Warriors Arise: November 8, 2022
Daniel 9:3-5 & 19 (NKJV) Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 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, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments...19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
Incredibly bold of Daniel. He is desperate. He has received word of Jeremiah's prophesy and he is pleading to God for mercy. He repents for himself and the people. By verse 19, it is easy to hear that he is desperate. He isn't going to back down until he hears God's final verdict. He wants another chance. He wants to go before God and petition for Himself and the God's people. It was truly a time of mourning for all seemed to be caught in a whirlwind they couldn't control and they wanted it to end. His heart's cry was for the 70 years to be brought to a close. He knew what God could do. He knew His prayers were heard by God. He had prayed for the miraculous to take place before this and it had. He was willing to pray for God's people to return to Israel. Daniel knew how to pray. He boldly approached God and made His request known. He was completely within his rights, as God's child, to ask to speak to the King, for his heart's desire to be made known. He was within his rights to ask and seek and knock.
Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
I wonder if this verse in Hebrews was written by the revelation of what Daniel did hundreds of years earlier. Daniel is the only one in the Bible who commands God to listen. I say command, because there is an exclamation point after his words. Matter-of-fact, there are several exclamation points. Some people might be appalled by this. How could he talk to God that way! They may be indignant, but God can handle it. God knows this isn't good news; but God needs more than Daniel to have the desire to return to Israel. There is a lesson God is setting His people up to learn. He wants them to want Him. It isn't about where you worship, but that you are worshipping. You need your personal time of worship with God and your corporate time of worship of God. You need your national time of worshipping God. There needed to be a return of God but it wouldn't come to the nation of Israel until it came to the heart of an Israelite. Once it came to the heart of the Israeilite, then it can could to the community of the Israelites. After the community of Israelites come together having one heart and one mind, as Paul writes, then the Israelites are prepared for a national revival on their lands.
America is much in the same place today. The people of God need to return to their personal relationship with God. When they have returned to their relationship with God, then they can commune with one another and the body of Christ. The church will gain strength to expand the kingdom of God and will open the doors for the nation of America to have revival. We are to be more than One Nation Under God, we are to be a people who are a nation known by God and the world for our oneness in the expansion of God's kingdom here on earth.
At this point there are so many Christians who are unsettled in believing that God listens to them. They would never pray what Daniel prayed. Daniel is the only person in the Bible who commands God to listen. He is desperate. He needs a move of God. He will not let it go. He prays three times a day through the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophesy and when the the 70 years are up, he reminds God. Daniel knew his place in prayer. He had a relationship with God that he could bare all and be honest. He didn't like the situation. Most likely he saw his parents and family members get killed when he became a slave to Nebuchadnezzar. Even in his heartbreak and exile, he didn't loose sight of God.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Daniel was not anxious when he was praying in chapter 9, he was in warrior mode. He was in battle. Daniel knew who he was, God's child, and he knew God had not abandoned him, favor had come upon him in the foreign land with pagan rulers. In all he lost and in all he had been challenged with, he still believed God heard him. But this time, he wanted God to listen to him. Is he arrogant? Not at all. He is passionately in prayer for himself and all of God's people. He is desperate to know God is listening in this very moment.
(v.19) O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.
Father, I am thankful You listen to me. I am thankful You never leave me in the mess I have created in my life. I am thankful You desire for me to seek You, to know Your ways and to understand You. I am thankful You can handle my emotions and my command to be listened to and for You to act. I am thankful You respond to me. You do not leave me in the dark. You have not forgotten about me. You know my inward turmoil. Thank You for listening to me get all my concerns, frustrations, and confusion out before You. Thank You for listening. Thank You for directing my path and leading me to understanding, peace, and wisdom. I am thankful You listen when I call to You. Thank You for Your love. I will submit my heart's desire to You and You will listen in Jesus' name amen.
A Warrior in the Lord’s Army,
Veridee Joy Hand
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