How Daniel prayed in the Bible

"Daniel went into his house; and his windows open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." (Daniel 6:10). Public prayer will be of little avail apart from private prayer. Hence the consideration of the essentials of private prayer cannot fail to be helpful. One often feels in the matter of private prayer, as the priests of Baal must have felt when confronted with Elijah's test narrated in the 18th Chapter of the second book of Kings. We are sometimes tempted to think that our God has forgotten our existence and that he has no ears. But the lack of answer may be due to our neglecting the essentials which cause the fervent prayer of a righteous man to avail. (James 5:16). There were four noteworthy points about Daniel's prayers. (1) "He went into his house." The symbolic teaching of this statement is that we must withdraw ourselves from the pressure of worldly cares. How often we have formally sought to approach God in prayer with our minds working on our business and other secular matters! (2) "His windows were open in his chamber." The lesson we may draw from this is that our souls should be open. The inertia of spiritual training may keep us saying very correct things in prayer after the spiritual stimulus has vanished. A fly-wheel will run long after the power has been cut off. But we cannot get near God with closed souls. (3) The third point about Daniel's prayer was that his windows were open toward Jerusalem. Doubtless Daniel was considered a crank by everybody. People might have said "Daniel why do you look to Jerusalem? Jerusalem is a defenceless ruin; little better than a rubbish heap; inhabited by the poor, the pariahs of civilisation. Look at great Babylon; the pride of the nations; the wonder of the world; a city in which you are honoured. Why do you not regard Babylon?" Daniel was controlled by the unseen. He looked for a city which had foundations whose arcnitect is God. Sso in the anticipation of the advent of the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2) we have a stimulus for earnest private prayer. That city is not in stone and lime as the ancient city was, but is a community of souls made meet to be the bride of the Lamb. Jerusalem means the possession of peace and we can have little stability unless peace reigns in the soul. (4) The fourth point is that Daniel prayed as he had done aforetime, that is, for seventy years. What encouragement to those whose hands tend to hang down! There was Daniel persevering not for a year merely but for seventy years, i.e., from boyhood to hoary age praying thrice a day for scattered Israel. There was little evidence of restoration of the kingdom. Yet he kept his eye steadily fixed on Jesusalem in spite of all the blandishments of Chaldea and Media. He had the mind of God as to the instability of all the pomp and splendour which was round about him. May we then seek to be like Daniel in having our souls closed to the world, open towards God, controlled by the unseen more than the seen and marked by steadfastness in prayer. (Acts 2:42). "Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Gal. 6:9). "The husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain." (James 5:7).

(V. 10). Daniel is evidently aware of all that is taking place and yet apparently he makes no charge against these wicked men, nor does he seek to defend himself. His faith is in God (verse 23), not in himself or his own efforts. His part is simply to obey God and leave the results with Him. Consequently, he goes to his house and, as usual, he prays towards Jerusalem three times a day, the windows of his house being open. In all this there is no ostentation; he simply acts "as he did aforetime." Having been in the habit of praying in this open way, suddenly to close the windows and pray in secret would have been interpreted by all Babylon as cowardice, or acquiescence in the decree. In the midst of that idolatrous city Daniel had borne a public witness to the true God. He was not a secret disciple. To obey the decree would involve the transgression of the first commandment. Moreover, the word of God gave Daniel plain directions for the circumstances in which he found himself. Solomon's prayer, at the dedication of the Temple, anticipated his difficulties. "If," said King Solomon, "they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives … and pray to Thee toward their land, which Thou gavest to their fathers, the city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for Thy name: then hear Thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven Thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause" (1 Kings 8:46-49). Such was Solomon's prayer, and God accepted his prayer, for the Lord said, "I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before Me" (1 Kings 9:3). In faith in God, Daniel acted according to the word of God. He refused to make any compromise. The carnal mind might suggest, Why not close the window and pray in secret? Refusing any such compromise, he prayed, "his window being open." But if he must pray with his window open, why select a front room facing towards the street? Without hesitation he prayed "in his chamber toward Jerusalem." But if he must pray with an open window toward Jerusalem, why need he go down on his knees; could he not assume some other attitude that would not call attention to the fact that he was praying? No, Daniel will not give up the right attitude toward God; "he kneeled upon his knees." If, then, he is so very strict that he must pray with his windows open, looking toward Jerusalem and kneeling upon his knees, what need is there for doing it "three times a day"? Surely he could pray early in the morning before anyone is abroad, or late in the evening after everyone has retired? Indeed, could he not for these thirty days give up praying by day and pray by night instead? God can see and hear in the dark. No such suggestions influence Daniel: he prays three times, and in the day. And though he is in captivity, and surrounded by those who are plotting for his life, he finds occasion to "give thanks," as well as to pray. Moreover, he prays and gives thanks "before his God." Men may see him praying, but it is before God, not men, that he prays. This was no new thing with Daniel. It was not something that he suddenly commenced in a fit of religious zeal for his God, or in defiant opposition to the king's decree; it was the continuance of his usual ways — "as he did aforetime."

