Question: From Daniel 9 (where Daniel prays for the exiles), twice he prays that God would grant his prayer for God’s sake. I am not sure why he prays like that. Can you shed some light on this?
Answer: In order to understand why Daniel made such unique requests of God, we need to look briefly at the entire prayer. Daniel had been studying the book of Jeremiah from God’s word and discovered that the 70-year exile was about to end. His response wasn’t to have a party celebrating what God had promised would happen but to go to God in prayer. His prayer was a response to reading God’s promises from God’s word. God’s promises are not intended to enable us to relax our prayers but to encourage them. The Puritans called it “pleading the promises.” Even though God had promised a specific end to the captivity, Daniel felt lead to pray that God would do as He promised He would do. God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility meet at this point. Daniel’s prayer and our prayers becomes a vehicle by which God acts in accord with His will. God’s sovereignty is set, what He has willed is going to happen, but our prayers do matter and God wants us, He commands us, to make our request known according to His will and He hears and answer them. Using God’s word and God’s promises to pray was a major component in Daniel’s prayer.
In addition to basing his prayer on God’s word, Daniel also made humble confession of his and his people’s sins. He confesses that Israel deserved God’s judgment. That they were sinful and rebelled against Him. He goes on to say essentially that God was right in sending them into exile. In fact, a large portion of his prayer consist of his confession for himself and for his people.
Daniel now gets to his unusual prayer request of asking God to answer his prayer “for His own sake.” Daniel ‘s motives are not selfish motives. Daniel doesn’t pray that God will answer his prayer because they are such wonderful people but because of His name, His reputation, His City, and for His honor and glory. He knows they don’t deserve God’s favor but he seeks God’s forgiveness and compassion not the justice that they so very much deserve. He wants God to defend Himself and to be acknowledged and recognized for who He is, a holy, loving, compassionate and merciful God. He reminds God that it is His sanctuary that is desolate, His city that is desolate, His people who have become a reproach. Restore them for the sake of Your reputation.
His prayer was interrupted by the angel, Gabriel. Gabriel communicates to Daniel that God had heard his prayer, just as He also hears all of our prayers when we pray. God sent Gabriel to Daniel because he was highly esteemed. Gabriel assures Daniel that not only will his prayer be answered in the expected way, but his prayer will be used in a secondary way of ushering in the coming of the long-awaited Messiah. God never promises us that He will respond to our prayers like he did to Daniel’s but we are told that the prayers of a righteous man is effective (James 5:16b). God’s word also tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and to give thanks in everything, good or sad (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Finally, we can ask God to “incline your ear and hear,” when we give Him all of our anxiety because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) and promises us a peace which is beyond our understanding (Philippians 4:7).