Daniel: Praying the Purpose of God

I began preaching again a few weeks ago on "Praying the Purpose of God." I am preaching this series from the book of Daniel. My principal text is Daniel 9 where the prophet prayed the prayer of confession after he discerned by reading Jeremiah 29 that time had come for Israel's exile to end and the desolations of Jerusalem to be finished. Daniel realized that the time for fulfillment had come, but he also understood that God works through the prayers of His people. So, Daniel began to pray the purpose of God into existence. However, another thing happened. The angel came and showed Daniel that Seventy Weeks had been determined upon his people, and that the exile would not end for another 490 years. Of course, Paul then tells us that this fulfillment has one more stage of fulfillment in the fullness of the Gentiles being gathered in unto the resurrection of the dead and the Second Coming (Romans 11; I Corinthians 15). So, I have been preaching about the role that prayer plays in the realization of the purpose of God.

The main thing I have been trying to communicate is that prayer should flow out of a passion for purpose rather than an obligation or duty that we must discharge to be faithful as Christians. And as I go back to the matter of praying the purpose of God, I must spend some time talking about destiny and purpose. I must talk about how Daniel understood as well as anyone how to live out the purpose of God buy allowing the glory of God to rest upon us as we live in everyday life.

The point that I feel to emphasize is how Daniel acted while waiting for the fulfillment of God's promises concerning the end of exile. Daniel did not retreat into a cave somewhere while he awaited the end of exile. No, Daniel went to work in the world he in which lived as a faithful child of God while praying for the purpose of God to be fulfilled. We must do the same while waiting for the end of exile in the Second Coming.

The point that I feel to emphasize tonight is that Daniel thought he was living in the last days until he received the vision of the Seventy Weeks. So, the point is this: what did Daniel do while he thought he was living in the last days? He entered into the world and rose to prominence through excellence—and he prayed!

Daniel learned how to "excel" in the world without becoming a part of the world. He had an excellent spirit; he went to the king's university while refusing to eat the king's meat. He worked in the government while refusing to allow anyone to stop his prayers. He was willing to go to the lion's den, but he would not stop praying. He was willing rather to die than to stop praying! Why? Because he understood the role that his prayers were playing in the fulfillment of the purpose of God! If he had seen prayer only as a matter of indulging his private desires, he could have been persuaded to go a day without prayer. But Daniel saw prayer as the means of fulfilling the purpose of God.

We must do the same. I am persuaded that too many of us fail to pray because we do not understand the role that prayer plays in the fulfillment of God's purpose in our lives, and thus, through us, in the entire earth. If we can see prayer as the means for the fulfillment of our own destiny, then we will pray! We must first of all be caught up in a passion for the purpose of God. Then, we must allow that purpose to be realized through our prayers.

We must be willing to go into all the world, into all the cosmos without allowing the world to go all the way into us. We must be willing to serve the kings of the earth, but we must know where to draw the line. We must refuse to eat the king's meat. We must refuse to worship idols. And we must refuse to stop praying. We must "understand by books" the vision that God has for us and His purpose for us and His church. Then, we must pray this purpose into existence as we work out the will of God and the glory of God settles down upon us as we live out the anointed, glorified destiny of the church. It is our destiny to be glorified. So, we must anticipate that destiny now, as we work, live and play in the world around us. We must share in the glory of God in everything we do so that we may bear the image and share the glory of God before the world. We must, as Daniel, pray the purpose of God into existence.

The one thing that stands out to me was the fact that the passage from Jeremiah that Daniel was reading in Daniel 9 was the passage where God tells Israel that He knows the plans He has for them, plans for good and not for evil, plans for a future and a hope. When Daniel read these words, he knew that he must pray them into existence. God knows the plans that He has for you; but you must pray them in! We cannot simply sit idly by while we wait for the purpose of God to be fulfilled. We must pray it in.

Daniel and his friends passed three tests: they refused to assimilate by eating the king's meat; they refused to worship idols; they refused to stop praying to their God. They were willing to serve in the world and excel in their roles, but they were not willing to compromise their commitment as Christians. The thing I feel to drive home to our church is that God has a purpose for every one of us. And this purpose can only come to pass in our life as we imitate Daniel and seek to excel so that the glory of God may rest upon us. Moreover, we must seek the purpose of God "by the book" so we can develop a passion for purpose that drives us to prayer as Daniel prayed. Christians are called to preach the gospel in all the world, which is all the cosmos. We must take the gospel into every strata of society. We must not hesitate to excel in everything. We must not allow our attitudes toward the Second Coming to paralyze us as we await His coming. If we are living in the end, then we must live as Daniel lived, and we must pray as Daniel prayed.