A Biblically based commentary on current issues that impact you
The Prayer of Daniel
An Exposition of Daniel's Prayer in Daniel 9 with Applications
by Bob DeWaay
Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that
Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and
that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep
me from harm, that it may not pain me!” And God granted
him what he requested. (1Chronicles 4:10)
And I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed
and said, "Alas, O 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 Thy commandments and ordinances. Moreover, we have
not listened to Thy servants the prophets, who spoke in
Thy name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all
the people of the land. Righteousness belongs to Thee, O
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 in all the
countries to which Thou hast driven them, because of their
unfaithful deeds which they have committed against Thee.”
(Daniel 9:4-7)
It is the nature of fallen man to gravitate to works
righteousness and self help. Religious solutions that
offer promises of success for those who know the secrets
will always be popular. Quick, easy, and rote answers
sell. The book by Bruce Wilkinson, The Prayer of Jabez, is
one of these.1 A little book about a one sentence prayer
has sold millions of copies and spawned a hugely
successful market for "Prayer of Jabez” merchandise.2 We
know little about the person Jabez in the Bible and have
no indication in Scripture that the content of his prayer
was meant to be repeated by others hoping to cash in on
his success. How ironic that this little prayer has become
a virtual "Our Father” for evangelicals.
The Bible warns against repetitious prayer: "And when you
are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the
Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for
their many words” (Matthew 6:7). True prayer is personal,
relational, meaningful, and Biblically informed. Prayer is
to bring our sins, concerns, needs, and the needs of
others before God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16).
Humble, God honoring prayer recognizes God’s sovereign
purposes as revealed in Scripture. Therefore, if we are to
learn more about prayer we need to look much further than
the prayer of Jabez. In this article, we shall study the
prayer of Daniel found in Daniel 9 to enrich our
understanding of God honoring prayer.
Daniel’s Prayer and Scripture
Daniel was an old man when he prayed in Daniel 9. As a young
man he had been taken captive by the Babylonians. Jeremiah
the prophet had prophesied that the captivity would last
70 years (Jeremiah 25:11,12). Daniel had been reading the
book of Jeremiah, which motivated him to pray:
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,
seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to
seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting,
sackcloth, and ashes. (Daniel 9:2,3)
Since Daniel was at least a teenager at the time of the
captivity (see Daniel 1), this means he was nearly 90
years old when he prayed as recorded in Daniel 9. God used
him in many special ways as he lived out a life of prayer
and faithfulness in Babylonian captivity. The theme of the
message God revealed to Daniel as recorded in the book
bearing his name is God’s sovereignty over history.
Scripture that revealed God’s sovereign purposes prompted
Daniel to pray. This is the passage about the end of the
captivity: "‘Then it will be when seventy 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’” (Jeremiah 25:12). Therefore it was certain
that the captivity would soon end. Those who like to
criticize we who believe in God’s sovereignty over all
things, including human history, often suggest that such
doctrines will lead to fatalistic attitudes and a lack of
prayer. The example of Daniel should lay to rest such
false conclusions. Daniel prophesied about the future
history of the major empires of the world, including the
exact number of years until the "cutting off” of Messiah.
Yet Daniel prayed fervently.
Daniel prayed because the 70 years were nearly completed.
He read the Scripture, knew what God was going to do, and
"so” he gave himself to seeking God in prayer (Daniel
9:2). Bible study and prayer, God’s sovereignty and human
responsibility, and God’s purposes and a faith response in
the hearts of His people all go hand in hand. Many are
fond of setting up false dilemmas where the Bible sees
none. The certainty of a thing is a motivation to pray,
not an obstacle. For example, since the days of the
apostles, Christians have prayed for the return of Christ.
The Lord’s Prayer is such a prayer. The Bible ends with a
prayer for the return of Christ, "He who testifies to
these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come,
Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). Yet there is nothing more
certain than the return of Christ. Those who refuse to
pray unless they conceive of an "open” future determined
by the acts of man rather than the purposes of God have a
deficient understanding of prayer and Scripture. Daniel 9
will help correct that deficiency.
