Effective Intercession

SCRIPTURE: Dan. 9:3-19
³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:

“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

⁷ “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. ⁸ O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. ⁹ The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; ¹⁰ we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. ¹² You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. ¹⁴ The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

¹⁵ “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. ¹⁶ O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

¹⁷ “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. ¹⁹ O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

OBSERVATION: It has always been a source of fascination to me that Daniel, who was spoken of in the scriptures as a man obedient to, and highly favored and esteemed by the Lord, speaks of his nation's sins as if they were his own. He repents for the people and for himself in the same breath. He does not separate himself from the actions of the nation as a whole but includes himself in all they have done. I think this is an amazing example of intercession. Daniel then pleads for mercy on behalf of the nation, imploring the Lord for restoration. He does this with intensity, even fasting and putting on sackcloth and ashes, which was an outward sign of humiliation.

APPLICATION: I want to learn from this example to be a better intercessor. There are people I care about who have turned from God just like Daniel's people had. Though I have endeavored to obey and honor God in my life, I have certainly been a sinner, saved by grace, and can relate to those who are still in sin. But this passage seems to call for me to "take on" the sin of others and pray as if I need to repent and turn as much as they do (in a similar way to what a sinless Jesus did for us; taking on our sins as his own). If doing so, and humbling myself to fast and pray with intensity can cause the grace of God to come to those who need it, it is certainly worth the effort.

PRAYER: Father, give me a heart and a burning desire to discomfort myself enough to truly intercede like Daniel did so that I may see others saved and brought back to you. Answer my prayers for these other precious souls that I love so much. Restore them to yourself and restore them to sweet fellowship with me as well. In Jesus' Name, Amen.