A Lesson in Prayer

Order of Service

• Hymn — Mighty God While Angels Bless Thee
• Call to Worship — Revelation 5:11-13
• Hymn — Mighty God While Angels Bless Thee
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin — from Daniel 9:4-9
• Assurance of Pardon — Romans 8:31-32
• Scripture Reading — Luke 5:27-39
• Hymn — Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare
• Sermon
• Hymn — Before the Throne of God Above
• Benediction
• Gloria Patri

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Sermon Title: A Lesson in Prayer

Scripture: Daniel 9:1-19

I. Prayer Is Conditioned upon God's Promises

A. Daniel prays because he has been reading the prophetic word

1. In Jeremiah 25 and Jeremiah 29:10, God promised that the exile in Babylon would last 70 years
2. Babylon has now fallen; it is the first year of Darius, approximately 70 years after Nebuchadnezzar's reign began in 605 BC
3. It is the awareness of this promise that moves Daniel to lift his voice in prayer

B. The essence of prayer is calling on God to make good on his promises — praying according to what is "agreeable to his will" (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 98)

1. Daniel's bold, commanding language in verses 17–19 ("listen," "make," "incline," "open," "hear," "pay attention and act," "delay not") is grounded entirely in God's own promises
2. Moses interceded boldly at the golden calf on the same basis: "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel … you swore by your own self" (Exodus 32:13)
3. The Psalter contains similar bold appeals grounded in the Lord's prior promises

C. Christ himself prays this way

1. Psalm 2:8 — the Father invites the Son to ask for the nations as his inheritance
2. John 17:9 — Christ's high-priestly prayer: "Sanctify them … preserve those you have given me"
3. At this very moment Christ intercedes at the Father's right hand, calling on God to finish what he has promised for his sheep
4. Believers share this same privilege: to bring God's covenant promises back to him and pray, "You promised — make good on your promise"

II. Prayer Is Confession for God's Pardon

A. Confession of sin is all-comprehensive

1. It covers active sin ("we have done wrong"), rebellious sin ("we have rebelled"), and sins of omission ("we have not listened") — Daniel 9:5-6
2. It extends to all the people: Judah, Jerusalem, all Israel, kings, princes, and fathers — Daniel 9:7-8
3. Total depravity: every faculty of human makeup — feet, eyes, ears, will, desires — is infected by sin; no qualifiers or excuses are offered

B. The surprising "we" — Daniel includes himself

1. Daniel is among the most godly figures in all of Scripture, yet he says "we have sinned," not "they have sinned"
2. Jesus said of John the Baptist that no one born of woman was greater (Matthew 11:11), yet John said "I must decrease"; Jesus told the rich young ruler "Only God is good"
3. If Daniel and John the Baptist confessed sin and unworthiness, how much more must we?
4. 1 John 1:8 — "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us"
5. A confessionless prayer life is impossible if one truly knows the God of Scripture; like Isaiah's "Woe is me" and Peter's "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man," encounter with a holy God demands confession

C. The corporate dimension of personal confession

1. The Lord's Prayer teaches us to pray "our Father … forgive us our debts" — not merely "my" but "our"
2. Individual salvation produces care for the purity of the whole bride of Christ
3. Even in the private prayer closet, believers confess corporately, interceding for the whole body in anticipation of the great assembly gathered around Christ in glory

III. Prayer Is Calling for God's Presence

A. Daniel is jealous for the glory of God

1. From chapter 1 onward, Daniel has witnessed God's name blasphemed: Nebuchadnezzar placed the temple vessels in Marduk's temple; Belshazzar drank from them while worshiping pagan gods (Daniel 1; Daniel 5)
2. In verses 16–19, the focus shifts entirely to God: "your sanctuary," "your city," "your people," "for your own sake" — Daniel cries out for God to restore his own glory and reputation among the nations

B. True prayer is soli Deo gloria centered, not ministry-centered, pragmatic, or moralistic

1. Ministry can become an end in itself; Daniel's prayer is a corrective — it is wholly oriented toward the glory of God

C. Daniel's assurance of pardon is bound up in the righteousness of God

1. In verse 16, Daniel appeals to God's "righteous acts" as the very basis for forgiveness — not in spite of God's righteousness but because of it
2. Martin Luther initially hated the righteousness of God because it meant condemnation; the gospel transforms this — God is righteous in forgiving sins, because the righteous one has borne them
3. 1 John 1:9 — "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" — God's justice is satisfied in Christ, so forgiveness is the righteous act of a covenant-keeping God
4. Like a husband who cannot simply walk away because he has vowed himself to his wife, God has staked his glory and reputation on his covenant people all the way to the cross; he is bound — by his own righteous promise — to forgive and restore

D. Application: take hold of the promises of God in Christ

1. Lift your voice boldly before the God of heaven who promises eternal life in his Son
2. Confess sin with full recognition that assurance of pardon is yours because God is the righteous covenant maker and covenant keeper in Christ Jesus