{"id":18408,"date":"2017-08-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-033-god-answers-prayer\/"},"modified":"2017-08-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-08-20T05:00:00","slug":"daniel-033-god-answers-prayer","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-033-god-answers-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 033 – God Answers Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18408","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-daniel","series_event-daniel","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Daniel 033 - God Answers Prayer","sermon_date":"20170820","sermon_month":"8","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4858,"sermon_slides":4859,"sermon_mp3":4863,"sermon_id":"820171017133","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"9:20-23","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nGod Answers Prayer\n\n8-20-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel 9:20-23\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 33\n\nGood morning everyone.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take our Bibles if we could and open them to the Book of Daniel, chapter 9 taking a look this morning at verses 20-23.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is God Answers Prayer.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Aren\u2019t you happy about that, by the way?\u00a0 God Answers Prayer.\u00a0 We talk a lot about how to pray, waiting on God, these sorts of things, but the reality is you can expect God to show up at times in your life and give you not just answers but He gives you things you never even thought of before.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the sort of thing that we\u2019re seeing here in Daniel 9:20-23 where Daniel is receiving an answer to prayer.\n\nDaniel, as we know, is having these prophecies; in the east Israel is 350 miles to the east (in a place called Babylon) in captivity.\u00a0\u00a0 Chapter 1 sort of introduces the book to us; chapters 2-7 is a literary pattern that we\u2019ve walked through very carefully.\u00a0 And we find ourselves in that last section of the book, Part 2, chapters 8-12, which is really prophecies concerning the future of the nation of Israel.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen the ram and the goat, chapter 8, and we\u2019ve moved into chapter 9 which is the famous prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.\u00a0\u00a0 All things being equal we will probably get to the Seventy Weeks prophecy starting next week.\u00a0 I\u2019m hoping to cover that in 2 or 3 sermons; I don\u2019t want to spend seventy weeks on the Seventy Weeks prophecy.\u00a0 But as you can see it\u2019s going to be a tremendous prophecy about the blueprint for the future.\n\nChapters 1 and 2 is the setting of the book or the chapter I should say. Verse 1 is the history, it\u2019s the year 538.\u00a0 You should probably make a mental note of that.\u00a0 Daniel is in his early 80\u2019s as we\u2019ve talked about.\u00a0 The prophetic setting is given in verse 2, we learned that Daniel had been a student, not of the latest best seller of the day, but rather the Word of God.\u00a0 He had been studying the writings of the prophet Jeremiah, who preceded Daniel, and he knew that the Seventy Year captivity would last just seventy years and he also knew that that seventy year period was coming to an end. \u00a0So he had great insight into his times because he was a student of the prophetic Scripture.\n\nSo consequently verses 3-19 he begins to pray and seek God\u2019s face for the future of the nation.\u00a0 We spent some time in this prayer because it\u2019s one of the three great prayers of this era.\u00a0 These are all in a chapter 9: Ezra 9, Nehemiah, 9, Daniel 9.\u00a0 How should we pray?\u00a0 What are some principles of prayer?\u00a0 Daniel 9, Ezra 9, Nehemiah 9.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to get a greater example of prayer and principles of prayer than in those three chapters.\u00a0 And then God does something that sometimes shocks us; we don\u2019t really expect God to answer but God shows\u00a0 up, He dispatched Gabriel, verses 20-23 and the answer to the prayer is given in these verses.\n\nNotice, if you will, verse 20 as Daniel has been seeking God in prayer. Verse 20, \u201cNow while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God,\u201d you see all of those present tense participles there?\u00a0 Daniel did not just pray, he was praying, continuously in other words.\u00a0 He was not just someone that confessed, he was confessing.\u00a0 He was not someone that just spoke to God, he was speaking to God.\n\nI think a lot of times we look at prayer as some kind of one-time act, I check that off my spiritual checklist for today, did that, okay, let\u2019s move on to other things.\u00a0\u00a0 The reality of the situation is prayer is to be as normal in the life of the child of God as is breathing.\u00a0 Paul the apostle in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, \u201cPray without\u201d what? \u201cwithout ceasing,\u201d continuously praying.\u00a0 Jesus, in Matthew 7:7-11 says, \u201cAsk, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.\u201d\u00a0 Now you look at that in the original language and what it\u2019s saying is ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.\u00a0 And it goes on and it says, [10] \u201cOr if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?