Is the key ingredient that is missing from our prayer
life an all-out, no-holds-barred, go-for-broke, nothing-held-back,
old-fashioned commitment to pray? The kind of commitment that’s born out of
desperation. Intense aspiration. Soulful longing. The kind of commitment
athletes make to win the race or the game or the trophy or the medal. The kind
of commitment that makes sacrifices, accepts responsibility, keeps obligations,
and overcomes obstacles.
The kind of urgent plea we find in the Daniel Prayer.
This is not a casual, everyday, pray-as-you-feel-like-it,
run-of-the-mill, garden-variety type of prayer. It is not even a flare sent up
as a distress call for help. The Daniel Prayer is a commitment. A commitment
that perseveres over any and every obstacle until Heaven is moved and nations
are changed.
The original Daniel Prayer was a desperate plea uttered
by one man, Daniel, on behalf of his nation – Judah – that had come under God’s
judgment. For an entire generation – for seventy years – his people were held
in captivity by their enemy, the Babylonians, and separated from God’s place of
blessing.
It didn’t take long for Daniel, in the desperate
situations he faced, to discover the power of God through prayer. Because God
was all that Daniel had. Again and again he threw himself upon God with such
complete faith and utter dependence that God came through for him. Powerfully.
Personally. Dramatically. Repeatedly.
Again and again Daniel’s life was threatened and seemed
to be on the verge of annihilation. But each time, in response to Daniel’s
remarkable, steadfast faith, God demonstrated His supernatural power to honor
the one who honored Him. He miraculously intervened to save Daniel until He
performed the greatest miracle of all in answer to Daniel’s prayer: God moved
the Babylonian king to issue a decree that after seventy years of captivity,
every Jew living in Babylon could go home.
What kind of prayer was it that, when offered by one
person on behalf of a people who were under God’s judgment, caused Heaven to be
moved and a nation changed? What was the secret to the spiritual restoration,
renewal, and revival of Judah? What can we learn today from Daniel’s prayer
that might move Heaven and change our own beloved nation? Even after a full
generation of apostasy and separation from national faith in the living God, is
it possible that the prayer of one person could bring renewal, restoration, and
revival to America?
That’s what I want to find out.
I believe it’s time to pray like Daniel.
Now.
When faced with God’s righteous judgment, there is
nothing…nothing…no politics or president, no government or agreement, no
institution or organization, no media or ministry, no economy or military, no
alliance or treaty... nothing that will will turn our nation
around except prayer.
Heartfelt, desperate prayer. Prayer where the pray-ers
rend their hearts, return to the Cross, and repent of personal and national
sin. Only prayer that moves Heaven and can change a nation.
And that’s the Daniel Prayer.
This devotional is drawn from The Daniel Prayer: Prayer
That Moves Heaven and Changes Nations by Anne Graham Lotz. Used by permission.
CHECK BACK NEXT SUNDAY AS WE CONTINUE THE DANIEL PRAYER...
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