“I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.” Daniel 9:3
What moved Daniel to seek the Lord at this time, and this, in such a deliberate, decisive manner? It was the question of time. Daniel had realized that a “time” had now come. It was time in God’s timing for Him to be sought for the fulfillment of His promises. Daniel had realized after reading in the book of Jeremiah the prophet that there was a limit to the time of the deportation of Israel to Babylon. With the understanding that that time had a certain ending, he discovered that beyond that time God had promised a most remarkable turn around. It would be as Isaiah declared it, a time of consolation, and blessing, a time of returning to the God of the Scriptures, one who was intent to reveal that not only was He just in His decisions and will, but that, there was a limit to judgment. God’s desire was not to destroy Israel, but to save Israel from herself, so that, as she again worshipped Him as the true and living God, and served Him as such, He would be free to manifest Himself in the midst by His word, and the blessedness of His works. His words through the prophet Jeremiah were: “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, tthoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (29:11) Later, as Jeremiah was shut up in prison in Jerusalem, even thought the city was under seige by the very nation that would take them captive, God would give even then words of hope to the people by saying, “Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.” (33:6) God would promise the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the construction of a new temple, and the completion of the wall about the city. But most of all, there would be the promise of the spiritual restoration of the people to God, the revival of their hearts towards God, and the return of the conscious conviction that the new beginning for the nation had begun, and was being realized. This is why Daniel set himself to pray. He saw the promised end to the deportation, but also, the restoration of the nation. He was at that time a captive in Babylon, but his prayers were the effective prayers of a righteous man whose earnest and sincere faith would reach the courts of heaven, where God was upon His throne. Why is this story so very important? God is showing His people that, as He works to reveal His will and purposes to men through the careful study of the Scriptures, that faithful men and women are called upon to seek God, and find Him, for the realization of His word, and the blessings that follow.
The day that the Apostle Peter stood up in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, he declared the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel, one that would have repercussions throughout the entire world. It was the declaration of the realization of the “promise of the Father,” one which would change the world, and see the ushering in of the kingdom of God, and the salvation of thousands of souls, even millions since that day. So, what does Daniel’s prayer mean for the believer today? It means that we are to seek God as Daniel sought God, with the certainty of finding Him, and seeing Him realize the full effect of the promise. The time is now, for the promise has been given and declared to be active in its realization. The question is, “How much of the land has the church possessed of that which has been promised?” How much of the “Spirit” has the individual believer trusted God for, to live by, to walk according to, and have communion with God?” It is time to believe God for His fulness.
Dear Father, Fill us continually today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.