A Prayer For Revival

A PRAYER FOR REVIVAL

Read Daniel 9:1-19

Read Daniel 9:1-19

We have sinned and done wrong, and acted wickedly and rebelled. Daniel 9:5

There are many prayers for revival in the Old Testament; prayers by Solomon, Ezra, Nehemiah, Habakkuk, the Sons of Korah and others. But no prayer for revival is as glorious as Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:1-19. The old prophet, now in his eighties, is in Babylon in 539 B.C., during the inauguration of a new administration: the rule of Persia under Darius the Mede (Cyrus). Daniel realizes that Jeremiah’s prophecy that had shaped the life of him and his three companions (now probably all dead) was about to be fulfilled. Please read Jeremiah 29:10-14.

So Daniel does what God said he should do: He seeks God’s face in earnest prayer for his own people. What is so wonderfully unique about Daniel’s prayer is the way he shapes his thoughts. He is able to summarize the seventy years of captivity under four grand thoughts.

First, Daniel states that it was the sin and rebellion of God’s people that caused this traumatic captivity. In particular, the people refused to listen to God’s prophets again and again. Their rejection of God’s word became their national sin.

Please notice that Daniel prays in the first person plural: “We” have sinned, done wrong, rebelled, acted wickedly and broken the covenant. Daniel includes himself in that “we.” He personally takes responsibility for the corporate sins of his ancestors: “for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers” (7:16). Daniel does not stand apart from his nation’s sins.

Second, Daniel acknowledges that God has ever and always been faithful to His Covenant. His love, mercy and loyalty to Israel are unquestioned. The Covenant had been broken by the Church but never abrogated by the Church’s God. God is faithful even when His people are not.

Third, Daniel remembers Deuteronomy 28-30 and Moses’ warnings that the Covenant carried with it both blessings and curses. The lawgiver had told the people that someday they would fall to ruin because they spurned the Covenant of Grace. Daniel admits that the people of God got what they deserved. They had been forewarned.

Fourth, Daniel asks God to forgive, revive and restore the people to faith and to return them to Jerusalem and the promised land for one reason: “Delay not for your sake, O My God, because your city and your people are called by your name” (7:19). It is primarily for God’s glory that Daniel asks God to complete His word and fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy. The nations will see it and will honor God for His faithfulness to both His promise and His people.

I used to meet monthly for lunch with the late John Reed Miller, a true churchman and the retired minister of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi. My day for lunch with him was, like clockwork, the third Thursday of every month. And every time I dropped him off at his Belhaven apartment after lunch, he’d take me by the hand and say to me: “Mike, the church will not see revival until the people of God take responsibility for the corporate sins of America.” It was like a mantra––every month the same profound reminder.

How does the Church do this? Look to Daniel’s example. First, humility: We pray not in anger, self-righteousness or frustration about “those dirty pagans.” We pray as broken people who say, “Lord, these are our sins! Why, 78% of all abortions are by Church people. Racism is rife in our congregations. Our marriages end in divorces by the same percentage as the world. We have sinned with our fathers and with our neighbors.”

Second, we intercede for our people. We ask for forgiveness, for reviving, for reformation, for restoration to favor and for a release from captivity to our culture. We ask God to deliver our double-minded souls from the things we love about Babylon.

Finally, we ask God to refine and repolish His glory in us. His name we have drug through the American mud, especially for the last 70 years since the Roaring Twenties. It is time, we think, for God to rise up and reclaim His honor in our land, the honor we sacrificed to the gods of this age.

“The Church will not see revival until the people of God take responsibility for the corporate sins of America,” and until it begins to pray for America like Daniel prayed for Israel.

PRAYING FOR THE PCA

CEP: Pray that God will enable CEP to continue to help churches develop a strong PCA men’s ministry.

CC: Pray for the continued safety and security of our campus, especially with so muchcampus violence in the past few years around the country.

MNA: Pray for Leadership and Ministry Preparation (LAMP), led by Brian Kelso, for their learning sites and for the students and their families as God continues to move them through the LAMP program.

PCAF: Pray for the PCA Foundation’s Board of Directors, that their focus will continue to be on helping to financially support God’s Kingdom.

RH: The continuation of Ridge Haven’s services depends on the number of people we serve. Just as an increase allows us to expand ministries and services, so also do decreases hinder our ability to maintain equipment, facilities and sufficient staff to do the job. Pray that all will be done in such a way as to bring all glory and honor to the Lord.