W1 | Developing a Life of Prayer

09 Jul W1 | Developing a Life of Prayer

Posted at 16:53h in August, Topics 2024 by FUSE Jakarta

REFERENCE BIBLE VERSES

Daniel 6:10 (NIV) | “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”

OBJECTIVE

To learn from Daniel who consistently and intentionally prays to connect with God.

CONTENT

Prayer is an essential part of our lives as a Christian. As Christians, we pray to communicate with God and to seek His will in our life. Today we will learn from Daniel on how to develop a life of prayer.

KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER

Daniel is probably famous for how he survived the lion’s den. However, if there is a consistent piece about his life, it is his prayer. Daniel treats prayer time as something important. When we know the importance of a thing or a work, we will cherish, treasure, and value it most. This applies to Daniel in His prayer.
Daniel prays in almost every season of his life. When he’s a teenager, he prays when he is faced with an impossible task given by King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2). In his old days, he prays as he deals with his jealous colleagues (Daniel 6). He is also an all-out that takes his prayer time seriously. It is that important to him that even when he knows that his prayer time will risk his life, Daniel doesn’t cease to pray (Daniel 6:11).
We could make sacrifices for a lot of things, giving up our time, money, and energy for things that we like . But what would you be willing to give up to pray? Let’s learn to have prayer time as our top priority in life just like Daniel.

BE HUMBLE AND CONFESS OUR SINS

We know that Daniel is one of the righteous men in the Bible. However, he does not view himself as sinless. Daniel acknowledges Israel’s sin that landed them in exile, and laments it. This shows how he humbles himself as a part of Israel despite knowing that this is not exactly his fault.
If we read Daniel 9:5-6, Daniel keeps confessing the sins of God’s people (“We have sinned. We have done wrong. We have acted wickedly. We have rebelled. We have turned aside from your commandments. We have not listened to your prophets. We have committed treason. We have not obeyed your voice.”)
Throughout the passage, Daniel acknowledges that Israel has sinned twenty times. There are no rationalizations in his prayer. Daniel is not asking God to excuse Israel’s sin but to forgive Israel’s sin.
We might be prone to justify and rationalize our sin, to ask God to excuse us for what we’ve done, rather than asking him to forgive us for what we’ve done. But Daniel teaches us to mince no words in confession and to be clear before God that we have fallen short of his standards.

HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF ASKING AND WAITING FOR PRAYER’S RESPONSE

When we pray, we tend to communicate our needs to God as this aligns with what Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8 (“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”). As much as it’s true, how we view our God when we pray is also important. Do we pray because we see God as a genie that will grant all our wishes? Do we pray for forgiveness because we overlook God’s love; knowing He will forgive us despite our repentance?
Part of prayer is always waiting for God’s answer. God has three answers to prayers: Yes, no and wait. Yes and no are easy. Waiting, however, it’s tough; because waiting forces us to be on God’s timetable. This doesn’t mean that God is busy, or he doesn’t care / hear us in our prayer. It’s rather proving us of His wisdom and providence throughout His plan that is often beyond our expectation. We need to remember that we can’t see how God’s working, but we can be rest assured that He’s doing something for our good (Romans 8: 28).

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

REFERENCES