Getting past election stuff for the first time in a while here, this is tonight’s talk at LF.
Daniel 9
Obviously, this is a great day if you are a conservative republican. GW Bush has been reelected and the hyper-liberals have been defeated.
As I noted for a friend earlier today this has some meaning across the United States and around the world…
– This will tip the scales away from gay rights and free usage of abortion for birth control.
– This will hopefully result in conservative judges being put in place in the Supreme Court.
– This will definitely mean a completion of the task in Iraq.
– This will be good for small business owners and self-employed people.
– This will mean the economy will grow healthier.
– This means we won’t have scandal in the White House.
– This means we will have to see one more stupid video from Michael Moore that is completely false.
But this also has some meaning for us as believers because we can see that a man who prays regularly and has people pray for him can do an impossible task… be president of the United States for 2 terms.
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Prayer works.
– I can’t tell you when I finally realized that there was more to prayer than just doing it.
– For me, seeing the effects of prayer on my life and the lives of others was a process.
– It wasn’t until I started to script out my prayers, keep a journal of my prayers, and pray with other people regularly that I saw exactly how prayer worked.
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Tonight, we are going to look at Daniel’s life of prayer. This will help us prepare to handle a very difficult piece of Scripture next week.
Let’s begin by reading one of Daniel’s prayers.
Read Daniel 9: 3-19
Discussion Q’s
Is this how you pray?
As I read this did anyone else wonder how he remembered what he was praying? Do you think he wrote it down?
Here are some insights from Daniel’s prayer, things that are plain to see.
1. Combined prayer & fasting
2. Reminds God of His character [not like God forgot who He was!]
3. Personally identifies with the sin of the people of Israel. [Even confesses to sins that occurred before he was born!]
4. Appeals to God’s grace
5. Rehashes God’s faithfulness
6. Petition is done for God’s sake and His alone Form this passage, I’d like to look at some insights we can glean about Daniel’s prayer life.
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God’s response to Daniel’s prayer was immediate!
Read Daniel 20-23
3 Points to Ponder
When did God send Gabriel to Daniel?
While Daniel was still praying!
Why did God send Gabriel right then?
To give Daniel insight and understanding about what he was praying!
Why did God chose to answer Daniel’s prayer?
Gabriel [an angel] called Daniel [a man] highly esteemed!
If you are like me… I know I want not only pray like that, I want to get a response like that too!
The question for you is then: How can I open the door for God to speak to me?
WARNING: There isn’t a formula. These are things that we can learn from Daniel that can be applied to your prayer life.
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Story: Unanswered prayers
We all know people who have cried out to God but the prayers have gone unanswered…
Loved one is sick… but still passes away
Desperate situation…but it doesn’t get better
Desire to do good in a situation…but still fall into bad.
But we cannot forget the words of Jesus and how he taught us to pray. In Sunday school we will begin looking at Jesus’ “Óur Father prayer.” Even there we see that Jesus, who is fully God says while praying, “thy will be done.”
When we pray, God instructs us to ask for things and to present our requests to him… but God cannot do something out of His will. Ultimately, while we request and petition God… we must continually pray that He will do His will in whatever the circumstance is.
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A few ways God can speak to me
Combine a regular time of pray with a private time of fasting.
Pray to please God, not you. (Try to eliminate personal pronouns)
Confess you sins.
Appeal to one of God’s attributes.
Praise God for the things He has done in your life… it’s sweet music in His ears.
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