Pray for your country (Part 2)
2. The book of Daniel
A. King Darius
The first step of prayer
Before anything else, we must know the promises of God. Everything started when Daniel discovered in the prophetic writings that the time had arrived. In verse 3 (Daniel 9:3) it says that Daniel turned to the Lord and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
Here is my question: “Why pray, fast and put on sack cloth if the Lord has already said that the moment of deliverance has arrived especially when we know that God accomplishes what he says?”
We need to learn the lesson from Daniel. He understood that God had spoken and that prayer was absolutely necessary in order for the promise to be realized. He understood the greatness of the promise and as such, he realized that it would require special prayer for which he sought God through fasting and putting on sackcloth.
The second step of prayer
After having understood the promise of God, Daniel moved into the next step of his prayer (Daniel 9:4). Instead of talking about his problem, he started by worshiping the Lord and confessing how great and awesome he is. He especially declared that the Lord always keeps his covenant and shows love to those who love him. The lesson to learn from this prayer is that we do not approach the throne of God with wailing and moaning, but rather with worship declaring his greatness. When we confess the greatness of God, we demonstrate our faith in his ability to act. Daniel entered prayer only by talking about God and not about his people.
Unfortunately, many Christians enter prayer only talking about themselves and their problems instead of talking about the greatness of God. Without realizing it, we find ourselves worshipping ourselves instead of worshipping God. By “worshipping” I mean “speaking of ourselves” by trying to justify ourselves before God by our own actions and good deeds that we have accomplished. However, we need to think like Paul when he said that he no longer lived but that Christ lived in him (Galatians 2:20). God sits in the midst of the praises of his people (Psalm 22:3) and every prayer should start with worship and praise no matter how heavy the burden.
It’s extremely important that Christians of a nation understand that thanksgivings and praise attract God’s presence and chase out the presence of evil power.
As Daniel prayed, the angel Gabriel visited him (Daniel 9:20-21) and in verse 23 Daniel is told that as soon as he began to pray a word went out.
You will follow the third and the fourth step in the third part
Chris Ndikumana
