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Are you a praying person? There are so many different ways we can pray. I remember back in youth group days, we had a prayer time called “popcorn prayer”. This was a time of prayer when anyone could jump in a pray a quick prayer for whatever was on their heart. Of course God hears these types of prayers and any quick prayers we say as we face dilemmas during our days. But, are you a praying person like Daniel?

In the book of Daniel, we find that Daniel had a regular prayer habit. He could be found praying three times a day (which ultimately led him to the lion’s den). His prayer is what we read today in chapter 9:1-19. The prayer in this chapter is far more detailed and inspired from the Word of God than my “popcorn prayers” were back in the day.

Sometimes our prayers flow from our own feelings and emotions at that moment. But, when we look at Daniel’s prayer, we see that his prayer flows from spending time in God’s Word. While Daniel was reading God’s word in the book of Jeremiah, he realized that what he was reading was just about to be fulfilled. The 70 years serving the king of Babylon was almost completed.

This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. “Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the Lord. “I will make the country of the Babylonians a wasteland forever.
Jeremiah 25:11-12

Because Daniel believed they are about to be punished, he prays. He prays much more than a one sentence “popcorn prayer.” Daniel prays in earnest for his people. He prays that God would forgive the people. He puts himself in the place of all the people and pleads with God to intercede.

Daniel puts himself in the middle of the nation’s sin. He does not put the sin on all the other people, he includes himself in the sin.

But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.
Daniel 9:5

To pray like Daniel prayed, we must take the sin of others upon ourself. Daniel was a righteous man who lived without compromise. Even so, he put others’ sins upon himself and asked God for forgiveness. This is costly for Daniel. He feels the grief. He is overwhelmed with the burden. He is humbled before God. He intercedes for the sins of the people.

Praying to God in any form is a good thing. God loves to hear the cries of His people. Sometimes, the word Jesus is all we can mutter and God hears us. Interceding for others takes time in God’s Word and time on our knees. This type of prayer is humble. May we take more time to intercede for others and be on our knees in prayer for those around us, just as Daniel did.

Today’s reading is on Psalm 141.

Our church has recently been discussing Titus, and the role & necessity of leaders in the church to teach sound doctrine, and reproach and correct those in the church not displaying godly behavior. The importance of such is described in Titus 2:11-14: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” We seek to renounce & repent from sin, that we may be ready for Christ to come again and claim us as his own, and to do good works in His name whole heartedly.

This need for rebuking and correcting in order to walk just and upright in the grace of God comes to mind when I hear David’s prayer in Psalm 141: specifically, the order in which he prays these things. In times of duress and persecution, David set the great example of turning to the Lord to pray for His will to be done. In what sounds like one of those times, he prays for his enemies’ defeat, yes; but first, he prays for the correction of his own sin. He asks hopefully for the chance to be corrected in his sin. As verse 5 puts it, “let a righteous man strike me; it is a kindness.”

I think David, in his wisdom and piety, saw the true value in the words of others about his sin. Proverbs 6:23 says “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” And in Proverbs 9:8: “Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” We can not appropriately display the thankfulness we have for Christ pouring out Himself for our justification when we live in sin; and it is in the strength of faith of the believers around us, comfortable and trusting in their faith enough to speak up when they see us sin & lead us in the right direction out of love, that God blesses us with opportunity to correct our paths. David sees this, enough to joyfully celebrate the chance to be rebuked before even mentioning his enemies. He sees his own sin, and knows he must deal with that first; taking the plank out of his own eye first, as Jesus’d put it in Matthew 7.

Let this be a morning of reflection, repentance, and renewal in our promise to Christ. What sins are you struggling with that need to be surrendered to God & turned away from? Do you have others in which you can trust to be honest & forward to you about your sin & help you get on the right path? Or do you need to pray for God to help open the path to help from your brothers in sisters & Christ in recognizing and squashing your sin? Or maybe you sense an opportunity in your life to loving rebuke others of their sin, be it family, friends, acquaintances, church members, coworkers. How can your words of encouragement & truth help direct others struggling with sin back to upright and godly lives, so that the glory of God may be displayed through all our good works done in His name?

Would you describe yourself as persistent?  Or, maybe your more like me and find it easy to give up on certain things?  Today I find myself having to be very persistent at writing this Bible Journal Post.  Sometimes, the words come to me quite easily.  Sometimes, it takes a few days to develop the words I want to say.  And, sometimes, like today, I cannot find the words that need to be written for today’s post.  I have to be persistent in my seeking to write these words.

