Burdened For the World

Daniel’s prayer and praise in Daniel, chapter 9:1-19, convict me. There are several key elements in this approximately three-minute prayer to which my attention was drawn.

First, Daniel may have intended to be long-winded, but God sent an answer while he was still praying. In verse 21 Daniel tells us, “while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, who I had seen in the vision previously, came to me . . .” I often think I’m not praying enough meaning my prayers are too short. However, God heard Daniel and responded quickly. One commentator suggested that God heard Daniel right away and it took Gabriel three minutes to get to him. Or, the commentator suggests Gabriel got there right away but stood by, shifting from one foot to the other, waiting for Daniel to notice him. Either way, God sent His answer quickly, not after long hours of prayer as I often suppose has to happen.

Second, Daniel prayed with understanding and earnestness. Verse 3 says, “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” He also started off with praise and confession. Verses 4-5 say,

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.’

Notice, he included himself in the confession. There is no record of Daniel’s sin in the Bible, but from his own mouth we know he sinned. He was pleading on Israel’s and his own behalf for forgiveness. However, I noticed that throughout the prayer, he acknowledged God’s character and promises. He acknowledged how they had sinned against all the commandments that God had provided them through His ordinances and through the prophets. They had rebelled in spite of God’s goodness.

And, third, Daniel’s heart was burdened for all the people and for God’s glory to be highlighted. My heart is now sufficiently burdened for mankind and that the glory of God, through the sacrificial act of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection, be made known throughout the world – starting with me wherever I go and whomever I talk to. I also need to pray and keep in mind that it’s all for God’s glory. We are made for Him, not Him for us. We should be about the business of God, proclaiming Him and loving in His name. If I’m truly burdened for the world, I need to take every opportunity to share Christ, as He is the only hope in the world and through Him we learn to give God all the glory and praise we can. No matter how much we acknowledge God and point others to Him, it is not enough. He deserves so much more than we can humanly give Him. Being burdened for the world (our sin included) and trying to bring glory to God go hand-in-hand. Keeping both those perspectives in mind allows us to know true joy and peace.