\u00a0 [11] \u201cIf you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!\u201d\n\nHe\u2019s just making a simple point that a parent, even in their sinful state knows how to be a blessing to their children; knows how to respond to the petitions of their own children.\u00a0\u00a0 Why would it be any different with God?\u00a0 But you\u2019ll notice it says, \u201cAsk\u201d and keep on asking, \u201cseek\u201d and keep on seeking, \u201cknock\u201d and keep on knocking, and then the door will be opened.\u00a0 It\u2019s speaking of the habit of prayer, the repetition of prayer, how natural prayer should be in the life of the child of God.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting as you look at verse 20, look at all the different kinds of prayer.\u00a0 There\u2019s a variety here.\u00a0 It talks about speaking to God.\u00a0 It talks about confessions to God.\u00a0 It talks about prayers of supplication.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me that there are different prayers for different occasions.\u00a0 There is no \u201cone size fits all\u201d prayer.\u00a0 The Book of James, chapter 5:13-14 says, \u201cIs anyone among you suffering? Then<\/em> he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. [14] Is anyone among you sick? Then<\/em> he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Notice you have a prayer for suffering.\u00a0 You have a prayer of praise during times of cheerfulness.\u00a0 You have another kind of prayer if somebody is sick and is seeking the restoration of their health.\n\nThe variety of prayer, the different kinds of prayers is just fascinating as you look at this in God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 He talks about a prayer of confession, confessing his own sins and the sins of his people.\u00a0 He talks about a supplication coming from the word supply, a different type of prayer, a different type of petition asking God to meet or to supply a need.\n\nAnd then you\u2019ll notice the things that are on Daniel\u2019s mind.\u00a0 In verse 20 notice the word \u201cIsrael,\u201d the people of Israel.\u00a0 And then it talks about petitioning the Lord, My God, on behalf of the holy Mountain of God.\u00a0 [Daniel 9:20, \u201cNow while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God.\u201d]\u00a0 What is that \u201choly mountain\u201d?\u00a0 I would guess it would be Mount Sinai; you\u2019ll notice the repetition of the \u201choly mountain of God\u201d in Israel, the people of Israel.\u00a0 In other words the things that Daniel is praying for are things that are on God\u2019s mind.\n\nAnd I fear so many times when we pray we really don\u2019t pray the things of God because we\u2019re not really thinking His thoughts, we\u2019re thinking our own.\u00a0 What\u2019s important for me!\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that in the life of Daniel his prayer life is constantly reflecting the priorities of God.\u00a0 His heart is broken for the things that breaks God\u2019s heart in other words.\n\nHow did he have this set of priorities?\u00a0 Well, verse 2 of chapter 9 gives you the answer, he had been a student of the Scripture, it\u2019s the Scripture which reveals to us the mind of God.\u00a0 And as we under\u00adstand the mind of God we begin to understand the priorities of God. \u00a0Our hearts begin to break for the things that break God\u2019s heart and we pray accordingly.\n\n1 John 5:14 says, \u201cif we ask anything according to His\u201d what? \u201cwill, He hears us.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [1 John 5:14, \u201cThis is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.\u201d]\u00a0 How do you pray in the will of God.\u00a0\u00a0 You pray God\u2019s priorities. Well how do you become familiar with God\u2019s priorities?\u00a0 You can\u2019t do that other than being a student of God\u2019s Word.\n\nJames 4:2-3 talks about how many times we ask amiss.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? [2] You lust and do not have; so<\/em> you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so<\/em> you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you\u201d what? \u201cyou do not ask.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s part of the problem, we don\u2019t spend time petitioning God.\u00a0 But then verse 3 of James 4 goes on and says, \u201cYou ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it<\/em> on your pleasures.\u201d\u00a0 We have ineffective prayer lives because we don\u2019t understand the will and the mind and the priorities of God because those things are only revealed through His Word.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that Daniel had a powerful prayer life.\u00a0 In fact, he\u2019s about ready to receive an answer to prayer before he even finishes praying; isn\u2019t that amazing?\u00a0 We talk about waiting on God to answer prayer; Daniel didn\u2019t have to wait at all; he didn\u2019t even finish the prayer before God answered. Why?\u00a0 Because he\u2019s praying within the will of God understanding the mind of God through the Word of God.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice there in verse 21 [Daniel 9:21] how his prayer life is described, \u201cspeaking in prayer\u201d that\u2019s what prayer is.\u00a0 It\u2019s a conversation.\u00a0 You know, people come into the office for marital counselling, the first question we would ask is what is your communication like in your marriage, because communication is the lifeblood of any real; no communication, no relationship.