Daniel's prayer of Repentance

Joel 2:18-27

When Daniel prayed for Jerusalem in Daniel 9:1-23, he took ownership of the sins of his people, as if they were his own, shall we explore verses 3-10: “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 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. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our, God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.”

That is not the prayer of a religious man looking down on and blaming others for the state of affairs, and we are told in Scripture in Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”  The LORD has spoken by His servant Joel to call the people to a solemn assembly, and to rend their hearts, or to have a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart.  And verses 18-27 are what only God can do to a nation without hope the LORD had pity on His people.

I believe God in His mercy and love has today set in the heart of His servant Franklin Graham a call to the people of the United States of America who are called by His name, people who go by Christian to solemn assembly.  It is a simple message, “Our nation is in trouble.  Jesus Christ is the only hope.”  Now let me be very clear, a prayer meeting will not change our nation, but if we, that is you and I will repent as Daniel did, if we will take ownership of the sins of our nation, and come with a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, our great and mighty God may have pity on our nation.

The following are words from Franklin Graham; “America’s spiritual and moral foundation is crumbling.  What can we as followers of Jesus Christ do?  We must pray, seek God’s face, and stand firm on His Word.

That’s why we’re bringing the Decision America Tour to each of the 50 states.  I’m going to proclaim the Gospel and challenge Christians to pray fervently and boldly live out their faith in Jesus Christ – at home, in public, and at the ballot box.  Will you join us in this effort?”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice