MORNING MEDITATION
Glean the Word: Daniel 9:1-27
Glimpse of Glory: "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever." (Daniel 2:44)
Our time in prayer and fasting these forty+ days are meant to be a time of preparation in prayer. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared frequently to His disciples for forty days to prepare them for the work they were commissioned to do. They never knew when He would show up and make an appearance, but their hearts were being strengthened to learn to wait for Him with great expectation. In addition, they were commanded to wait for an additional ten days for the promise of the Holy Spirit who would come at Pentecost. They were being taught to believe in and depend on His Word. Those forty days were days of preparation in prayer, because from this point forward the Lord would no longer be with them, and prayer would be their means of communication with Him and the channel through which the blessings of heaven would flow. "After His suffering, He showed Himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: 'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1:3-5).
Prayer is the root of our spiritual life and power in the Church. The Word of God and prayer are the foundation stones of the church (Acts 6:4). "The Word of God and prayer are inseparable - the power of the one is dependent upon the presence of the other." Prayer is the power of the heavenly life; through prayer we are equipped to conqueror the world for Christ, and empowered to overcome the power of this world. It was by prayer that the early church flourished and triumphed. For Daniel, his prayer would affect the future of the nation of Israel. He was most definitely a man of prayer; he prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10). He knew that it was absolutely necessary to have his heart right with God if he expected his prayers to be heard. "So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes" (Daniel 9:3). While the Jewish nation refused to repent, praying instead for judgment to fall on Babylon, Daniel stood in the gap as a faithful intercessor and sought the face of the Lord and asked for His forgiveness. "Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to Your truth" (v. 13). Daniel stands in good company with other faithful intercessors whom the Lord raised up to bring deliverance for His people (i.e. Moses, Elijah, Jehoshaphat). All it takes is one person who is more concerned about the glory of God rather than the burdens of this life; whose prayer life is based on worshiping God; and who is willing to stand in the gap in the full-surrender of heart, mind, and soul which comes with fasting, for God to bring deliverance and restoration. This morning, as we meditate on Daniel's prayer for national deliverance, let us learn from his faithful life of prayer and focus our attention on the greatness and glory of God, as the Lord continues to prepare our hearts and minds to be the vessels He will use to bring the restoration and revival we so desperately need. "We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, Listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name." (v. 18b, 19).
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