\u00a0 You can\u2019t have a relationship with somebody unless there is ongoing communication, not one-way communication but two-way communication.\u00a0 God seeks to talk to you constantly through His Word primarily and we, through prayer, are given the opportunity to talk to Him, speaking to Him in prayer; that\u2019s a healthy relationship.\u00a0 Aren\u2019t we analogized to the bride of Christ? \u00a0Isn\u2019t that marriage example used in the New Testament?\u00a0 How can you have a healthy marriage without communication?\n\nAnd in so many relationships the communication is one-way, one person does all the talking.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how it\u2019s like with Christians, they will speak and speak and speak to God but never take in His Word, never give Him an opportunity to speak to them.\u00a0 Or the opposite is true, you become someone that\u2019s such a student of the Word of God that your prayer life begins to dissipate; God is talking to you but you\u2019re not talking to Him.\u00a0 And God desires both ingredients to be happening simultaneously, which is what you would expect in any healthy marriage and any healthy relationship.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what we see role modeled here in this man, Daniel, \u201cspeaking in prayer.\u201d\n\nVerse 21, \u201cwhile I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my<\/em> extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.\u201d\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that this prayer was answered while Daniel was in the very act of praying; while I was still speaking God answered.\n\nOne of the shocking things to discover as a new Christian, at least for me, that when I would ask for things God would start granting them.\u00a0 I mean, that just blew my mind because I would start to see answers.\u00a0 You mean the God of the universe, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God wants to hear me talk to Him!\u00a0 And if we petition things within His will He wants to move heaven and earth so that that petition is granted?\u00a0\u00a0 And yet that\u2019s exactly what the Bible represents God as doing in the life of the child of God.\n\nAnd sometimes the answers are so fast we don\u2019t even believe it\u2019s an answer many times.\u00a0 I\u2019m reminded of the church praying for Peter when he was in prison.\u00a0 Acts 12:5 says, \u201cSo Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.\u201d\u00a0 Acts 12:12-16 says, \u201cAnd when he realized this,<\/em> he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. [13] When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. [14] When she recognized Peter\u2019s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.\u201d\u00a0 In other words you all, we don\u2019t need to pray any more, it\u2019s been answered, Peter has been miraculously released from prison.\u00a0 And notice the reaction of the church to this servant girl, Rhoda, announcing an answer to prayer. [15] \u201cThey said to her, \u2018You are out of your mind!\u2019 But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, \u2018It is his angel.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 His guardian angel, it\u2019s really not Him out there. \u00a0[16] \u201cBut Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door,<\/em> they saw him and were amazed.\u201d\n\nWhy be amazed?\u00a0 I mean why be shocked? If God is all powerful and we are in a relationship with Him it shouldn\u2019t surprise us, should it, when He answers prayer.\u00a0 And\u00a0 yet we\u2019re so unaccustomed to this that it\u2019s almost an astonishment when God comes through and answers a prayer request.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me that Gabriel shows up before Daniel even had a chance to finish his session of prayer.\n\nIt goes on in verse 21 and it says, \u201cthe man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously\u2026.\u201d You\u2019ll notice that different angels do different things in the outworking of God\u2019s purposes.\u00a0 Michael, for example, has one task, his job is to protect the nation of Israel.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find a reference to that in this book, Daniel 12:1, [Daniel 12:1, \u201cNow at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.\u201d]\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice that Gabriel has a completely different task, he is the angel sent to give insight to the petitioner.\u00a0 Luke 1:19, \u201cThe angel answered and said to him, \u2018I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Luke 1:26, \u201cNow in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,\u201d who\u2019s the one that shows up in early Luke and gives John the Baptist\u2019s mother and Christ\u2019s mother information about what God is doing in their wombs?\u00a0 Gabriel, the same Gabriel that we\u2019re reading about 600 years earlier during the days of the Babylonian captivity, sent to give Daniel an answer to prayer.\n\nIt says here how he had seen Gabriel previously, Daniel says.\u00a0 Daniel 8:16 he had seen Gabriel previously.\u00a0 If you go back sometime and look at Daniel 8:16 you\u2019ll see the name Gabriel, how Gabriel had been dispatched from heaven to give Daniel information about the ram and the goat vision that we have already studied.