DANIEL'S PRAYER FOR NATIONAL HEALING

  

Immediately following the dedication of the newly-built temple in Jerusalem, God appeared to Solomon and made a promise. He said, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this temple as a place for Myself, as a house where sacrifices can be offered. My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to every prayer made in the temple. At times I may cause the rains to stop, the crops to fail and sickness to come among the people. Should that happen, here is My word for you: ‘If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV).”

This Scripture is a clear call to God’s people on how to appeal to the Father and His promise to come and heal the land. This passage is not a prayer, it is a promise!

Daniel was a man of God who knew how to keep his faith alive in extremely difficult circumstances. The Jews were in captivity in Babylon and faced a troubling and uncertain future. Daniel’s prayer for the deliverance of his people is one of the best models of prayer for us as our nation and the world sinks into the madness of the end times.

The brevity of this blog allows me to touch only the highlights of this powerful, intercessory prayer. I would encourage all who are burdened for our churches, our nation and our world to take time to read, meditate on and pray over Daniel 9:3-19.

In the first verses of Daniel 9, we read that in the writings of Jeremiah, Daniel discovered a prophecy that the Jewish people would be held in captivity for seventy years. I believe Daniel’s spirit leapt as he read this and realized how close they were to the fulfillment of the prophecy.  But at the same time Daniel knew the Jewish nation was not living for and serving God. He knew that unless there was a change in the hearts of the people and they turned to the Lord, their freedom would be short-lived and God would put them right back into an oppressive situation.

Verse 3 — “I set my face toward the Lord God.” Daniel was determined to touch God with his prayer. To “set his face” means he was intent on achieving a specific result. He was going to pray through!

Verse 5 — “We have sinned and committed iniquity.” Daniel did not point fingers at others. He took ownership of the sin and iniquity of the people. I call this a “we” prayer and the use of “we” establishes that Daniel identified with his people; he did not point at them and say, “They are to blame, they have done wrong.”

Verse 6 — “We have not listened to the messengers [the prophets] you sent to bring your word” (my paraphrase). We heard the words but we did not do what Your word instructed us to do.

Verse 7 — “Righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face.” There is nothing arrogant or proud in Daniel’s prayer. This is the expression of the humility that God says He will respond to, the humility spoken of in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people . . . will humble themselves.”

Verse 10 — “We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord.” No excuses are being offered. “We are disobedient; we have taken the word of the Lord lightly and have not been obedient!”

Verse 12 — “He has confirmed His words.” Even in judgment God is faithful to His word—He promised that curses/judgment would come because of disobedience (Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28).

Verse 13 — “All this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God.” All that had happened to the Jews had not brought them to a place of prayer nor had they turned from their sinful and unfaithful ways. Are we any different? Will we ever learn?

Daniel then appeals to God for intervention. Verses 16-19 are, I believe, the heart of Daniel’s prayer as he asks God for four things:

1. First, he asked that the Lord turn away His anger and wrath from Jerusalem (verse 16).
2. Second, Daniel asked that a new day of blessing would come for His temple: “Cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary” (verse 17).
3. Third, Daniel appealed to the Lord to open both His ear and His eye to the desolation of the people. Daniel appeals to the mercy of God and acknowledges the lack of righteousness among the people (verse 18).
4. Fourth, Daniel calls on the Lord to forgive His people and to take action to return them to their land, to the city of Jerusalem and to the temple (verse 19).

The contemporary church is looking for the fulfillment of 2 Chronicles 7:14 without having to meet the conditions of the promise. We want the healing of the land without humility, without repentance, without prayer. The majority of the church of today sees no need for a visitation of God. They are neither hot nor cold but, in fact, are poor, blind and naked and are not in a place to contribute anything meaningful as the world descends into chaos (see Revelation 3:17). 

Daniel’s prayer is worthy of our attention. It is a model of how to pray for the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to be fulfilled.

It is time for us to humble ourselves and ask God to forgive us for our failures and extend His great mercy to our land. And if we will, He will!