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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible
Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, daniel,
chapter 9, and today's title isGod's Power to Answer Prayer
God's Power to Answer Prayer.
We're going to see somethingthat was part of what we now
know as the Daniel Fast, whichis the time frame of 21 days.
(00:21):
I haven't really talked aboutthis except for the very
beginning, but that idea of whata Daniel fast is is taken from
different sections of the bookof Daniel, and today is going to
be one of the big ones.
And so, for many of you whohave done a 21 day Daniel fast
and you've been so weary atabout day 16 or 17, which, if
(00:41):
I'm honest, I'm weary at aboutday two, right.
But if you're wondering who inthe world made this a 21 day
fast, well, which, if I'm honest, I'm weary at about day two
right.
But if you're wondering who inthe world made this a 21 day
fast, well, you're going to findout about it today.
We're going to get all that injust a moment.
So if you have your Bibles,want to get them open with me to
Daniel, chapter nine.
If you're new around here, makesure you take just a moment and
like, share and subscribe tothe YouTube channel and the
podcast.
Make sure you leave us afive-star review on the podcast
(01:03):
and make sure you're going tothe Bible Breakdown Discussion
on Facebook.
There's an amazing group ofpeople who are doing these
wonderful devotions every dayand I'm telling you they're
amazing.
I love those devotions.
They're a joy and an honor toread and we would love for you
to comment.
The goal of doing those onsocial media is to create
community.
We are here to grow together,so make sure you are doing that
(01:24):
Also.
I want to give a quick shoutout because we have some people
who have started listening to usfrom Morocco, and I want to say
hello to everyone in Morocco.
I'll be honest with you, I'venever been there, but I want to
go one day, and how cool wouldthat be if we ever had some
people from our area go toMorocco and we could meet some
fellow Bible Breakdown communitypeople.
(01:44):
So thank you so much forjoining us and it is an honor to
just enjoy God's Word together.
Well, once again, we're goingto be in Daniel, chapter 9 today
.
Don't forget.
The overall goal of Daniel isGod is in control and, if you
remember, daniel is writing thisto people who they're really
grappling with their identity.
(02:05):
They've lost their homeland,they've been scattered all over
the known world.
And Daniel is writing to themand he's saying yes, it's a mess
right now.
We are where we don't want tobe.
There's chaos all over thisworld.
God is still in control and hetells us this by sharing with us
.
In the first six chapters hesaid let me tell you some of
what's been going on in thecapital of Babylon.
(02:27):
And he talks about him beingrescued from the lion's den,
about the three Hebrew teenagersbeing rescued from a fire,
about the different words beingwritten on the wall and just all
these different things.
And then now, in the secondhalf of Daniel, he is writing
about the different visions hehas had throughout his life and
how God has been telling him notonly am I, god, in control of
(02:50):
right now, I'm also in controlof the future.
And he is telling him throughthese different things.
And then yesterday it ended ona little bit of a cliffhanger,
where God was showing him thisvision of these different
kingdoms that were going to comeup and try to come against God
but then ultimately fail.
And at the end of the chapterhe says I was so worried and
disturbed because I had no ideawhat that vision meant, to which
(03:13):
some of us were going yeah, meneither.
Well, today we're going to getthe second half of it and we're
going to talk about this idea ofGod's ability to answer prayer,
and we're going to talk aboutat the very end why it is that
we even pray to begin with, ifGod knows why do we pray.
Well, we're going to talk aboutthis when we get to the end,
but first let's see what's goingon as Daniel is trying to
(03:34):
grapple with understanding thesevisions that God has given him.
So here we go.
Daniel, chapter 9, verse 1, saysthis it was the first year of
the reign of Darius of the Medes, the son of Azarias, who became
king of the Babylonians.
During the first year of hisreign, I, daniel, learned from
reading the word of the Lord,which would have been the Torah,
(03:55):
and some of the books there, ofthe different books of Moses
and Joshua Judges, probably someof those it was revealed to
Jeremiah, the prophet, so alsosome of the prophets, that
Jerusalem must lie desolate for70 years.
So I turned to the Lord, god,and pleaded with him in prayer
and fasting.
I also wore rough burlap andsprinkled myself with ashes.
(04:20):
I prayed to the Lord, my God,and confessed O Lord, you are
great and awesome, god.
