OUR DAILY BREAD : AN OLD MAN'S PRAYER

[cimi]

November 28
Wednesday



AN OLD
MAN'S PRAYER

READ:
Daniel 9:3-19
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I set my face toward
the Lord God to make
request by prayer and
supplications.
__ Daniel 9:3
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Have you heard the story about the 85-year-old man who was arrested for praying?

You probably have. That's the story of Daniel, an elderly Jewish resident in Babylon sentenced to death for faithfully tallking to God (Dan. 6).

Although the prayer that sent Daniel to the lions' den is his most famous talk with God (6:11), it wasn't the ony time we see him in prayer.

In Daniel 9, we read an example of how he prayed. Daniel had been reading in his scroll of Jeremiah that the captivity of his people would last 70 years, and the people were 67 years into the exile (Jer. 25:8-11). He was eager for it to end.

God had called His people to live righteously, but they weren't doing that. Daniel decided to live righteously despite their lack of faith. He began to pray that God would not delay the end of the captivity.

As he prayed, Daniel focused on worship and confession. His pattern of prayer gives us an important insight into talking to God. We are to recognize that God is "great and awesome" (v.4) and that "we have sinned" v.15). In prayer, we praise and confess.

Let's follow Daniel's lead. To him, prayer was as vital as life itsself. __ Dave Branon
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If you'd like help in learning to pray, read
Jesus' Blueprint For Prayer, a practical treatment of
"The Lord's Prayer" in Matthew 6.
Visit discoveryseries
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No one stands as tall as a Christian on his knees.