Biblical prophecy about God’s purposes for Israel under
girds Daniel’s prayer. At the end of Daniel’s prayer even
more specific details about the future history of Israel
were revealed to him (Daniel 9:24-27), part of which is
still future in our day. Many today are thinking that the
expanding of their "territory” (i.e. business
opportunities3) is expanding the kingdom of God. God’s
kingdom will not come until after the 70th week of Daniel
9:27, when "all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26) and
Christ will establish His millennial reign on earth. Our
prayers, like Daniel’s, should be based on a sound
understanding of Biblical prophecy. Such Biblically
informed prayers would include: praying for the Lord to
send forth laborers into the harvest (Luke 10:2), praying
for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), praying for the
salvation of all God’s elect, including the chosen remnant
from among the Jews (Romans 10:1 & 9:27), and praying for
our God-given civil leaders (1Timothy 2:1,2). This is not
a comprehensive list, but shows that God’s sovereign
purposes in history and for history are important in our
prayers. These prayers are directly about the expansion of
the gospel.
If we do not study the Scriptures diligently we will be
lacking an understanding of God’s person and purposes and
thereby be lacking God-honoring content in our prayers.
When the early church prayed, they cited Scriptures and
the purposes of God:
Who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David
Thy servant, didst say, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, And
the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth
took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord, and against His Christ.’ For truly in
this city there were gathered together against Thy holy
servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of
Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose
predestined to occur. (Acts 4:28)
The prayer of the apostles in Acts referenced God’s certain,
unchangeable purposes in history and the fulfillment of
Scripture. Obviously the Biblical writers saw God’s
purposes and sovereignty as a reason to pray, not an
excuse not to. The prayer in Acts 4 concludes, "And now,
Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Thy
bond-servants may speak Thy word with all confidence.”
(Acts 4:29). They were all the more motivated to preach
the gospel now that persecution had broken out as
predicted in Scripture.
Another way Scripture influenced Daniel’s prayer concerned
the nature of God. Daniel repeats a phrase about God’s
nature that comes from God’s self-revelation to Moses on
Mount Sinai: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps
His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and
keep His commandment” (Daniel 9:4b see Exodus 34:6,7). It
is thematic in Biblical prayers to plead to God based on
His self-revealed nature. Daniel references truths about
God’s nature several places in his prayer: God’s covenant
faithfulness (verse 4), God’s righteousness (verse 7),
God’s compassion and forgiveness (verse 9), and the
justice and righteousness of God’s deeds (verses 14, 16).
When the Lord’s Prayer includes "Hallowed be thy name,”
the reference is to God’s person and the self-revelation
of His holy nature. The prayer is for God to act in
redemptive history to demonstrate His holy nature.
Daniel’s prayer includes this idea about God acting
redemptively to vindicate the holiness of His name
(person): "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen
and take action! For Thine own sake, O my God, do not
delay, because Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy
name” (Daniel 9:19). The more we know the Scriptures the
better we understand God’s nature and pray accordingly.
Daniel’s Prayer and Repentance
The Scripture says that because God had promised to restore
Israel from captivity after 70 years, Daniel sought the
Lord, "[B]y prayer and supplications, with fasting,
sackcloth, and ashes.” These signified remorse, sorrow and
grief. Daniel was contemplating the reason for the 70 year
Babylonian captivity: Israel’s sin and rebellion against
God. Daniel realized that though God promised to restore
them after 70 years, He would not do so outside of the
original purpose of the captivity being fulfilled. The
captivity was to cleanse Israel from idols and from
obstinately refusing to listen to the Word of God.
Therefore the aged prophet, feeling solidarity with his
people Israel, "owned” the sins of the people and
earnestly sought God’s mercy and forgiveness. Restoration
could only mean forgiveness and cleansing. God would not
send Jews back to Israel to worship other gods!
Although Daniel was a sinner as are all humans, as far as the
written record goes, Daniel lived an exemplary life. Yet
Daniel was more grieved about sinfulness than most and
owned the sins of the people as his own. He confesses,
"[We] have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and
rebelled, even turning aside from Thy commandments and
ordinances” (Daniel 9:5).
This sense of sinfulness is part and parcel of the idea of
God’s holiness discussed earlier. Any person approaching
the Holy God of the Bible does so with a sense of great
sinfulness and need for cleansing. We can only come to God
if He mercifully provides a way. When Peter got a glimpse
of the nature and person of Christ, he responded like
Isaiah did when Isaiah saw the Lord: "But when Simon Peter
saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’” (Luke 5:8).