You always fulfill yourcovenant and keep your promises
of unfailing love To those wholove you and obey your commands.
But we have sinned and donewrong.
We have rebelled against youand scorned your commands and
(04:40):
regulations.
You have refused to listen toyour servants, the prophets, or
we have refused, not God.
We have refused to listen toyour servants, the prophets, or
we have refused, not God.
We have refused to listen toyour servants, the prophets, who
spoke on your authority to ourkings and princes and ancestors
and to all the people of theland.
Lord, you are in the right, but, as you see, our faces are
covered with shame.
(05:00):
This is true of all of us,including the people of Judah
and Jerusalem, and of all Israel, scattered near and far,
wherever you have driven us.
Because of our disloyalty to you, o Lord, we and our kings,
princes and ancestors arecovered with shame because we
have sinned against you, but theLord, our God, is merciful and
(05:22):
forgiving, even though we haverebelled against him.
We have not obeyed the Lord,our God, for we have not
followed the instructions hegave us through His servants,
the prophets.
All Israel has disobeyed yourinstruction and turned away,
refusing to listen to your voice.
So now, the solemn curses andjudgments written in the law of
(05:43):
Moses, the servant of God, hasbeen poured down on us because
of our sin.
You have kept your word anddone to us and our rulers
(06:03):
exactly what you warned Becauseof our sin, by turning from our
sins and recognizing the truth,therefore, the Lord has brought
upon us the disaster he prepared.
The Lord, our God, was right todo all these things, for we did
not obey Him.
O Lord our God, you broughtlasting honor to your name by
(06:24):
rescuing your people from Egyptand a great display of power,
but we have sinned and are fullof wickedness.
In view of all your faithfulmercies, lord, please turn your
furious anger away from yourcity, jerusalem, your holy
mountain.
All the neighboring nationsmock Jerusalem and your people
(06:44):
because of our sins and the sinsof our ancestors.
O, our God, hear your servant'sprayer.
Listen, I plead For your ownsake.
Lord, smile again on yourdesolate sanctuary.
Oh my God, lean down and listento me.
Open your eyes and see ourdespair.
See how your city, the citythat bears your name lies in
(07:05):
ruins.
We make this plea not becausewe deserve help, but because of
your mercy.
Oh Lord, hear, oh Lord, forgive.
Oh Lord, listen and act.
For your own sake, do not delay, oh my God, for your people and
your city, bear your name.
I went on praying and confessingmy sin and the sin of my people
(07:28):
, pleading with the Lord, my Godof Jerusalem and his holy
mountain as I was praying.
So pause again.
So what it is is he went overthis time frame and he's just
continually repenting before Godfor the people and he's asking
for mercy.
In other words, god, pleaseforgive us and please let this
70 years come to pass.
Verse 21 says Please let this70 years come to pass.
(07:49):
Verse 21 says as I was praying,gabriel, whom I had seen in the
earlier visions, came swiftly tome at the time of the evening
sacrifice.
He explained to me Daniel, Ihave come here to give you
insight and understanding.
The moment you began praying, acommand was given, and now I am
here to tell you what it was,for you are very precious to God
(08:11):
.
Listen carefully so that youcan understand the meaning of
your vision.
A period of 70, sets of seven.
That's where some people get theidea of time frames in the book
of Revelation.
A period of 70 sets of sevenhas been decreed for your people
and your holy city to finishtheir rebellion.
Now listen and understand.
70 sets of seven plus 62 setsof seven will pass from the time
(08:48):
command is given to rebuildJerusalem until a ruler, the
anointed one, comes.
Jerusalem will be rebuilt withstreets and strong defenses,
despite the perilous times.
After this period of 62 sets ofseven, the anointed one will be
killed, appearing to haveaccomplished nothing.
(09:09):
A ruler will rise whose armieswill destroy the city and the
temple.
The end will come with a floodand war, and its miseries are
decreed from the time to the end.
The ruler will make a treatywith the people for a period of
one set of seven, but after halfof that time he will put an end
(09:30):
to the sacrifices and offerings.
As a climax to all his terribledeeds, he will set up
sacrilegious objects that causedesecration until the fate
decreed from the defiler isfinally poured out on him.
Now I know we're probablygetting lost in the weeds, but
really quick.
Verse 27 is where many peoplewho study end times doctrines
(09:51):
say that's where you have sevenyears first, three and a half
good, second half bad of atribulation.
