Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer

and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed

to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said,

“O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and

mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His

commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity,

we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing

from Your precepts and Your judgments.…

“O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes,

and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.

To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness,

though we have rebelled against Him.”

—Daniel 9:3–5, 8–9

Although Daniel is probably most famous for surviving his attempted execution in the lions’ den, or maybe even for his ability to interpret dreams, the book of the Bible that bears his name illustrates one of his extraordinary, godly characteristics: He was a man of prayer.

Throughout the book of Daniel, we see him prostrating himself before God, confessing his individual sins and the sins of the nation, asking for forgiveness. At every opportunity, he magnifies the Lord, giving Him the credit for any blessing that occurs.

For instance, when King Nebuchadnezzar summons Daniel to explain the first dream recorded, part of the prophet’s declaration includes words of humility: “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might” (Daniel 2:23). Contrast this statement with King Nebuchadnezzar’s prideful boast in Daniel 4:30.

Persecuted for Praying to Yahweh

After Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son who succeeded him, was slain, Darius the Mede became ruler. Under the new king’s reign, the Lord blessed Daniel through Darius by appointing Daniel as governor and even “gave thought to setting him over the whole realm” (Daniel 6:3). This didn’t sit well with the other governors. They knew that Daniel was well-esteemed, and said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God” (Daniel 6:5).

Daniel had a reputation of the best sort: He was known as a faithful worshipper of Yahweh.

At this point, Daniel was about sixty years old, and he’d been taken into captivity as a young man (Daniel 5:31, 1:3–4, 6). We don’t know how old he was when he was taken to Babylon, but even if he was only in his early twenties, he’d been residing in the kingdom for a few decades and had served with distinction under three kings.

From the onset of his captivity, Daniel and his companions set themselves apart, refusing to eat or drink from the king’s table and insisting that even without that rich and delicious food, they’d remain healthy and vibrant. They made it clear that their first and foremost loyalty was to God. Daniel’s three friends—Shadrach (Hananiah), Meshach (Mishael), and Abed-Nego (Azariah)—had further demonstrated their faith in the Lord when they refused to fall down and worship the golden statue of King Nebuchadnezzar and were thrown into a fiery furnace.

Later, when Daniel’s political enemies set a trap for him, they rightly acknowledged that the only “weak spot” he had was for the Lord. So they went before King Darius and said, “All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions” (Daniel 6:7). As noted in Daniel 6:8, once this was signed into law, it couldn’t be altered.

How did Daniel respond to this new decree?

“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days” (Daniel 6:10).

Without any hesitation, he defied the king’s law—not just once but three times, and completely out in the open.

His enemies “caught him in the act” and immediately reported this infraction to the king. Although Darius tried to find a loophole to save Daniel, he was unable to do so. Thus, the prophet was cast into the lions’ den, from which the Lord delivered him: “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you” (Daniel 6:22).

The Lord had shown Himself mighty to save, and Daniel had seen that repeatedly in Babylon.

A Model of Intercessory Prayer for a Nation

Therefore, when he comes before the Lord in prayer in chapter 9, he does so according to his custom. But this time, in addition to setting his face toward God, he prepared by fasting and donning sackcloth and ashes—the former a spiritual discipline and the latter a sign of contrition.

Daniel’s entire prayer is included in Daniel 9:4–19. It begins with praising the Lord, acknowledging His magnificence and lauding His character. Admiration of His glory is folded into other portions of the prayer. Daniel then transitions into confession, specifically stating the sins of him and his people. After this, he makes his supplication to God, and finally closes with a heartfelt cry: “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name” (Daniel 9:19).

Reading this passage provides us with a beautiful model of what intercessory prayer for a nation can look like, especially the structure: adoration, confession, supplication.

But the story continued. Daniel “was speaking, praying, and confessing [his] sin and the sin of [his] people Israel, and presenting [his] supplication before the Lord [his] God” (Daniel 9:20). While he was praying, God sent the angel Gabriel to him. Along with providing insight for the prophet’s vision, Gabriel told Daniel, “At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved” (Daniel 9:23).

The Lord chose to honor His prophet’s request. One day soon, Cyrus, the king of Persia, would issue a decree allowing the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild it, which we read about in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Although the Israelites had been unfaithful to the Lord, He remained faithful to them—as He remains faithful to us, “who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Our Prayers Have the Same Power as Daniel’s

Just like Daniel, we can pray and intercede for our nation. As it says in 1 John 5:14–15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” Let us go boldly before Him, glorifying Him, confessing our sins and the sins of our nation, and asking for His will to be done.

Prayer

Dear Lord, please grant us hearts like Your servant Daniel, fervently committed to praying to You daily. And when we petition You on behalf of our nation, may our prayers glorify You. Let us be contrite, acknowledging our sins and shortcomings. May we confidently present our petitions to You, knowing and trusting that You will hear and answer them according to Your perfect will. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

For Further Reflection

• Read Nehemiah 1:5–11, another example of intercessory prayer for a nation. In what ways is it similar to Daniel 9:4–19? In what ways does it differ?
• Select either Daniel or Nehemiah’s prayer to use as a model intercessory prayer for the United States. After you pray, meditate on the experience of using Scripture as the basis for your prayers.

Excerpt taken from One Nation Under God: 40 Devotions for Patriotic Women by Amanda C. Bauch.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version^®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Join My Mailing List!

Sign up & you’ll receive:

• My monthly newsletter, with a focus on faith, motherhood, mental health, writing, and books. And probably cats.
• Updates as I take you behind the scenes on writing, publishing, and launching a book.
• Exclusive access to special offers, such as mini devotionals you can download for free!