Daniel’s prayer contained no false piety; Daniel knew God
well enough to be fully aware of his sinfulness and that
of the people. His expressions of remorse are from the
heart.
Daniel had no inclination to blame God for what had happened.
He saw God’s righteousness even in allowing His own people
and their place of worship to be plundered, ravished, and
hauled away by sinful, pagan, idolaters. Daniel prayed:
"Righteousness belongs to Thee, O Lord, but to us open
shame, as it is this day— to the men of Judah, the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, . . . Open shame
belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes, and our
fathers, because we have sinned against Thee” (Daniel
9:7a,8). Repentance is not the giving of excuses, but the
owning of one’s own sinfulness and confessing God’s
righteousness. What Daniel prays is the opposite of Adam’s
response to his own sin: "And the man said, ‘The woman
whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree,
and I ate’” (Genesis 3:12). Adam as the prototypical
sinner blames God and others.
Daniel’s Prayer and God’s Justice
Daniel suffered greatly because of the sins of others. It was
not his idolatry that caused the captivity, but the
idolatry of his parents’ and grandparents’ generation.
Daniel could have seen his situation as a "generational
curse” passed down by his ancestors. Yet Daniel owned the
sin as his own, spent no time contemplating the injustice
of his situation, and pleaded for God’s mercy as if he
himself had been the most blasphemous of idolaters.
Daniel’s understanding of God’s righteousness was deep. He
realized: "If Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O
Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3).
When the Lord’s Prayer asks for forgiveness and expresses
forgiveness to others it shows this same idea that is in
Daniel’s prayer. Forgiving others shows that we are giving
up the sinful desire to blame others for our situation.
Asking God’s forgiveness shows that we realize this (as
Adam did not and David did): "Against Thee, Thee only, I
have sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight, So that
Thou art justified when Thou dost speak, And blameless
when Thou dost judge” (Psalm 51:4). Daniel was very
forthright about this: "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” (Daniel 9:9,10). There was no
injustice in the captivity, not even for Daniel who had
served God honorably. God was being merciful even in His
judgment.
The captivity, rather than causing Daniel to question God’s
justice, served for Daniel as proof of God’s justice.
Daniel prayed, "Indeed all Israel has transgressed Thy law
and turned aside, not obeying Thy 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” (Daniel 9:11,12). It was only right
and just that God would do exactly as He promised them
through Moses. The captivity "confirmed His words.”
Deuteronomy 28 contains a list of the curses that would
come upon the nation for breaking covenant. Deuteronomy
31:29 predicted future apostasy and God’s judgment. Daniel
saw God’s justice in fulfilling His own Word, even if
it meant turning His elect nation over to pagan
conquerors.
Daniels’s Prayer and God’s Mercy
God is a just God and merciful. Daniel’s prayer now turns to
that revealed aspect of God’s nature. God’s mercy informed
Daniel’s prayer throughout, but now Daniel specifically
asks that God would show favor to Israel. Daniel prays, "O
Lord, in accordance with all Thy righteous acts, let now
Thine anger and Thy wrath turn away from Thy city
Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain; for because of our sins and
the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people
have become a reproach to all those around us” (Daniel
9:16). Wrath is what sinners deserve. God’s wrath is real.
Paul says that it is "revealed from heaven” (Romans 1:18).
Wrath is not a popular topic today. Many just assume that
since God is good (the pagans will agree with that) that
therefore He will make things better for any who ask.
However, that God is good means that He is also the
righteous and good judge who must punish those who break
His law. Thus Daniel’s deep concern: the manifest presence
of God’s righteous wrath toward covenant breakers. Wrath
must somehow be "turned away.”
Those who do not believe that they have broken God’s law and
deserve eternal punishment cannot see the need for
atonement. The dealings of God in the Old Testament were
very concrete and revealed in history. Daniel knew that
God’s wrath was justly being manifested in what happened
to Israel. Even that is only an object lesson for the
greater manifestation of wrath that awaits those who go
into eternity with unforgiven sin. They face eternal
damnation. Many people who pray daily for God’s blessing
have no idea that they need atonement for sin, lest they
end up in Hell. That should concern us and inform our
prayers. Oh that the gospel message of averted wrath
through the shed blood of Jesus Christ would be preached
to every person in every nation.