Here we go.
The end of this is this Onceagain, he says that there will
be a ruler who will make atreaty that will start off good,
but it will end badly.
Now, what does this have to dowith anything?
Well, the important thing aboutthis is remember the overall
(10:15):
context.
Daniel has received the word ofthe Lord.
He's reading the Torah, whichis the first five books of Moses
Genesis, exodus, leviticus,numbers, deuteronomy but then
he's also reading about theprophecies of Jeremiah, where
Jeremiah said that, because theydidn't honor the years of
Jubilee and didn't honor theSabbath years, there was going
(10:37):
to be a 70-year time of exile sothat the land could rest and so
that they would experience thepunishment for what they didn't
do.
And so when Daniel read thisand found out why all of this
had happened and what was goingon, he began to repent for the
nation.
He began to say God, I don'tunderstand what happened.
(10:58):
I don't know why it had tohappen this way.
I just know we were wrong.
And I am asking you God, hejust, over and over and over
again, is repenting for thenation, repenting for the nation
over and over again After aseason and we're going to
continue into next week, whenexcuse me, tomorrow, when you'll
see the rest of it.
And it said 21 days is what ittook for Gabriel to get there
(11:20):
with the message.
And that's where the 21 days ofprayer and fasting come from.
And the idea is is that thereason why we pray is because
God answers our prayer?
The reason why we pray isbecause God answers our prayer.
He prayed and he prayed and heprayed and then God answered.
And what you see here is someof the most direct prophecy
about what's going to happenthat you have in the entire
(11:42):
Bible.
It's so direct that it's hardto even call it apocalyptic
literature.
Now I know there's like the 70times 7 or whatever.
That's time frames that aresaying that there's going to be
a time that this is going tohappen and then a time that's
going to happen, and that'sveiled in mystery.
But it's so direct that it'squite astonishing and which is
(12:03):
why that is one of the moststudied chapters by people who
study end times doctrine.
But he also gives us the answerto the question that is why do
we pray?
We pray because there's powerin prayer and that God answers
our prayer.
Now, god's answer to thisprayer wasn't that he changed
heaven and earth to do whatDaniel had to say.
(12:25):
He revealed heaven and earth,so Daniel would understand why
things were happening.
So one of the things we have tounderstand is that God is
sovereign, god is in control,god is doing what he's going to
do, and so when we pray, wecan't change God's mind.
But what we can do is we canunderstand God's mind,
understand what it is he isdoing and understand how we can
(12:48):
partner with him.
Now, once again, prayer ispowerful because prayer changes
us.
Prayer is powerful because Godcan partner with him.
Now, once again, prayer ispowerful because prayer changes
us.
Prayer is powerful because Godwill partner with our prayer to
do what he has called us, whathe wants to do.
So we have no idea all thethings that God does when we
pray.
What we do know is is that whenwe pray, he reveals himself to
(13:09):
us.
We're able to know him more andwe're able to see what he is
doing.
Sometimes the most powerfulthing we do in prayer is we
submit our will to his.
I think of the idea of Jesusbeing in the garden of
Gethsemane and he's teaching ushow to pray in our darkest
moments.
And he's saying, god, I would,or, father, I would rather not
do this.
Nevertheless, not my will, butyour will be done.
(13:32):
In other words, he's sayingfrom the foundation of the earth
, we already decided this wasthe way we're going to go, but
in this moment, my flesh istelling me I don't want to.
However, I submit myself toyour authority.
That's one of the great thingsthat prayer does is that God
answers our prayer by openingour eyes and seeing him.
So here's my question for youwhat would it look like in your
(13:56):
prayer time if you stoppedseeing prayer as a negotiation
process with God and it was moreof a submitting our will to him
?
Now, that doesn't mean we don'task for things.
Please don't hear that.
I'm not saying we shouldn't askthings.
I'm not saying that God doesn'tanswer our prayer by doing
things.
What I'm saying is is that whatif the chief aim of our prayer
wasn't to say, well, god, if youwill, I will, and if I will,
(14:16):
you will, and stop feeling likewe're in a negotiation process,
but instead pray the way Jesusdid, god, this is what I'm
asking.
Nevertheless, not my will, butyour will, if this is what you
want to do.
I pray you will change me sothat I will understand that your
way is higher.