\u00a0 [Daniel 8:16, \u201cAnd I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, \u2018Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 This same Gabriel is dispatched from heaven to give Daniel insight concerning a prophecy that begins in verse 24 and goes all the way through the end of the chapter, the Seventy Weeks prophecy.\n\nVerse 21 is so interesting to me because it says, he \u201ccame to me\u201d this man Gabriel, \u201cin my extreme weariness,\u201d this is something interesting to me and I think it is something lacking in the modern Western church and that\u2019s the discipline of literally wearing yourself out in prayer.\u00a0 This is obviously a habit of Daniels because back in chapter 6 and verse 10 it says, \u201cNow when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.\u201d\n\nThe thing to understand about this man Daniel is the habit of prayer in his life, three times daily, on his knees, and it says as he had done previously.\u00a0 This is a man that took prayer seriously; this was part of his life, this was part of his character.\u00a0 In fact, this was so much part of his character that his enemies in Persia recognized that the only way we\u2019re going to get rid of this guy is if we pass some kind of law saying no more prayer.\u00a0 Even Daniel\u2019s enemies recognized this habit in his life called the pattern of prayer.\u00a0 Daniel prayed to the point of physical exhaustion.\n\nAnd you know, preparing this lesson, this sermon, it\u2019s very convicting because I really have to ask myself, when was the last time I prayed to the point of weariness?\u00a0 When was the last time I prayed to the point of exhaustion?\u00a0 When was the last time I prayed to the point of my human strength running out? I just can\u2019t think of a time when this has happened in recent\u00a0 history.\n\nAnd yet Paul, the apostle, spoke about prayer of this quality quite consistently.\u00a0 Paul, in Romans 15:30 says, \u201cNow I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.\u201d\u00a0 Now Paul talked about striving in prayer.\u00a0 I had to look at this word in Greek, \u201cstriving,\u201d what is that?\u00a0 It\u2019s sunag<\/em>\u014d<\/em>nizomai<\/em> if I\u2019m pronouncing that correctly.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact in that word you might think of the word agony, agonizing in prayer.\u00a0 What does that mean? It means to join with someone else in a severe effort.\u00a0 You\u2019re linked together with someone else in a severe effort to the point where perspiration and human strength are necessary to achieve this and Paul says I want you Romans to pray with me like that.\u00a0 I want you to agonize with me in prayer.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think every prayer necessarily should be that way but there\u2019s times in a person\u2019s life, a crisis, there\u2019s times in a person\u2019s life of insight needed, where there\u2019s a striving with God in prayer, almost to an agonizing point, continuing on in prayer.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what Daniel is talking about here.\u00a0 He\u2019s talking about prayer to the point where it made him extremely weary.\n\nAnd then he says something very fascinating at the end of verse 21; he says I was praying about this and got the answer, which starts to get recorded in the next verse, \u201cabout the time of the evening offering. \u00a0Now I had to look at \u201cthe evening offering,\u201d what is he speaking of here.\u00a0 He\u2019s most likely speaking of the offering system that God implemented at Mount Sinai through the tabernacle and later the temple.\u00a0 In Exodus 29:39 it says, \u201cThe one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;\u201d he is making reference to the fact that He was praying and received an answer during the time period when the offering was normally issued under the Old Testament Law.\n\nAnd you say well, what\u2019s the significance of that?\u00a0 To me it\u2019s very interesting because you know what?\u00a0 When Daniel prayed this way there was no offering system, there was no temple.\u00a0 The temple had been destroyed in 586 B.C.\u00a0 What year is it now?\u00a0 I told you to remember that date; anybody remember?\u00a0 538 B.C.\u00a0 The temple wouldn\u2019t be rebuilt until about 515 B.C.\u00a0 So he\u2019s praying about 48 years after the temple didn\u2019t exist and 23\u00a0 years before it will be restored.\u00a0 And yet what\u2019s on his mind is this offering system which wasn\u2019t even functioning in Jerusalem.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that Daniel does this quite frequently.\u00a0 In Daniel 6:10 it says \u201cNow when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); [and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s praying towards Jerusalem; he\u2019s not in Jerusalem, he\u2019s in Babylon and yet he\u2019s praying towards Jerusalem.\u00a0 Is it not a fact that at this particular time Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar?\u00a0 It had been destroyed since 586 B.C.\u00a0 It had been destroyed for 48 years; it wouldn\u2019t be rebuilt until the days of Ezra and then later Nehemiah.\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting that Daniel is praying about things and is thinking about things, the sacrificial system and Jerusalem, when from the vantage point of the secular world it would seem crazy to pray like that, with that mindset; those things didn\u2019t exist, they wouldn\u2019t exist in the mind of Judaism, in the life of Judaism for a few more decades.\u00a0 What does this tell us about Daniel\u2019s prayer life?