Daniel pleaded for God’s mercy. He did so on an interesting,
important basis. He pleaded for God to show mercy for His
own sake! There is no human merit in Daniel’s theology and
consequently he prays as he does. Daniel continues, "So
now, our God, listen to the prayer of Thy servant and to
his supplications, and for Thy sake, O Lord, let Thy face
shine on Thy desolate sanctuary” (Daniel 9:17). Why would
God show mercy for His own sake? It is the people who need
it. As Moses reminded God on Mount Sinai, God had chosen
this people and promised them a land (see Exodus
32:11-13). The people of promise bear God’s name. If God
destroys them completely, then His promises to Abraham
(Genesis 12:3) would fail. This promise included the
promise of a Messiah to bless all the families of the
earth. Daniel 9 is ultimately about Messiah. Mercy is
shown not because the people deserve it, but because God
has promised to reveal His merciful, saving nature and
purposes through these people. All the families of the
earth will learn of God’s nature through His dealings with
Israel. Thus mercy is shown for God’s sake.
In the next verse, Daniel makes explicit what is
implied throughout: there is no human merit. Daniel prays,
"O my God, incline Thine ear and hear! Open Thine eyes and
see our desolations and the city which is called by Thy
name; for we are not presenting our supplications before
Thee on account of any merits of our own, but on account
of Thy great compassion” (Daniel 9:18). They bear the name
of God. They have sinned horribly and brought reproach to
His holy name. Their condition was a direct result of
their own rebellion, and God’s righteous wrath. But God,
being compassionate and merciful, would take action to
vindicate His holy name and fulfill His promises. Paul
echoes this thought in the New Testament:
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our
flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our
transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by
grace you have been saved) (Ephesians 2:3-5).
The merciful God of the Bible gives life to dead sinners who
merit only wrath and judgment. Daniel was praying about the return of the Jews to
Jerusalem. This was the immediate concern and the occasion
of his prayer. He knew that they had no reason to expect
God to do this other than God’s compassion, mercy, and
willingness to demonstrate the holiness of His name. The
answer that came on the occasion of Daniel’s prayer goes
way beyond the restoration of Jerusalem to the coming of
Messiah, to Messiah’s rejection, and to the very end of
the age and the great tribulation.
The plan of Messianic salvation exists because God is a
merciful God. God could have wiped out the nation entirely
as He threatened to do in Moses’ day (Exodus 32:10), and
remained perfectly just. God could wipe out the entire
rebellious human race and be perfectly just. God’s mercy
is revealed in that rather than doing so, He chose to
reveal His mercy in saving some. He promised to raise up
Messiah from the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), the
seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:3), and the seed of David
(2Samuel 7:12-16) who would bring salvation to a remnant
of the Jews (Romans 9:27; 11:5). Through this promised
Jewish Messiah a remnant of Gentiles would also be brought
to faith (Psalm 22:27; Isaiah 49:6). If Daniel’s prayer
went unanswered and the Jews were left in Babylon to be
assimilated into the Babylonian nation and religion, then
the promises of God would have failed. There would have
been no Messiah and no salvation. The stakes could not
have been higher.
The Answer to Daniel’s Prayer
As Daniel was still praying, the angel Gabriel came to
him (Daniel 9:21). Gabriel was commanded to go to Daniel
when Daniel began praying, "At the beginning of your
supplications the command was issued, and I have come to
tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the
message and gain understanding of the vision” (Daniel
9:23). The answer given by Gabriel is one of the most
specific, clear prophecies in the Bible. There would be
seventy "weeks” (literally "sevens”; a collection of seven
things4) to finish God’s redemptive dealings with Israel.
The Old Testament at times refers to sabbatical weeks of
years, i.e. a seven year period (Leviticus 25:3-13). The
prophecy of the 70 weeks in Daniel 9:24 refers to a period
of 490 years.5 As the seventy years of captivity were
about to come to an end, Gabriel told Daniel of another
period of seventy, this time seventy weeks of years.