When you start praying that way,it sets you free.
It sets you free because you nolonger feel like it depends on
(14:40):
you, because there are somepeople who say, if I pray hard
enough, god has no choice but todo what I say.
And I tell you that makes nosense to me.
You're telling me the king ofthe universe must do what you
say because you prayed.
No, rather say, when I pray,every time I submit my will to
god and I ask him what it is hewants from me, what it is he
(15:04):
wants to do in my life.
I ask him for what I need.
The bible says pray and ask andtell him what you need, and
then, when you do, the peace ofGod, which passes understanding,
will guard your hearts and yourminds in Christ Jesus.
So we pray and God will do whathe's going to do, but in the
process, he gives us peacebecause we relinquish the
control to him.
(15:25):
What is it you need to prayabout today?
And to stop thinking thatyou're going to convince God and
instead you're going to agreewith God and say God, this is
what I'm asking you to do.
I'm asking you to do it thisway specifically, and here's all
my reasons.
Nevertheless, not my will, butyours be done when we do that.
Daniel, chapter nine, teaches usthat God will answer our
(15:47):
prayers powerfully, opening oureyes to see what he's doing.
Let's pray right now, god.
Thank you so much for today.
Thank you, god, that you see usand you know us.
And, god, you're not asking usto not pray, you're asking us to
trust you.
So we pray and we ask foreverything we want and need, but
then, on the other side of it,we trust you.
Therefore, if you do it our way, we know that it was already
(16:11):
your way and our will conform toyours.
But, lord, if you don't do itour way, we trust you.
We trust that you want what'sbest for us.
And, lord, in this situationwith Daniel, he prayed, he
fasted, he asked and then, lord,you opened his eyes to see more
than he could imagine.
I pray you will do that in ourlives today, that, as we pray,
we fast, we ask You'll open oureyes to see you more clearly
(16:34):
every day.
In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen, in the name of God's word, says in Daniel, chapter 3,
these three Hebrew teenagerslook defiantly at the most
powerful man in the world and hesaid God, or they say God is
able to save us, but even if hedoesn't, we will never serve
your gods.
In other words, god is incontrol.
(16:55):
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow forDaniel, chapter 10.
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible
Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, daniel,
chapter 9, and today's title isGod's Power to Answer Prayer
God's Power to Answer Prayer.
We're going to see somethingthat was part of what we now
know as the Daniel Fast, whichis the time frame of 21 days.
(00:21):
I haven't really talked aboutthis except for the very
beginning, but that idea of whata Daniel fast is is taken from
different sections of the bookof Daniel, and today is going to
be one of the big ones.
And so, for many of you whohave done a 21 day Daniel fast
and you've been so weary atabout day 16 or 17, which, if
(00:41):
I'm honest, I'm weary at aboutday two, right.
But if you're wondering who inthe world made this a 21 day
fast, well, which, if I'm honest, I'm weary at about day two
right.
But if you're wondering who inthe world made this a 21 day
fast, well, you're going to findout about it today.
We're going to get all that injust a moment.
So if you have your Bibles,want to get them open with me to
Daniel, chapter nine.
If you're new around here, makesure you take just a moment and
like, share and subscribe tothe YouTube channel and the
podcast.
Make sure you leave us afive-star review on the podcast
(01:03):
and make sure you're going tothe Bible Breakdown Discussion
on Facebook.
There's an amazing group ofpeople who are doing these
wonderful devotions every dayand I'm telling you they're
amazing.
I love those devotions.
They're a joy and an honor toread and we would love for you
to comment.
The goal of doing those onsocial media is to create
community.
We are here to grow together,so make sure you are doing that
(01:24):
Also.
I want to give a quick shoutout because we have some people
who have started listening to usfrom Morocco, and I want to say
hello to everyone in Morocco.
I'll be honest with you, I'venever been there, but I want to
go one day, and how cool wouldthat be if we ever had some
people from our area go toMorocco and we could meet some
fellow Bible Breakdown communitypeople.
(01:44):
So thank you so much forjoining us and it is an honor to
just enjoy God's Word together.
Well, once again, we're goingto be in Daniel, chapter 9 today
.
Don't forget.
The overall goal of Daniel isGod is in control and, if you
remember, daniel is writing thisto people who they're really
grappling with their identity.
(02:05):
They've lost their homeland,they've been scattered all over
the known world.
