Daniel's Pattern Of Prayer
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles Tags: Bible Lessons on PrayerIf we’re Christians, we’ve probably heard the story about the 85-year-old man who was arrested for praying. Who was he you ask?
He’s the Jewish resident by the name of Daniel. He was sentenced to death for faithfully talking to God (cf. Daniel 6:1-28). Although the prayer that sent Daniel into the lions den is his most famous talk with God (Daniel 6:11), it isn’t the only time we see him praying.
In Daniel 9:3-19, we read an example of how Daniel prayed. He had been reading in his scroll of Jeremiah that the captivity of his people would last 70 years, and the people were 67 years into the exile (cf. Daniel 9:2; Jeremiah 25:8-11).
God had called His people to live righteously, but they weren’t doing that. Daniel decided to live righteously despite their lack of faith. He began to pray that God would not delay the end of the captivity (Daniel 9:16-19).
As he prayed, Daniel focused on worship and confession. His pattern of prayer gives us an important insight into talking to God. We are to recognize that God is “great and awesome” (Daniel 9:4) and that “we have sinned” (Daniel 9:15). In prayer, we offer our praise and confess our sins (Daniel 9:4-7).
Let’s follow Daniel’s pattern of prayer. To him, prayer was just as vital as life itself.