\u00a0 It tells us that he was a man of faith; it tells us that he saw things that God would do before the hand of God had moved.\u00a0 He knew that it was just a matter of time before Israel would return into that land.\u00a0 At the end of the captivity the temple would be rebuilt under the Book of Ezra, the sacrificial system would be restarted again.\u00a0 And around 444 B.C. Nehemiah, the walls of Jerusalem, would be rebuilt. And he saw all of that as if it were a fact of life because he did not walk by sight, he walked by what?\u00a0 Faith!\n\nDoes that describe your prayer life?\u00a0 Do you see things\u00a0 yet future that are not yet factual reality because your mind is so saturated with divine truth that you see what God is going to do in the end?\u00a0 It\u2019s called faith.\u00a0 The Book of Hebrews, chapter 11 and verse 6 says, \u201cWithout faith it is\u201d what? it\u2019s hard to believe God?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that, does it?\u00a0 Without faith it\u2019s impossible to please Him, and yet that\u2019s the type of faith that God is calling us to in prayer.\u00a0 Is heaven such a reality to you (and to me) that we are just certain of our arrival there and we express that in prayer even though obviously we\u00a0 factually, physically are not there yet.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Daniel is emulating here.\u00a0 That\u2019s what he is role modeling this is how the people of God are to be living in Satan\u2019s domain.\n\nSo Daniel is walking by faith in prayer and so many times we pray we just really don\u2019t think God is going to do much.\u00a0\u00a0 The Book of James talks about this, doesn\u2019t he.\u00a0 James 1:6-8, \u201cBut he must ask\u201d speaking of prayer, \u201cin faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. [7] For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, [8] being<\/em> a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.\u201d\u00a0 So many times we pray and we just don\u2019t really expect God to show up or really do anything; we\u2019re just sort of filling in time, get this off our checklist.\u00a0 And yet we\u2019re to be people of bold faith in prayer, expecting the promise of God to materialize, expecting God to move His hand in history and change things.\n\nI don\u2019t know a lot of things in this life where you can change things but prayer is one of those things.\u00a0 You say well, He didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0 Well, give Him some time, maybe He\u2019s going to answer tomorrow or the next day, or maybe He\u2019s waiting for you, for us, to reach a certain point of maturity where we can handle the answer.\u00a0 Or even better yet, maybe you\u2019re praying outside of the will of God and if you\u2019re doing that you don\u2019t want that prayer answered anyway.\u00a0 But having this expectation, this confidence in prayer is something that we so frequently lack and yet Daniel is showing us these things as he\u2019s praying about things that were really not physical realities, the sacrifices, the temple, at the time he made his petition.\n\nNotice, if you will, verse 22, \u201cHe gave me<\/em> instruction and talked with me and said, \u2018O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice in verse 22 the words instruction, talked, insight, understanding, what is all of that saying?\u00a0 God wants to give you insight.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0 God can\u2019t wait for you to get into His presence and say Lord, I don\u2019t have understanding, give me understanding of this.\u00a0 The New Testament reflects this, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 James 1:5, \u201cIf any of you lacks wisdom,\u201d now I find myself in that position quite frequently, anybody else?\u00a0 \u201cIf any of you lacks wisdom, let him\u201d what?\u00a0 Go look for the latest best seller?\u00a0 No, \u201clet him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.\u201d\n\nLord, I don\u2019t understand this issue or that issue, can you give me some insight into it.\u00a0 There are so many things that happen in our lives in this fallen world that just perplex us; relational problems, schisms of this sort or that sort, personality conflicts, you name it, we\u2019re living in the midst of it and a lot of times we don\u2019t even know why it\u2019s happening.\u00a0 And so many times in those situations we have to look at them as the design of God; God put you in a situation you can\u2019t understand so you would be in a position to ask Him so He could give you insight that you don\u2019t have.\n\nI love the things that Paul prayed about.\u00a0 What did Paul pray about.\u00a0 In the Book of Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 18-19 Paul says, \u201cI pray\u201d for what for the Ephesians, and by extension\u00a0 us, \u201cthat<\/em> the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, [19] and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are<\/em> in accordance with the working of the strength of His might.\u201d\n\nPaul, as he pleads and intercedes for the Ephesians he says I pray for your insight, I pray that you would understand who you are in Christ.\u00a0 And he doesn\u2019t just stop there, he does the same thing in Ephesians 3.\u00a0 Ephesians 1, here\u2019s your individual blessings, I pray that you\u2019ll understand what you have.\u00a0 Ephesians 2-3, your corporate blessings, at the end of that section I pray that you will understand what you have and who you are.