Have you ever felt discouraged or anxious that God was not listening to your prayers because you did not see the relief or the answer you desired?  We’ve all been there at one time or another.  Today, in Luke 18:1-8 Jesus tells us why we should continue to persist in prayer and not lose heart.  Even when it seems that God is not responding.

We read of the parable of the Persistent Widow.

“There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people.  A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’

Luke 18:2-3

Widows in this first century had very few rights or resources.  Losing your husband and not having family to support you was a sentence of poverty and helplessness.  There was no Social Security or Life Insurance to kick in when needed.  Widows were essentially helpless.  To survive, they had to be persistent and tough.

The widow in this parable has been wronged by an unnamed enemy.  In her town, the judge was corrupt and only cared about his position of power.  He had little interest in God or the people he was placed in charge of.  This judge showed no interest in the widow or in giving her justice.  No matter how he treated her, she showed up day after day.  And day after day, the judge continually denied her her request.  But, finally, after numerous requests, the judge said to himself,

but this woman is driving me crazy.  I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!”

Luke 18:5

The widow finally gets the justice she sought.  Jesus explains His point in telling this parable…

“Learn a lesson from this unjust judge.  Even he rendered a just decision in the end.  So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  

Luke 18:6-7

Are we not similar to the widow?  We do not always get immediate results when we pray.  The persistent widow demonstrates that effective prayer requires consistent faithfulness.  We are God’s chosen people, unlike the judge who was only out to please himself, God hears our prayers and will answer when, where and how He chooses.  God expects us to keep on asking, seeking, knocking, and praying until the answers come.

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.  Keep on seeking, and you will find.  Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives.  Everyone who seeks, finds.  And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

Restoration is a great word.  Webster’s dictionary defines as “the act of restoring or the condition of being restored: such as a bringing back to a former position or condition; a restoring to an unimpaired or improved condition.”

As previous Bible journal posters have written, Lamentations is a troubling book of the Bible.  The prophet Jeremiah is “lamenting” about the Babylonians capture and takeover of Jerusalem.  Scripture tells us that God warned the Jewish people, for generations, of their sinful ways through the prophet Jeremiah, but they did not listen and dearly paid the price for it.

In Lamentations, Jeremiah outlined the total devastation and enslavement of the Jewish people.  Every aspect of their lives had pain and strife because of their unwillingness to relent and follow God’s wishes.  The sad part of this chapter is that the people that suffered the most were not necessarily the individuals that committed the most sins.  Generations of Jews had sinned while God was warning them and when they were captured and enslaved, future generations suffered the consequences of their ancestors.

This lesson causes me to think about the legacy our actions and faith leave for our families, sometimes generations to come.  Our willingness to acknowledge the power of our almighty God is imperative to not only our faith but to our children, their children, and future generations.  We are not just committing to faith for our own soul, but we are carving a path for our children to choose to have a relationship with Jesus. If we model the love and commitment to our faith, that we choose to follow Jesus, we are providing an opportunity for our children to follow our example.

Lamentations 5 was a “Prayer for Restoration” for the Jewish people.  They were in a very dark and miserable place. Verse 7 says, “Our fathers sinned and are no more. But we bear their iniquities. There is none to deliver us from their hand.”

Our choice to follow Jesus can save our children from a life of despair and pain.  Choose faith not only for your own life and soul, but the generations of your family to follow.  I have written before that I am so fortunate to have grandparents and parents who were believers.  We went to church, and I was baptized, but I had to make my own choice whether to believe in Jesus to be saved.  All we can do is expose our children to the teachings and lessons of the Bible so they can experience for themselves the saving grace of Jesus during their lives.

Back to restoration.  Sometimes we don’t appreciate the good times unless we experience the bad times.  Our sinful nature is to take for granted when things are going well and expect things to continue that way forever.  In our time on earth, the older we get, the more we realize that pain, death, and sadness are a part of our lives.  The beautiful thing about our relationship with Jesus, as believers, is that we know no matter how bad or awful things get, Jesus will restore us.  He will restore us while on earth through a “peace and understanding,” although still in pain, we can rest during the bad times.  But the glorious celebration will occur when we die, when we are “restored” and provided a new life in Heaven.  Revelations 21:4 tells us “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”  Heaven will be a glorious place.  I love my family with all my heart and soul. I would do anything for them and don’t want to leave them.  But I don’t fear death.  I am confident my death will be a glorious reunion with my loved ones who are already in Heaven, and my worries, pains, and discomfort will be gone. What a glorious day that will be!

That is true RESTORATION.