Gabriel told Daniel, "So you are to know and discern
that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven
weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with
plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the
sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have
nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will
destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come
with a flood; even to the end there will be war;
desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:25,26). The decree
to which Gabriel refers is the one issued by Artaxerxes in
445 B.C. (Nehemiah 2).6 The first seven weeks of years,
beginning at 445 B.C. brings us to the close of Malachi’s
prophecy and the closing of the Old Testament canon.7 The
next 434 years from that time (totaling 483 years) brings
us to the time of Christ. The amazing prophecy in Daniel 9
includes a prediction of Messiah’s rejection, the exact
time of this rejection, and the future destruction of
Jerusalem. The final week, the seventieth week, is
the Great Tribulation. In the middle of this seven year
period the "prince to come” (Antichrist) will set up the
abomination of desolation spoken of by Jesus in Matthew
24. It says in Daniel 9:27: "And he will make a firm
covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of
the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain
offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one
who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one
that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes
desolate.” This seventieth week is yet future. The answer
to Daniel’s prayer was a revelation of the future history
of his people the Jews. There is a gap between the
sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks, which is the period from
the Day of Pentecost until the beginning of the Great
Tribulation. The rejection of Messiah and the destruction
of Jerusalem was not the end of God’s dealing with Israel.
During the indeterminate period between Messiah’s
rejection by Israel and the future covenant with a false
messiah who will make desolate, God is bringing Messianic
salvation to Gentiles and Jews who believe the gospel.
Conclusion
Daniel’s prayer did not cause the return of the Jews to
Jerusalem; but God did. God cannot lie, and will not break
His promises. Everything decreed and promised shall
certainly come to pass. Daniel 9:24 says that the seventy
weeks, "have been decreed.” If the future history of
Israel and her dealings with the Gentile world is certain,
then what purpose is there to prayer? The answer is that
prayer is part of the means by which God has chosen to
work. God raised up Daniel and placed him where he was at
that crucial time of history. God’s grace kept Daniel from
caving in to the delicacies and temptations of pagan
Babylon. God used Daniel’s prayers because God delights to
use ordinary people in extraordinary situations to His
glory.
Likewise, we live in extraordinary times. As we see
evidence of the nearness of the coming seventieth week we
should all the more be motivated to pray according to
God’s revealed purposes. We do not need modern end time
prophets to tell us how to pray, the Scriptures already
tell us what will happen. Just as Daniel studied prophetic
Scripture and prayed accordingly, so should we. We cannot
pray what Daniel prayed; but we can pray as Daniel prayed.
To do so forces us to contemplate our situation and how
the Bible applies to it.9
Prayers modeled after Jabez are inadequate. There are so many
more important matters before us. The beauty of Daniel’s
prayer is that it cannot be recited over and over because
it is too long and mostly has already been answered.
Therefore its serves a much better purpose: to teach us
the principles of godly intercession. It also serves the
purpose of reminding us of the key to all of history:
Israel and her Messiah. It also reminds us about God’s
nature, His justice, His mercy, and our need. How much
better to learn from the prayer of one of the more godly
and exemplary characters in the Bible than from an obscure
man who uttered a one sentence prayer.
Issue 72 - September/October 2002
End Notes
- See the article by Dick Kuffel in this issue of CIC for a more thorough critique of the book.
- Bruce Wilkinson, The Prayer of Jabez, (Multnomah: Sisters OR, 2000)
- Wilkinson, Jabez, says "Your business is the territory God has entrusted you. He wants you to accept it as a
significant opportunity to touch individual lives, the business community, and the larger world for His glory.
Asking Him to enlarge that opportunity brings Him only delight.” 31. This simple minded logic is not really
Biblical. It assumes too much. It is as if to say, "since I am Christian, what I do is helping God have more
influence in the world. Therefore if my domain was much larger, God’s influence would be also. Therefore nothing
is more important than for me to get bigger.” This thinking has caused many churches to lay aside the
preaching of the cross so the church can be bigger and so more can be influenced.
- Lehman Strauss, Daniel, (Loizeaux: Neptune, NJ, 1969) 268.
- Ibid. 270.
- Ibid. 272.
- Ibid.
- See Sir Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince, (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1998 reprint of 1957 edition) 67 -129 for
a detailed explanation of the 69 weeks and their fulfillment.
- This study of Daniel’s prayer is not meant to be a comprehensive teaching on prayer. Much more is taught on
this subject elsewhere in Scripture.
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