Daniel’s Prayer – five lessons (Daniel 9)

This prayer is notable because of who offered it. Daniel was a prophet of God, a patriot concerned about his people, a politician in the sense that he was involved in the government of the greatest empire in the world at that time, and a man of profound spiritual experiences during his long life of over eighty years.

There are many prayers recorded in detail in the Bible. One reason for their inclusion is to teach us how to pray. Another reason is that they provide details about various matters connected to prayer, such as why and how answers are given by God.

The first detail to note is that this of prayer of Daniel is connected to a seismic change allowed in God’s providence (v. 1). Darius had conquered Babylon and brought its rule to an end. Inevitably that change would have repercussions for Daniel and his people, so it is not surprising that he would pray.

Second, Daniel would have known from prophecies by Jeremiah that the desolations of Jerusalem would last for seventy years. Jerusalem had been captured in 605 BC and it was now 538 BC when Daniel prayed, so 67 years had passed. So almost seventy years had passed since the city had been captured by the Babylonians and it would not take too much contemplation by Daniel to work out that somehow or other Darius would probably be in charge when the captivity would come to an end in an official, recognisable way. So Daniel was guided in his prayer request by a specific promise of the Word of God (v. 2).

The third feature of Daniel’s prayer is that he created circumstances in which it would be easier to pray. He did this by fasting and wearing sackcloth and ashes. Normally Daniel, as a prominent figure in the establishment, would have plenty food and comfortable attire. Yet he knew that he could not pray in a serious manner if he continued living his normal life. There would be too many distractions, which is why he arranged his life so that it would be more likely that he would engage in prayer.

Fourth, Daniel’s prayer had a prominent element and that was its focus on divine mercy. He himself indicates this was the case in the way he summarises his prayer in verse 3 when he says that he sought God ‘by prayer and pleas for mercy’.

Fifth, we should note how Daniel described the process of prayer. To begin with, he turned his face towards the Lord and then he sought the Lord. Turning his face may be the posture that he adopted, that he turned and faced Jerusalem as described earlier in Daniel 6. Yet his posture indicated the direction of his heart as well as of the direction of his eyes. He looked by faith towards God.

At the same time he had to seek for God. At the very least, this indicates that he had to find God in some sense. Obviously, he was not referring to the possibility of God’s absence because he would have known that the Lord is omnipresent. Every time that Daniel prayed, the Lord was aware of it. Nor was Daniel’s prayer merely a mentioning to God of his promises. Instead it means that Daniel had to pursue God with spiritual energy.

As children, we were urged, ‘Dare to be a Daniel.’ We can adjust that to ‘Dare to be a Daniel – in prayer!’