\u00a0 Ephesians 3:18-19, and \u201cmay be able to comprehend\u201d that\u2019s understanding, isn\u2019t it, \u201cwith all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [19] and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.\u201d\n\nI just am praying for you to understand who you are and what you have; that\u2019s the heart of Paul.\u00a0 Paul functioned under the direction of God; God desires that same thing for us.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Daniel is praying for here: insight, understanding, instruction.\u00a0 And my goodness, what insight is he going to get?\u00a0 The insight that he is about to receive, verses 24-27, is insurmountable.\u00a0 What he is about to receive, as we\u2019ll begin developing it next week, is what is called the prophecy of the seventy sevens, the prophecy of the seventy weeks, which is a piece of the prophetic jigsaw puzzle which is indispensable.\u00a0 You can study all you want about Bible prophecy and you can study any book of the Bible but let me tell you this, if you don\u2019t understand the seventy week prophecy you don\u2019t understand anything because the blueprint of the seventy weeks prophecy is the filter that all other prophetic passages are talking about. The seventy weeks prophecy gives you that timeline, that foundation.\n\nYou know, today go on the internet, go on youtube, people are totally confused about the end times, totally confused about the rapture, totally confused about the kingdom, totally confused about what the church is supposed to do versus what God\u2019s plan is for Israel. Churches today are trying to bring in social justice and set up the kingdom. Other people are saying get ready, we\u2019re going through the tribulation period, we\u2019re going to be eyeballing it with the antichrist, on and on and on and on and on it goes.\u00a0 Where does it all come from?\u00a0 It comes from an ignorance or a failure to consider what God has said in this prophecy.\u00a0 You can\u2019t understand the end without the seventy weeks prophecy.\n\nAnd this is what was delivered to Daniel as he was seeking God\u2026 insight!\u00a0 You know what\u2019s interesting to me about this is Daniel never asked for this; he never said Lord, give me the seventy weeks prophecy and give me insight about the future and the prophetic piece of the jigsaw puzzle that\u2019s indispensable.\u00a0 Daniel never asked for that.\u00a0 All he was doing is seeking the hand of God for the future and yet God showed up and said not only am I going to answer your prayer here but I\u2019m going to give you something you never even thought about.\u00a0\u00a0 You ready?\u00a0 This is how God works.\n\n1 Kings 3:5 says this, \u201cIn Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, \u2018Ask what you wish me to give you.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t you wish that happened to you?\u00a0 I mean what if God showed up to you in a vision at night and said okay, carte blanche just ask what you want and I\u2019ll give it to you.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Solomon had here.\u00a0 1 Kings 3:9 Solomon said, \u201cSo give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?\u201d\u00a0 Solomon says\u00a0 You\u2019ve made me the king, I\u2019m the third king of the United Kingdom and quite frankly Lord, I\u2019m in this position, I don\u2019t really know how I got here.\u00a0\u00a0 You put me here.\n\nHave you ever felt like that?\u00a0 Lord, what in the world am I doing here?\u00a0 I look at my own life and the things that have happened; I\u2019m as shocked as anybody else.\u00a0 I\u2019m shocked that I\u2019m standing up here and you all are sitting out there.\u00a0 What do I know?\u00a0 Not a lot.\u00a0 I know this much though, I know how to ask God for help which is really what He\u2019s looking for.\u00a0 He\u2019s not looking for the most talented, the brightest person, the person with the most acumen.\u00a0 He\u2019s interested in putting people into places of influence that know two words, \u201cLORD HELP!\u201d\u00a0 And that\u2019s what Solomon was, that kind of vessel.\n\nVerse 10 of 2 Kings 3, \u201cIt was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.\u00a0 [11] God said to him, \u2018Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life,\u201d in other words, a prayer that would be self-serving, that would be \u201camiss\u201d as the New Testament tells us in the book of James,\u00a0 you have not asked for that, \u201cnor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, [12] behold, I\u201d that\u2019s God \u201chave done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.\u201d\u00a0 Solomon\u2014DONE!\u00a0\u00a0 You want wisdom, it\u2019s yours.\n\nBut then did\u00a0 you catch verse 13, \u201cI have also given you what you have not asked,\u201d I\u2019m going to grant\u00a0 your request and here comes a bunch of things you never even asked Me for; here they come, \u201cI have also given you what you have not asked for, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days.\u201d\u00a0 This is what the Book of James is talking about, God who gives and gives generously.\u00a0 You know, my prayers are not always answered on my time clock.\u00a0 Is that true with anybody else?\u00a0 But when the answer comes I\u2019m almost astonished at the answer because it\u2019s things that are helpful beyond even what I\u2019ve petitioned.\u00a0 That\u2019s God!