Key Truth: God’s word, character, and promises should lead us to pray with confidence.

Q: What moves you to pray?

Daniel’s Prayer (Part 1): Invocation and Confession of Sin:

Daniel 9:1-14

“What an individual is in secret, on his knees before God, that he is and no more (a paraphrase from John Owen)….Prayer is an expression of what we know of God and of ourselves.”

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Daniel: The Communicator’s Commentary

Q: What role do the attributes of God play in your prayers? How does your sin affect how you pray?

Daniel’s Prayer (Part 2): Remembrance and Petition for Mercy:

Daniel 9:15-19

“When we really embrace the grace of God which he offers us, he meets us and precedes us with his goodness, and thus we in time respond to his offers, and bear witness to our expectation of his promises. Nothing, therefore, can be better for us, than to ask for what he has promised. Thus in the prayers of the saints these feelings are united, as they plead God’s promises wherein they entreat him. And we cannot possibly exercise true confidence in prayer, except by resting firmly on God’s word.”

John Calvin, A Commentary on Daniel

Q: What role does remembrance of God’s past faithfulness and fulfillment of His promises play in your prayers? What do you regularly ask for?

God’s Response: The New Covenant Promise:

Daniel 9:20-27

“A definite time has been decreed by God for the accomplishment of all that which is necessary for the true restoration of God’s people from bondage.”

E.J. Young, Prophecy of Daniel

Q: What is more important to you: the details of how this story will end or the results?

Daniel 9:1-27 teaches us that:

-God’s word and character as well as our failings should lead us to pray

-God’s past promise keeping and future promises should lead us to pray with confidence

-the story will conclude with an end to sin and the flourishing of righteousness