Do you hear what I hear? If you can hear it, God is calling you to pray for the Church, for God’s people in America to rise up and be strong and courageous, to take our rightful place in Him and follow His lead. It is His will for us to become who we are meant to be, who He has recreated us to be – individually and corporately. The only problem is that many of us are in captivity! It is at times like this that we look to Daniel as our example…
Dan 9:1(-2) CEV Daniel wrote: Some years later, Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, had become king of Babylonia. And during his first year as king, I found out from studying the writings of the prophets that the LORD had said to Jeremiah, “Jerusalem will lie in ruins for seventy years.”
Daniel was a righteous man living in captivity in a foreign land, but that never stopped him from worshipping the Holy One of Israel. He was in Babylon but not of Babylon. One day, as he was in the Word, reading the book of Jeremiah, he saw that time was up. God was about to remove the curse from His people and reverse their judgment! Interestingly, he didn’t have a hallelujah breakdown – no, quite to the contrary!
Dan 9:3(-4) CEV Then, to show my sorrow, I went without eating and dressed in sackcloth and sat in ashes. I confessed my sins and earnestly prayed to the LORD my God: Our Lord, you are a great and fearsome God, and you faithfully keep your agreement with those who love and obey you.
Daniel’s reaction is amazing. Frankly, in the natural, I don’t understand it at all. If I were in captivity, and God showed me that it was about to end, I would think that would be an invitation to rejoice. At the very least, I think I would probably be happy, not sorrowful. Further, if God said it; I would probably figure the He’d do it! So maybe, I’d just wait expectantly to see what He would do. Does Daniel’s reaction seem strange to you, too? In response to the good news, he was moved to show his sorrow by fasting and praying, confessing his sins and God’s righteousness.
Something tells me that Daniel knew something that we may not…
He did. Daniel knew that even though the time had come, the captivity would not end without intercession! Everything and everyone born from above is born in prayer. Jesus told us to PRAY for His kingdom to come to earth, because that’s how it gets here! (Luke 11:2) So Daniel became like a priest who has been purified to bring the sins of the people before the Holy One with a simple prayer: Oh God, we have sinned – all of us. You are right and we are wrong.
Dan 9:5-10 CEV But we have sinned terribly by rebelling against you and rejecting your laws and teachings. (6) We have ignored the message your servants the prophets spoke to our kings, our leaders, our ancestors, and everyone else. (7) Everything you do is right, our Lord. But still we suffer public disgrace because we have been unfaithful and have sinned against you. This includes all of us, both far and near–the people of Judah, Jerusalem, and Israel, as well as those you dragged away to foreign lands, (8) and even our kings, our officials, and our ancestors. (9) LORD God, you are merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against you (10) and rejected your teachings that came to us from your servants the prophets. [And so he continues for several more verses…]
“Everything [God does] is right.” He is “merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against [Him] and rejected [His] teachings…” (v. 7, 9-10) Even though our captivity is the result of own rebellion and pride, the Church in America can once again become the city on the hill, the salt, and the light she is called to be – if we, like Daniel, will cleanse ourselves and intercede. (Mt 5:14; Ex 19:6; 1 Pe 2:9) If we do, God has promised to hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land. If we do it right, that is… If we humble ourselves like Daniel, pray like Daniel, seek His face like Daniel, and turn from our wicked ways. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
The good news is that God’s people in America are beginning to do just that! This is why we are seeing some answers, why it looks like there could be light at the end of this very dark tunnel. That is why this is NOT a time to slack off – NO – quite to the contrary! This is a time like Daniel faced, when the answers were in view. It is a time to redouble our efforts to pray for God’s people to become united and obedient. To do so, we desperately need God’s grace – and He desperately needs our prayers. That is why He is calling the Daniels! If we have ears to hear Him and hearts to obey, like Daniel, we can say…
Daniel 9:17-19 CEV I am your servant, Lord God, and I beg you to answer my prayers and bring honor to yourself by having pity on your temple that lies in ruins. (18) Please show mercy to your chosen city, not because we deserve it, but because of your great kindness. (19) Forgive us! Hurry and do something, not only for your city and your chosen people, but to bring honor to yourself.