\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s God\u2019s nature, that\u2019s God\u2019s character, just like a parent or grandparent that loves their children or their grandchildren can\u2019t wait to give, can\u2019t wait to bless.\u00a0 Jesus says if you knowledge how to do that and you\u2019re evil what do you think God can do in terms of provision and blessing? I love how Ephesians 3 concludes, \u201cNow to him who is able to do far more abundantly, beyond all that we ask or think\u2026.\u201d [Ephesians 3:20]\n\nWho is this God that we\u2019re in a relationship with?\u00a0 He is the One that wants to do abundantly beyond what you ask and even beyond what you think.\u00a0 This is why Daniel is receiving this stop watch or this time clock or this key prophetic piece of information.\u00a0 It\u2019s something phenomenal that Daniel received that he never even asked for.\u00a0 It\u2019s a testimony, if you will, to the generosity of God.\n\nVerse 22, \u201cHe gave me instruction and talked with me and said, \u2018O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 We just covered that verse actually.\u00a0 Verse 23, \u201cAt the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.\u201d\u00a0 Notice this first phrase here, \u201cAt the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you,\u201d in other words, I didn\u2019t wait till you were even finished, God says, before Gabriel was dispatched from heaven to give you understanding and insight.\n\nThis is why Daniel, back in verse 21 says this answer came while I was still praying, God didn\u2019t even let me get the sentence out of my mouth before He answered the prayer.\u00a0 It mentions here supplication, supply, asking God to supply a need; in this case it was a lack of understanding.\u00a0 Daniel didn\u2019t know the future.\u00a0 He knew the captivity was winding down; what\u2019s the future of Israel?\n\nAnd then notice this in verse 23, \u201cFor you\u201d this is heaven speaking to Daniel, \u201cyou are highly esteemed.\u201d\u00a0 Why is it that Daniel had such a great reputation in heaven?\u00a0 It\u2019s very simple.\u00a0 He honored the things God honors.\u00a0 He respected the things, whether it be temple, Jerusalem, Israel, the Mosaic Covenant, whatever it was, He honored the things that God honored and so God honored Daniel.\u00a0 That\u2019s how he gained his reputation in heaven.\n\nDid you know you have a reputation in heaven?\u00a0 Did you know that heaven itself, whether it be God or the angels, think thoughts towards you?\u00a0 Did you know that Paul tells us over and over again that the angels are watching?\u00a0 How many angels are there?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know, there\u2019s an awful lot of them.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s why they\u2019re called stars,\u00a0 you can\u2019t count the stars, they\u2019re innumerable.\u00a0 In the same way the angels are innumerable.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve got good news for you; two-thirds of them are on our side.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that great!\u00a0 And yet they\u2019re watching.\u00a0 Private sins, wow?\u00a0 Are there such things as private sins with that kind of audience.\u00a0 A private sin in the heavenlies is an open scandal, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 There is no such thing as private sins with the angelic realm watching and observing.\n\nWhat kind of reputation do you have in heaven?\u00a0 Think about that!\u00a0 When the angels themselves look at you and think about you, and when God looks at you and thinks about\u00a0 you is this what is said, you are \u201chighly esteemed\u201d?\u00a0 Or are our lives so focused on things that are outside the priorities of God that we have no standing in heaven.\u00a0 We all as Christians, as we know, through the shed blood of Christ, have standing in heaven, but I\u2019m not talking about that.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about reputation in heaven.\n\nYou know, you go through the Book of Kings, and why is it called \u201cThe Book of Kings.\u201d\u00a0 Because there are a lot of kings in there.\u00a0 And it says this over and over again, this king was good, this king was bad, this king was good, this king was bad, over and over again.\u00a0 Have you ever wondered why one king is considered good and another is considered bad?\u00a0 Is it because one is of a certain political party and another one isn\u2019t? Is it because the economy was up and inflation was down under one king\u2019s reign but not another?\u00a0 That\u2019s not the evaluation; the evaluation is did that king honor God\u2019s covenant?\u00a0 Did that king honor what God honors?\u00a0 Did he respect what God respected and respects?\n\nAnd the whole evaluation of good or bad is given just on that basis.\u00a0 This is why Daniel had this highly esteemed reputation in the heavenly places because it\u2019s obvious as you look at his devotional life and his priorities what God respected Daniel respected.\u00a0 Even things like the temple and Jerusalem which were not even in existence at this time, he still respected those things because he walked by faith and he understood that those things would be restored.\u00a0 Daniel is highly esteemed.\n\n\u201cAt the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you,<\/em> for you are highly esteemed;\u201d not look at this last clause here, don\u2019t let this escape you, \u201cso\u201d you \u201cgive heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.