And Daniel is writing to themand he's saying yes, it's a mess
right now.
We are where we don't want tobe.
There's chaos all over thisworld.
God is still in control and hetells us this by sharing with us
.
In the first six chapters hesaid let me tell you some of
what's been going on in thecapital of Babylon.
(02:27):
And he talks about him beingrescued from the lion's den,
about the three Hebrew teenagersbeing rescued from a fire,
about the different words beingwritten on the wall and just all
these different things.
And then now, in the secondhalf of Daniel, he is writing
about the different visions hehas had throughout his life and
how God has been telling him notonly am I, god, in control of
(02:50):
right now, I'm also in controlof the future.
And he is telling him throughthese different things.
And then yesterday it ended ona little bit of a cliffhanger,
where God was showing him thisvision of these different
kingdoms that were going to comeup and try to come against God
but then ultimately fail.
And at the end of the chapterhe says I was so worried and
disturbed because I had no ideawhat that vision meant, to which
(03:13):
some of us were going yeah, meneither.
Well, today we're going to getthe second half of it and we're
going to talk about this idea ofGod's ability to answer prayer,
and we're going to talk aboutat the very end why it is that
we even pray to begin with, ifGod knows why do we pray.
Well, we're going to talk aboutthis when we get to the end,
but first let's see what's goingon as Daniel is trying to
(03:34):
grapple with understanding thesevisions that God has given him.
So here we go.
Daniel, chapter 9, verse 1, saysthis it was the first year of
the reign of Darius of the Medes, the son of Azarias, who became
king of the Babylonians.
During the first year of hisreign, I, daniel, learned from
reading the word of the Lord,which would have been the Torah,
(03:55):
and some of the books there, ofthe different books of Moses
and Joshua Judges, probably someof those it was revealed to
Jeremiah, the prophet, so alsosome of the prophets, that
Jerusalem must lie desolate for70 years.
So I turned to the Lord, god,and pleaded with him in prayer
and fasting.
I also wore rough burlap andsprinkled myself with ashes.
(04:20):
I prayed to the Lord, my God,and confessed O Lord, you are
great and awesome, god.
You always fulfill yourcovenant and keep your promises
of unfailing love To those wholove you and obey your commands.
But we have sinned and donewrong.
We have rebelled against youand scorned your commands and
(04:40):
regulations.
You have refused to listen toyour servants, the prophets, or
we have refused, not God.
We have refused to listen toyour servants, the prophets, or
we have refused, not God.
We have refused to listen toyour servants, the prophets, who
spoke on your authority to ourkings and princes and ancestors
and to all the people of theland.
Lord, you are in the right, but, as you see, our faces are
covered with shame.
(05:00):
This is true of all of us,including the people of Judah
and Jerusalem, and of all Israel, scattered near and far,
wherever you have driven us.
Because of our disloyalty to you, o Lord, we and our kings,
princes and ancestors arecovered with shame because we
have sinned against you, but theLord, our God, is merciful and
(05:22):
forgiving, even though we haverebelled against him.
We have not obeyed the Lord,our God, for we have not
followed the instructions hegave us through His servants,
the prophets.
All Israel has disobeyed yourinstruction and turned away,
refusing to listen to your voice.
So now, the solemn curses andjudgments written in the law of
(05:43):
Moses, the servant of God, hasbeen poured down on us because
of our sin.
You have kept your word anddone to us and our rulers
(06:03):
exactly what you warned Becauseof our sin, by turning from our
sins and recognizing the truth,therefore, the Lord has brought
upon us the disaster he prepared.
The Lord, our God, was right todo all these things, for we did
not obey Him.
O Lord our God, you broughtlasting honor to your name by
(06:24):
rescuing your people from Egyptand a great display of power,
but we have sinned and are fullof wickedness.
In view of all your faithfulmercies, lord, please turn your
furious anger away from yourcity, jerusalem, your holy
mountain.
All the neighboring nationsmock Jerusalem and your people
(06:44):
because of our sins and the sinsof our ancestors.
O, our God, hear your servant'sprayer.
Listen, I plead For your ownsake.
Lord, smile again on yourdesolate sanctuary.
Oh my God, lean down and listento me.
Open your eyes and see ourdespair.
See how your city, the citythat bears your name lies in
(07:05):
ruins.