In this chapter God reveals to us the secret of his power and of his faithfulness, it was his private life in prayer that was never hindered. Upon hearing the king's command he "prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime". It was not a sudden burst of energy in prayer because the circumstances were difficult and his life was in danger, it was his continual practice. It was not something that was forced upon him, it was his joy. My dear friends, what a wonderful way to view prayer life, to see the settled disposition of Daniel, praying three times a day. I am perfectly sure that Daniel allowed nothing to interfere with the moments when he bowed his knees in prayer before his God. He was a great man, he had great responsibilities in administration and yet he could find time, three times a day, in settled portions to pray. We do not know how long, but he did it, it was his settled life, praying, praying, praying. We will consider later the substance of his prayers.

From the beginning of the chapter {Dan 9:2} we learn how unfounded it is to wait till a prophecy is fulfilled before profiting by it. This did not Daniel, who understood, not by a special intimation to himself but "by books," the number of the years whereof the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet. Himself a prophet too, he shows us the importance of weighing the prophetic word already given. Babylon was taken punctually: were not the same seventy years to issue in the return of the Jews from captivity? No sign of this favor of God had yet been given, save so far as the fall of the captor city might be its earnest. Daniel, not doubting but believing, sets his face to the Lord Jehovah to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Such was the effect on one who judged the present in the light of the word and of prophecy among the rest: not occupation with political speculation, but confession and humiliation and intercession before God. Daniel identifies himself with all Israel. "And I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him; and to them that keep his commandments, we have sinned and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments; neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets which spoke in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land." There is thorough vindication of the Lord and condemnation of all Israel (Dan. 9:7-8). There is a pleading of His mercy and forgiveness (Dan. 9:9), but a renewed acknowledgment of disobedience and transgression on the part of all Israel, to which the curse written in Moses, under which they were groaning, is imputed (Dan. 9:10-12). It is owned that, though the Lord had smitten them, they had not entreated His face that they might turn from their iniquities and understand His truth (impossible otherwise); and therefore the Lord could but watch to inflict more and more (Dan. 9:13-14). Reminding the Lord of His mighty dealings for Israel from the beginning, the prophet renews his confession but beseeches that His anger and fury be turned away from Jerusalem, and this to the removal of the burden and reproach of their sins (Dan. 9:15-16), and begs in answer to his own prayer that His face may shine on that long desolate sanctuary, and His eyes may behold their desolations and the city called by His name for His great mercies' sake (Dan. 9:17-18), winding all up with a succession of most brief and earnest appeals. "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name" (Dan. 9:19).

