While he and his fellow countrymen were in
captivity in Babylon, Daniel prayed to God to forgive their sin, iniquity,
wickedness and rebellion towards the Lord. It would be fitting for all who
claim Christ as their Lord to adapt the following prayer to the situation we
face in our country today. A country which began with noble Biblical
intentions. And now Christianity seems to be a distant memory, not simply
because of those who reject Christ, but because we Christians have turned away from
the authority of Scripture and have failed to speak Christianity back into our
culture. We have sought to amalgamate a belief system that conforms to public
approval, based on social justice and political correctness.
I encourage you to read Daniel’s prayer
and in your own words, substitute his locale – Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem –
with our country; his leaders – kings – with our president, congress men and
women; his spiritual leaders – the prophets – with the apostles and
pastor/teachers. By doing so, I believe you will realize the relevance of
praying for the spiritual recovery of our nation and that it will take all who
claim Christ as their savior to adhere to “every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God.”[i]
I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said,
“Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God,
who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His
commandments, we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even
turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.
“Moreover, we have not listened to Your
servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our
fathers and all the people of the land.
“Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but
to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of
Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in
all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful
deeds which they have committed against You.
“Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our
kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
“To the Lord our God belong compassion
and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings
which He set before us through His servants the prophets.
“Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your
law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out
on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of
God, for we have sinned against Him.
“Thus He has confirmed His words which He
had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great
calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like
what was done to Jerusalem.
“As it is written in the law of Moses, all
this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our
iniquity and giving attention to Your truth.
“Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us;
for the Lord our God is righteous
with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His
voice.
“And now, O Lord our God, who have brought
Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name
for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked.
“O Lord, in accordance with all Your
righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city
Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of
our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all
those around us.
“So now, our God, listen to the prayer of
Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face
shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
“O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open
Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name;
for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits
of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.
“O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord,
listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your
city and Your people are called by Your name.” - Daniel 9:4-19 (NASB)
Amen.
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