A Prayer for His People

by Pat Hackney

One of my favorite characters in the Old Testament is the prophet Daniel. He was a man of prayer who loved God and who loved his country. In Daniel chapter nine verse three through verse nineteen is his fervent prayer that God will indeed bless and restore Israel. It is in this prayer that Daniel confesses the sins of Israel. He addresses God as �the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and who shows mercy to those who love Him and who keep His commandments� ( Daniel 9:4).

We notice that he includes himself as a partaker of the sins of the people when he says: �we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments� ( Daniel 9:5). Yet, we know Daniel to be a righteous man. Why would he include himself in this prayer? Perhaps it was because he was an Israelite and he wanted God to restore his country as it once was.

Brothers and sisters we live in a great and powerful nation. But our country has fallen away from God. Any time that you turn on the TV you can see just how far away from God we have traveled. Since abortion became legal some 18 million babies have been killed. We, like ancient Israel, have rebelled against God and transgressed His laws.

We, too, like Daniel need to be praying for our country. We need to pray for God�s mercy and for our country to be restored as it once was. It may not be too late if we can only do as Daniel did and realize that God will hear our prayers, our fervent prayers: �O Lord hear! O Lord, forgive!� O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people called by Your name� ( Daniel 9:19).

• How Often Do You Pray? -Sep 07, 2008
• Jesus Prayed for Me -Jun 29, 2008
• We Need Prayer Day - don't you think so? -Nov 11, 2007
• How Are We Communicating? -Apr 01, 2007
• Prayer -Oct 01, 2006