Chapter 9 shows us Daniel again in prayer, and deep humiliation before God, on account of the sins and transgressions of His people. "In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed to the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts, and from thy judgments" "Now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. O Lord. hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name" (Dan. 9:2-5, 17-19). Nothing could exceed the moral beauty of this prayer. I beg you to read it all carefully. The man who is most clear of the sins confessed, is the one who confesses them most really to God. The sins of all Israel he owns as his; and while speaking in prayer is visited by Gabriel, and sweetly instructed as to Israel's full restoration (see Dan. 9:21-27). He really eats the sin-offering before God.

Had we been in his place we might have felt greatly exhilarated by the discovery, and inclined to have a time of jubilation. But it was not thus with Daniel; but rather the exact opposite. He was moved to fasting, humiliation, confession and prayer, realizing the great sin of his people which had brought all this judgment upon them. This we see, if verses 4-19 of our chapter be read. He utterly condemned himself as identified with his people, and he vindicated God in His judgments, proclaiming His righteousness in all He had done.

These words of Daniel should be deeply pondered by each of us. Nowhere in the Bible do we find a finer example of thorough-going confession and prayer, though Ezra's prayer recorded in Ezra 9 closely resembles it. He made no allusion to the covenant of promise made with Abraham, but placed himself before God on the basis of the covenant of the law of Moses, and the subsequent ministry through the prophets. As to this he confessed complete breakdown and disaster, though personally he was less implicated in it than any in his day.

The two prominent features of Daniel's supplications are confession and the justification of God in what He had done in His dealings with His people. In the address to God in verse 4, he lays. the basis for justifying God. He says, "O Lord,* the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments." God could not fail in keeping His covenant with His people, and hence the conduct of the people themselves must have been the cause of all the chastisement by which they had been overtaken. And it is this sinful conduct which Daniel now proceeded to specify. "We," he says, "have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments (v. 5). He offers no palliation of, nor does he seek to extenuate, the enormity of the guilt of his people; but in every variety of expression makes the fullest confession of their manifold transgressions. They had aggravated their sin, moreover, by refusing to listen to the prophets whom God, in His long-suffering and tender mercy, had sent to their kings, their princes, their fathers, and to all the people of the land (v. 6). The guilt lay alike upon every class. As a consequence, and this Daniel owns, righteousness in His ways with His people, belonged to the Lord, but confusion of face "to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither Thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee" (v. 7).

The things that mark true confession come clearly to light here. The evil is acknowledged without any attempt at excuse or extenuation. The rightness of God's judgments and discipline are fully acknowledged, and the plea that God would grant deliverance, according to His word, is urged, 'not … for our righteousnesses, but for Thy great mercies'. Let us cultivate these excellent features in our day. We too can ask for nothing on the ground of merit, but only on the ground of mercy. As we contemplate the state of Christendom today, and of our own state too, let us cultivate the spirit of humble confession that marked Daniel.

Feeling his inability to understand the times of which the Spirit of God had spoken in vison and prophecy, Daniel set his face to the Lord God to seek instruction therein by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Earnestly he confessed his sin and that of his people, including in his confession not only the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but also the ten tribes of Israel scattered near and far (Dan. 9:4-19).

Turning to the book of Daniel we read, "In the first year of his reign" (that of Darius) "I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes," etc. (Daniel 9:2-3.) God had spoken the word concerning, and provided the instruments for, the restoration of His people; and yet what do we find? That one of the captives, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away to Babylon, the prophet Daniel, had discovered, not by any special revelation. but by patient study of the writings of Jeremiah, that God had fixed the period of seventy years for "the desolations of Jerusalem."

Thereon, grounding himself upon this infallible word, he gave himself to prayer and fasting, humbling himself before God, confessing the sins of his people, and making supplication for the fulfilment of His own word. "O Lord," he said, "according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake." (vv. 16, 17.) Thus Daniel, identifying himself with the state of his people, and in communion with the mind of God, had the unspeakable privilege of becoming an intercessor for Israel, and for the fulfilment of the promises of God. His prayer was heard (vv. 21-27); and we thereby learn that God in His grace permits His people to enter into His own thoughts, and to be associated with Himself in the accomplishment of His counsels for His own glory.