We make this plea not becausewe deserve help, but because of
your mercy.
Oh Lord, hear, oh Lord, forgive.
Oh Lord, listen and act.
For your own sake, do not delay, oh my God, for your people and
your city, bear your name.
I went on praying and confessingmy sin and the sin of my people
(07:28):
, pleading with the Lord, my Godof Jerusalem and his holy
mountain as I was praying.
So pause again.
So what it is is he went overthis time frame and he's just
continually repenting before Godfor the people and he's asking
for mercy.
In other words, god, pleaseforgive us and please let this
70 years come to pass.
Verse 21 says Please let this70 years come to pass.
(07:49):
Verse 21 says as I was praying,gabriel, whom I had seen in the
earlier visions, came swiftly tome at the time of the evening
sacrifice.
He explained to me Daniel, Ihave come here to give you
insight and understanding.
The moment you began praying, acommand was given, and now I am
here to tell you what it was,for you are very precious to God
(08:11):
.
Listen carefully so that youcan understand the meaning of
your vision.
A period of 70, sets of seven.
That's where some people get theidea of time frames in the book
of Revelation.
A period of 70 sets of sevenhas been decreed for your people
and your holy city to finishtheir rebellion.
Now listen and understand.
70 sets of seven plus 62 setsof seven will pass from the time
(08:48):
command is given to rebuildJerusalem until a ruler, the
anointed one, comes.
Jerusalem will be rebuilt withstreets and strong defenses,
despite the perilous times.
After this period of 62 sets ofseven, the anointed one will be
killed, appearing to haveaccomplished nothing.
(09:09):
A ruler will rise whose armieswill destroy the city and the
temple.
The end will come with a floodand war, and its miseries are
decreed from the time to the end.
The ruler will make a treatywith the people for a period of
one set of seven, but after halfof that time he will put an end
(09:30):
to the sacrifices and offerings.
As a climax to all his terribledeeds, he will set up
sacrilegious objects that causedesecration until the fate
decreed from the defiler isfinally poured out on him.
Now I know we're probablygetting lost in the weeds, but
really quick.
Verse 27 is where many peoplewho study end times doctrines
(09:51):
say that's where you have sevenyears first, three and a half
good, second half bad of atribulation.
Here we go.
The end of this is this Onceagain, he says that there will
be a ruler who will make atreaty that will start off good,
but it will end badly.
Now, what does this have to dowith anything?
Well, the important thing aboutthis is remember the overall
(10:15):
context.
Daniel has received the word ofthe Lord.
He's reading the Torah, whichis the first five books of Moses
Genesis, exodus, leviticus,numbers, deuteronomy but then
he's also reading about theprophecies of Jeremiah, where
Jeremiah said that, because theydidn't honor the years of
Jubilee and didn't honor theSabbath years, there was going
(10:37):
to be a 70-year time of exile sothat the land could rest and so
that they would experience thepunishment for what they didn't
do.
And so when Daniel read thisand found out why all of this
had happened and what was goingon, he began to repent for the
nation.
He began to say God, I don'tunderstand what happened.
(10:58):
I don't know why it had tohappen this way.
I just know we were wrong.
And I am asking you God, hejust, over and over and over
again, is repenting for thenation, repenting for the nation
over and over again After aseason and we're going to
continue into next week, whenexcuse me, tomorrow, when you'll
see the rest of it.
And it said 21 days is what ittook for Gabriel to get there
(11:20):
with the message.
And that's where the 21 days ofprayer and fasting come from.
And the idea is is that thereason why we pray is because
God answers our prayer?
The reason why we pray isbecause God answers our prayer.
He prayed and he prayed and heprayed and then God answered.
And what you see here is someof the most direct prophecy
about what's going to happenthat you have in the entire
(11:42):
Bible.
It's so direct that it's hardto even call it apocalyptic
literature.
Now I know there's like the 70times 7 or whatever.
That's time frames that aresaying that there's going to be
a time that this is going tohappen and then a time that's
going to happen, and that'sveiled in mystery.
But it's so direct that it'squite astonishing and which is
(12:03):
why that is one of the moststudied chapters by people who
study end times doctrine.
But he also gives us the answerto the question that is why do
we pray?
We pray because there's powerin prayer and that God answers
our prayer.
Now, god's answer to thisprayer wasn't that he changed
heaven and earth to do whatDaniel had to say.
