Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning, we want to begin with the first few words of Daniel 9:4...

Congregation, how’s your prayer life?

Pastor Campbell, how’s your prayer life?

How long has it been since you talked with the Lord

And told him your heart's hidden secrets

How long since you prayed how long since you stayed

On your knees till the light shone through

How long has it been since your mind felt at ease

How long since your heart knew no burden

Can you call him your friend how long has it been since you knew that he cared for you

Or do we need to ask the Lord, as the disciples did in Luke 11:1:

As we have already seen, Daniel was a man of prayer.

Prayer is a very personal

endeavor.

And yet, God allows us a peak into the prayer life of Daniel .

Why?

It should be our desire to be men and women of prayer.

It should be our desire that South Charlotte Baptist Church be a praying church!

The early church in the book of Acts was a praying church.

We should be a praying church.

Prayer has been defined in many ways.

I believe that most definitions of prayer are deficient in one way or another because prayer deals with an individual’s relationship with the Lord.

Evangelist Rich Tozour recently recommended to me a book entitled simply, “Prayer.”

In the book, the author, Ole Hallesby, a Norwegian preacher from the 19th century, said...

“To pray is nothing more involved than to lie in the sunshine of His grace, to expose our distress of body and soul to those healing rays which can in a wonderful way counteract and render ineffective the bacteria of sin.

To be a man or woman of prayer is to take this sun-cure, to give Jesus, with His wonder-working power, access to our distress night and day.”

“Prayer therefore consists simply in telling God day by day in what ways we feel that we are helpless.

We are moved to pray every time the Spirit of God which is the spirit of prayer, emphasizes anew to us our helplessness, and we realize how impotent we are by nature to believe, to love, to hope, to serve, to sacrifice, to suffer, to read the Bible to pray and to struggle against our sinful desires.”

The prayer that we read here in Daniel chapter 9 is Daniel’s heartbroken response to the sins of his people.

Although prayer cannot be boiled down to a simple “formula,”there are aspects of prayer that we can see in this prayer of Daniel that can challenge us as we pray because if we are not careful, our prayer time can become merely a time where we say, “God, have a seat while I give You my Christmas list of what I ‘need.’”

Adoration

Adoration is the act of paying honor to God.

It is worship that is paid to God for Who He is.

Daniel didn’t just barge into the presence of God.

He came humbly realizing that he was not worthy to be in God’s presence but that God was worthy of all!

To help us realize the significance of this, we simply need to look at

If an earthly king is worthy of that kind of honor and respect surely it should be easy for us to understand and realize that God Almighty is worthy of all the adoration that we can offer Him?!?!

We see Daniel’s adoration of God throughout his prayer:

The amazing fact of the matter, though, is that although we are not worthy to enter the presence of God, He invites us to come into His presence.

Confession

A vast majority of Daniel’s prayer is made up of confession.

Confession is simply agreeing with God.

Notice what Daniel agreed with God about:

They had departed from God’s Word.

(vs.

5)

They had not listened to the Word of God spoken by the prophets.

(vs.

6)

They had trespassed God’s law.

(vs.

7)

They had rebelled against God.

(vs.

9)

They did not obey God’s voice.

(vs.

10)

They did not walk in God’s law.

(vs.

10)

They had transgressed God’s law.

(vs.

11)

Do we confess or do we make excuses?

Daniel didn’t make excuses for sin.

Instead he said, “God, you are completely justified in the judgement that you have brought upon us!”

Turn to and read Daniel 9:11-14.

Turn to and read Leviticus 26:1-14; 27-39.

When we pray, do we make excuses for our sins like Adam did in

Don’t make excuses.

Don’t try to justify.

Simply confess.

Thanksgiving

We do not live in a thankful society.

Don’t believe me?

The next time you have the opportunity, hold the door open for people and see how many actually say, “Thank you.”

Daniel pauses for a moment to give thanks, “God, you brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand!”

When you pray, are you thankful or is it always “gimme, gimme, gimme?”

At the end of the service, at the very least, we should all bow the need before God and say, “Thank You!”

Supplication

Supplication is the act of asking but it includes the attitude of humility.

When you pray, do you humbly make your requests known to God or do you make demands of God?

Notice the requests that Daniel makes:

God, turn your anger and fury away from Jerusalem.

(vs.

16)

God, cause thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary.

(vs.

17)

God, hear our prayers.

(vs.

18)

God, forgive us.

(vs.

19)

But here is an important point.

Why did Daniel make these requests?

Daniel begged, “God, please do these things for your sake…not for ours!

When we pray; when we make our requests know unto God, is it for our benefit or for God’s?

Could it be that our prayers are sometimes not answered because we are asking, not for God’s sake, but for ours?

We should desire to be men and women of prayer.

We should desire that South Charlotte Baptist Church be known as a praying church.

This morning, do you need to humbly come before God and adore Him?

Have you been justifying yourself to God?

This morning do you simply need to confess - to agree with God about the sin in your life?

Are you thankful or demanding?

This morning, do you simply need to come to God and say, “Thank you?”

Have you been asking for the wrong reasons?

Maybe this morning you need to come and pray...

Let’s pray!