Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” Daniel 9:19 (NIV).
This part of the prayer seems pretty cheeky. It’s as if Daniel is trying to command God to listen, forgive, hear, and act on behalf of people who he (Daniel) had just said aren’t righteous and don’t deserve to have their God listen, hear, and act for them.
Or…
…Or it could be that Daniel is effusive in his imploring God to act because only God could take the kind of bold action that desperate Israel needed. That seems more likely, given the penitent context of the rest of the prayer. Daniel is prostrate before God, having confessed his (and his peoples’) sin and unrighteousness. He knows he has nowhere else to go, and he’s desperate for the salvation and redemption that only God can give. God had chosen this tribe of Israel to represent Him in the world, and Israel had failed Him. Yet Daniel knew God was, above all else, merciful and forgiving. So, Daniel emotionally, enthusiastically prays to that same God to take action because of who God is and what He promised to His people.
That’s a good kind of prayer. It’s a great thing to hit your knees and realize that you have nowhere else to go but to Jesus. When you do that, you are in the presence of the One at whose feet all must fall. You have on your side the holy Savior who rose from the garden tomb and redeemed the world. Nothing is impossible for Him; nothing is out of His control or His view. When you accept and repent your sins to Jesus, you’re where you need to be, where you’ve needed to be all along.
And when that happens, your possibilities become endless. In Jesus alone, there is both peace and boldness, forgiveness and hope.
But don’t go getting the big head because of it. You’re there because you’re a sinner and you’ve realized you desperately need Jesus. You finally see that this same Jesus has been relentlessly pursuing you, providing for you, nudging you to recognize that He is the solution to your woes. All He asks is that you trust Him, believe in Him. Doing that shows your sin to you, and something inside you changes. As they said in the excellent TV series, “The Chosen”, “I was one way, but now I’m completely different. And the thing that happened in-between was Him.”
If that’s cheeky, we need more of it. Be bold in Jesus.
For further reading: 1 Samuel 12:22, Psalm 44:23, Daniel 9:20
Lord and Savior Jesus, embolden me to do Your bidding today, using the talents You give me to do Your work today.
If you’d like to know more about Practical Proverbials, please contact aspiringwriterdt@gmail.com for more information
Practical Proverbs 