(12:25):
He revealed heaven and earth,so Daniel would understand why
things were happening.
So one of the things we have tounderstand is that God is
sovereign, god is in control,god is doing what he's going to
do, and so when we pray, wecan't change God's mind.
But what we can do is we canunderstand God's mind,
understand what it is he isdoing and understand how we can
(12:48):
partner with him.
Now, once again, prayer ispowerful because prayer changes
us.
Prayer is powerful because Godcan partner with him.
Now, once again, prayer ispowerful because prayer changes
us.
Prayer is powerful because Godwill partner with our prayer to
do what he has called us, whathe wants to do.
So we have no idea all thethings that God does when we
pray.
What we do know is is that whenwe pray, he reveals himself to
(13:09):
us.
We're able to know him more andwe're able to see what he is
doing.
Sometimes the most powerfulthing we do in prayer is we
submit our will to his.
I think of the idea of Jesusbeing in the garden of
Gethsemane and he's teaching ushow to pray in our darkest
moments.
And he's saying, god, I would,or, father, I would rather not
do this.
Nevertheless, not my will, butyour will be done.
(13:32):
In other words, he's sayingfrom the foundation of the earth
, we already decided this wasthe way we're going to go, but
in this moment, my flesh istelling me I don't want to.
However, I submit myself toyour authority.
That's one of the great thingsthat prayer does is that God
answers our prayer by openingour eyes and seeing him.
So here's my question for youwhat would it look like in your
(13:56):
prayer time if you stoppedseeing prayer as a negotiation
process with God and it was moreof a submitting our will to him
?
Now, that doesn't mean we don'task for things.
Please don't hear that.
I'm not saying we shouldn't askthings.
I'm not saying that God doesn'tanswer our prayer by doing
things.
What I'm saying is is that whatif the chief aim of our prayer
wasn't to say, well, god, if youwill, I will, and if I will,
(14:16):
you will, and stop feeling likewe're in a negotiation process,
but instead pray the way Jesusdid, god, this is what I'm
asking.
Nevertheless, not my will, butyour will, if this is what you
want to do.
I pray you will change me sothat I will understand that your
way is higher.
When you start praying that way,it sets you free.
It sets you free because you nolonger feel like it depends on
(14:40):
you, because there are somepeople who say, if I pray hard
enough, god has no choice but todo what I say.
And I tell you that makes nosense to me.
You're telling me the king ofthe universe must do what you
say because you prayed.
No, rather say, when I pray,every time I submit my will to
god and I ask him what it is hewants from me, what it is he
(15:04):
wants to do in my life.
I ask him for what I need.
The bible says pray and ask andtell him what you need, and
then, when you do, the peace ofGod, which passes understanding,
will guard your hearts and yourminds in Christ Jesus.
So we pray and God will do whathe's going to do, but in the
process, he gives us peacebecause we relinquish the
control to him.
(15:25):
What is it you need to prayabout today?
And to stop thinking thatyou're going to convince God and
instead you're going to agreewith God and say God, this is
what I'm asking you to do.
I'm asking you to do it thisway specifically, and here's all
my reasons.
Nevertheless, not my will, butyours be done when we do that.
Daniel, chapter nine, teaches usthat God will answer our
(15:47):
prayers powerfully, opening oureyes to see what he's doing.
Let's pray right now, god.
Thank you so much for today.
Thank you, god, that you see usand you know us.
And, god, you're not asking usto not pray, you're asking us to
trust you.
So we pray and we ask foreverything we want and need, but
then, on the other side of it,we trust you.
Therefore, if you do it our way, we know that it was already
(16:11):
your way and our will conform toyours.
But, lord, if you don't do itour way, we trust you.
We trust that you want what'sbest for us.
And, lord, in this situationwith Daniel, he prayed, he
fasted, he asked and then, lord,you opened his eyes to see more
than he could imagine.
I pray you will do that in ourlives today, that, as we pray,
we fast, we ask You'll open oureyes to see you more clearly
(16:34):
every day.
In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen, in the name of God's word, says in Daniel, chapter 3,
these three Hebrew teenagerslook defiantly at the most
powerful man in the world and hesaid God, or they say God is
able to save us, but even if hedoesn't, we will never serve
your gods.
In other words, god is incontrol.
(16:55):
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow forDaniel, chapter 10.
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