team, only deserving of some occasional and hurried interaction. It's perhaps no better gauge of a man's spiritual maturity than his secret devotion to God and prayer. You show me a man or a woman who is lacks in prayer and I will show you a man or a woman who is a spiritual infant. A person who fails to grasp the majesty and the holiness of God that deserves our utmost worship, in prayer. The incarnate Son of God was our supreme example, wasn't he? Mark 1:35. We read that in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went away to a secluded place and was praying there. Pre-dawn, private worship was the habit of our Savior, is it yours? Daniel prayed three times a day. What about you? And I'm not saying that there needs to be some prescription here. But the point is, is this a priority in your life? It certainly was for Daniel. And may I remind you is that God is honored by our trust in his infinite resources. Do you realize that? He is honored when we come before him and we cry out to him for understanding and for help. He delights in meeting our needs. Just like a heavenly Father, or our earthly father would do, so too our Heavenly Father.

In his sermon, "The Most High: a Prayer Hearing God," Jonathan Edwards preached on this issue in the context of quote, "A fast appointed on the account of epidemical sickness at the eastward of Boston." They had a great pandemic there. And his text was, "O Thou that hears prayer, Psalm 65, two," here's a small part of what he said, and I believe you have this in your bulletin. "Why is God so ready to hear the prayers of men? To this I answer, because he is a God of infinite grace and mercy. It is indeed a very wonderful thing that so great a God should be so ready to hear our prayers. That we are so despicable and unworthy. That he should give free access at all times to everyone, should allow us to be important without esteeming it and in decent boldness, and should be so rich and mercy to them that call upon Him. That worms of the dust should have such power with God by prayer, that he should do such great things in answer to their prayers and should show himself as it were overcome by them. This is a very wonderful when we consider the distance between God and us, and how we have provoked him by our sins and how unworthy we are of the least gracious notice. It cannot be from any need that God stands in of us, for our goodness extends not to him, neither can it be from anything in us to incline the heart of God to us. It cannot be from any worthiness in our prayers, which are in themselves polluted things. But it is because God delights in mercy and condescension. He is herein infinitely distinguished from all other gods. He is the great fountain of all good from whom goodness flows as light from the sun." Beloved, please understand, the blessings that we receive from his beneficence are only secondary to the glory that he receives in giving. You must bear that in mind. No wonder Paul says we're to rejoice always, that we are to pray what? Without ceasing, It needs to be the attitude of our heart. "Pray without ceasing and everything giving thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Dear Christian, I challenge you here. If you have no real desire to spend intimate time alone with the Lord your God, then he is not the source of your greatest satisfaction and joy and you are pursuing other lovers. As I have written elsewhere, concerning pastors and church leaders, "While a lack of self-discipline contributes to this laxity, it is primarily a consequence of loving other things more than God. Some idol has taken the place of God and distracted you from this essential discipline and privilege. Frankly, no ministry will be effective. No marriage will be fulfilling. No family will ever be blessed apart from the pleadings of private prayer. To be sure prayer will never be the early dawn priority of the sluggard who likes to sleep in, nor will it be the priority of the Sunday morning pastor or church leader who pretends to be serving Christ for a few hours on Sunday, but the rest of the week lives for himself. But it will be the priority of the battle-weary soldier of the cross in desperate need of strength. That warrior who begs for more discernment, for more endurance, humility, love, patience and fruit, who pleas for more light and the word and boldness in battle. Because that soldier knows that apart from Christ, he can do nothing." Dear friends, this was the heart of Daniel. This needs to be our heart.

So verse three, "I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer," prayer being intercession, "and supplication," which refers to just entreaty for mercy. He looked intently to the Lord his God to express his own heart, confession, and to plead for more answers. And of course, we know that prayer is the great work of the Spirit of God in the heart of the redeemed. It is the Spirit of God that that animates our hearts, to pray to seek after the only one who can meet our needs. This is as we read earlier, in Zechariah 12:10, "The Spirit of grace and supplication." The apostle Paul described this in Romans eight beginning in verse 26. He says, "The Spirit helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints, according to the will of God." So Daniel, gives his attention, his undivided attention, on the Lord, his God, seeking Him, it says, "By prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." And certainly, these things reveal the attitude of his heart, attitude of utmost reverence and humility. I want you to understand, he didn't fast to somehow impress God. He didn't fast to somehow gain God's attention. He fasted primarily for two reasons. First of all, he was so deeply burdened, he had no appetite. When you're deeply burdened, you lose your appetite, right? But secondly, more importantly, he didn't want to be distracted by anything that would take his time away from coming before the Lord his God, and having to make meals and be a part of all of that would do that. Beloved, when you do business with God, when you come boldly before the throne of grace, make that the undisturbed priority of your life.

He also wore sackcloth, which was a coarse, dark colored garment, sometimes they just wore it around their waist. Sometimes they wore it over their whole body. It was made out of goat's hair, typically worn in times of mourning. Certainly this would manifest what was going on in his heart. He also spoke of ashes, which was typically sprinkled on a person's head; sometimes they would sit in ashes or both. And that symbolized deep penitence, a sign of, of distress. A sign of repentance for sin committed. And so here we have it, with great humility and faith, Daniel comes before the Lord his God to understand these things. Burdened to see when there would be relief. And as we will see, his prayer is one of both personal and national confession.

Friends, I trust you share Daniel's burden for the return of Christ. Trust that you long for repentance in your own heart and in the lives of those around you that you long for purity of life. And I trust that you will make prayer more of a priority in your life. Make that a lifestyle, the lifestyle of disciplined, fervent, private, persistent prayer and watch what God will do. We will continue to see what Daniel prayed for and how God answered him, Lord willing, the next time we're together. Let's pray.

Father, thank You for these eternal truths. I pray that you will cause them to find lodging in each of our hearts. That you will germinate them by the power of your Spirit, that they might grow forth a great plant that will manifest the fruit of the glory of Christ, in our lives in your church, that many will come to saving faith in our precious Savior. For it's in his name that I pray. Amen.