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May 19, 2021
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July 6, 2021
Holy Prayers In Desolate Lands
By Pastor Vinnie
How long do you pray for others?
Does how long you pray matter? I know that on the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said not to pray with vain repetition[i] but I am not talking ritualistic prayers but rather a long-haul duration of praying for victory to break through. What I mean is, do you give up too easily? Could it be that we never see the miracle God wants to give us simply because right before he is about to grant it, we stop seeking his solution? Maybe we are right before the miracle.
I guess we could say, you snooze, you lose. If you were praying for your own needs, then giving up to soon only hurts you, right? But what if you were praying for someone else? Imagine you had been praying for a loved one, a co-worker, a friend – to find Jesus, and just when their heart was softened, just when they were about to break down and give it all to Jesus, you stopped praying.
I mean, sure, it is not all on you. You can’t pray someone else into repentance. This is true. Free will is real and sooner or later everyone must choose to yield to God’s call to repentance on their own heart. When we pray for someone else to come to repentance, or to make a faith step forward, what we are really asking is for the Holy Spirit to convict them of the need for the miracle of regeneration in their heart.
Daniel’s prayer in the book of Daniel chapter nine is the perfect model prayer when we are actively called to pray for the eternal fate of someone else. What is most striking about this prayer is that Daniel is praying for his nation Israel who had been in captivity for close to 70 years. Yet during this time, they had not made the heart changes that God had sent them to Babylon to have changed.
Israel had become exceedingly wicked, their sins included robbing widows and orphans, and even child sacrifice. They had zero connection with God when Jerusalem was sacked by Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the city and temple and carried off all the nobility to be imprisoned in Babylon. Daniel was just a little boy when he had been captured and carried off to Babylon. What I find amazing, is he himself was not a part of their sin, he was too young to have been a partaker. Even in Babylon, he remained incredibly faithful to YHWH. Don’t get me wrong, Daniel was human like the rest of us and also suffered from the plight of the fallen human nature. The point I am making is that the bleak situation Israel found itself in was not contributed to by Daniel himself; yet as a member of the nation, he owned responsibility.
In Daniel chapter nine, we find an aged, tired, old man version of Daniel humbly praying for his nation, as if their sin had been his direct sin. Perhaps what makes his prayer so powerful is his realization that his own spiritual condition mirrors theirs at least in nature! It was not that Daniel could, nor would, repent of their sin for them, but rather he is identifying with their plight. For seventy years, Daniel went to his window at night, bowed towards the Holy City in ruins, and begged God to forgive their sins and to impress true and character-changing repentance on the nation’s spirit.
Daniel prayed, labored, identified, even though the sin was not his, because he loved his people so much. Do we love enough when we pray? Is our heart in it? Are we praying like our family, our nation, our life depends on it? Are we bringing our hearts into unity with God’s mind and will for those whom we seek to find repentance?
We need to pray like any moment might be the moment before the miracle. Read and meditate upon Daniel’s prayer:
“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:
“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” Daniel 9:4-20
For seventy years Daniel had prayed this same prayer. What Daniel sought was the repentance of his nation, the rebuilding of his nation, the restorations of all things Israel. Daniel’s motivation informed what he prayed. For your sake, Lord, he prayed. The destroyed nation and city bears your name Lord!
You see, Daniel was not just praying for what Daniel wanted. Daniel was not just praying for what was best for Israel. Daniel was actually praying for YHWH’s name to be restored in his nation. Daniel wanted the nations to see YHWH in them.
When we pray long-haul prayers for loved ones to repent, to find God, to be saved – are we willing to endure 70 years if that is what it takes? More importantly, are we still praying just so our loved one makes it into the Kingdom? Or are praying that the Kingdom makes it into to our loved one? Daniel does not just want Israel to be free. Daniel wants YHWH’s name to restored and glorified because God’s people have sullied it and made it desolate in the Holy Place.
Those we pray for are Holy Places. At least, they were meant to be Holy Places. We likely see the Holy Place inside them looking to be restored. YHWH, The Lord, Jesus, wants his name restored on them. We are the city, we are Jerusalem. We are the city set upon the hill. We are praying that for God’s own sake His name will be vindicated in the desolate places of all whom we pray for.
Maybe our prayers won’t need to be 70 years long, if, instead of only praying for repentance of those we seek to see saved, we pray for God’s sake they become Holy Cities and Temples that show the world YHWH’s glory!
While Daniel was still praying just that; the Angle Gabriel appears to give him answers;
“As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision.” Daniel 9:23
Even when the land looked desolate, the answer was sent out. Seek the restoration of the Name of Jesus when you seek to see the lost be found.
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Footnotes:
[i] Matthew 6:7
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