The Prayer of Corporate
Repentance
Daniel 9:3-4
“So I
turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and
petition in and fasting and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to
the Lord my God and confessed:”
Scripture
Read
Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:1-21
Study
***Leave
at least five minutes at the end to close in prayer***
This is everyone’s problem
We’ve
discussed the power of prayer of prayer and how we can be
effective in our prayer life. This study looks at a very
practical aspect of prayer – praying for our church. We know of
Daniel’s stand for righteousness even as a youth and away from
his family in a foreign land. If there was anyone who had a
right to say “this isn’t my problem, everyone else sinned” it
was Daniel. But as Daniel prays, he includes himself with the
rest of nation that was under God’s judgment.
There are
problems in every church. Some are small, some are very large.
Sometimes the problems are quite clear, other times they are
hidden; nevertheless, they are real. The problems in our church
are our problems just as much as they are anyone else’s. We may
not have been the one who sinned but it affects the vitality of
our church. And we need to ask God for His forgiveness even
though we may not be the guilty party – just as Daniel was not
the one at fault during his time of confession.
4 parts
Daniel’s
prayer can be broken into 4 parts that are applicable for any
believer to pray as well.
Realize
the sin – verses 4-6
- Wicked
and rebelled
- Turned
away from commands and laws
- Not
listened
React to God’s
righteousness – verses 7-11
Recognize the
punishment – verses 11-14
- The
church does not face the same punishment that Israel did but
just because we are in an era of grace does not mean we go
un-judged. Look at the penalties about which Christ warns the
churches of Revelation 2-3.
Request action
by God – verses 15-19
-
Restoration request - Daniel recognizes that God is still in
control of the situation and that He can still forgive and
restore Israel
- Response
request – Daniel asks that God would look, listen, act, and not
delay.
God Answers
Daniel
requested rapid action by God and he gets it! While he is still
praying Gabriel visits him. Gabriel tells him that “as soon as you
began to pray, an answer was given.” Gabriel goes on to give Daniel
one of the most marvelous prophecies of the Bible. 1 John 1:9 tells
us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” The
passage is in reference to salvation but it applies here as well.
If we recognize our sins and ask God to forgive and restore us, he
will respond.
What does your
church need to repent of? (gossip, lack of faith, failure to
support God’s leaders, poor stewardship of time, talent, & treasure,
unwillingness to live out the Great Commission, etc.)
What can we
expect God’s response to be?
As a
group or individually spend time praying for your church, confessing
the problems you know, recognizing there are probably ones you don’t
know, and asking God restore your church to a proper relationship
with Him.
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