\u201d\u00a0 You would think this would be something like osmosis, I mean, he gets this vision from Gabriel, you would think that it would just automatically enter his mind with no human effort, but that\u2019s not what the passage says.\u00a0 The passage says \u201cyou give heed to\u201d it, to \u201cgain understanding of the vision.\u201d\u00a0 The vision is not like we tried to learn high school geometry, where I would try to go to sleep at night with the book under my pillow hoping that geometry or algebra, whatever subject I was studying, would suddenly enter the mind.\n\nYou know, people talk about well I just have a devotional understanding of the Bible.\u00a0 Did you learn geometry devotionally?\u00a0 Is that how you learned algebra?\u00a0 Is that how you learned law or medicine or engineering or whatever discipline you\u2019re in?\u00a0 Did you get your MBA devotionally?\u00a0 That\u2019s ridiculous, devotional understanding.\u00a0 There is no such thing as going to the Bible for a liver-quiver of the day and that\u2019s what a lot of people are like.\u00a0 Let me read a couple of verses until I get the euphoria I\u2019m looking for, then I\u2019ll put it away.\u00a0 You would never function that way in any realm of life doing that.\u00a0 The Word of God demands respect, it demands energy, it demands effort, because it\u2019s from God.\u00a0 And this is exactly what Gabriel is telling Daniel, you have the prophecy, now you give yourself to it.\u00a0 No osmosis here whatsoever, you heed it!\n\n2 Timothy 2:15 says, \u201cBe diligent to present yourself approved to God as a\u201d what? \u201cworkman\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 A workman the last time I checked does what?\u00a0 Work!\u00a0 \u201cwho does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.\u201d\u00a0 Why is it that Christian A can handle the Word of truth accurately and Christian B can\u2019t?\u00a0 It\u2019s just one word: work, effort.\u00a0 I\u2019m not talking about works salvation, you know me well enough to teach that I am totally opposed to works salvation.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about the basic discipline of a Christian where they start to study the Bible with the same seriousness and intensity that they would study anything else in their daily vocation for example.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Daniel is being called upon to do.\n\nThe Book of Revelation, chapter 1 and verse 3 says, \u201cBlessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy,\u201d now is there anybody that does not want to be blessed, put your hand up?\u00a0 That\u2019s what I thought, we all want to be blessed, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 Revelation 1:3 tells you how to be blessed, you have to read and hear \u201cthe words of the prophecy\u201d and notice the verse doesn\u2019t stop there, \u201cand heed the things which are written in it;\u201d in other words give attention to the things that are written, give consideration to the things that are written.\n\nI get so many e-mails from pastors saying what shall I do in my ministry?\u00a0 What should I give attention to?\u00a0 And when I get those sort of e-mails I just quote 1 Timothy 4:13; here\u2019s what you\u2019re to do, Paul says to Timothy, a pastor, \u201cUntil I come, give attention\u201d that would be effort, wouldn\u2019t it, \u201cto the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what you\u2019re supposed to do in your ministry.\u00a0 You mean it\u2019s that easy?\u00a0 Yes it is.\n\nI loved at Dallas Seminary studying under the older professors, some of whom have gone home to be with the Lord, because every once in a while they would boil down ministry to one or two points.\u00a0 Some student would ask, for example, Dr. Walvoord, or Dr. Toussaint who I think is still alive but struggling with his health, what is necessary to be effective in ministry.\u00a0 And they would clear their throat and I would pull out my pad and pencil and get ready to write expecting some long treatise, do these ten things.\u00a0 And these guys that had walked with the Lord for so many years had it so simple.\u00a0 Toussaint said do two things, number 1, teach the Scripture and number 2, love people.\u00a0 And I thought what else?\u00a0 That\u2019s it! It\u2019s simple\u2026 simple, easy.\n\nWe make things so complicated through these multi thousand page books that are produced today about how to plant and grow churches and it\u2019s just exhausting looking at all the diagrams, quite frankly, flow charts, and this person\u2026 I don\u2019t think it is that hard.\u00a0 Teach the Scripture and love people.\u00a0 Today in homiletics people sit under professors that give them massive outlines of how to preach.\u00a0 I asked Dr. Pentecost one time, how do you preach, expecting an outline.\u00a0 And he said just three things, he got it all from the Book of Ezra, Ezra did three things: number 1, Ezra read the Scripture, number 2, Ezra interpreted the Scripture, and number 3, Ezra applied the Scripture.\u00a0 He read it, he interpreted it, he applied it.\u00a0 Then he said to me, \u201cGo thou and do likewise.\u201d\u00a0 A complicated subject is reduced to something that easy.\u00a0 And so Daniel is told here you\u2019ve got insight now, it is in your lap,\u00a0 you be a steward of it.\u00a0 You discipline yourself to read it, understand it, interpret it and to teach it.\n\nNow why was Daniel given this prophecy of the seventy weeks?\u00a0 And I\u2019ll close with that question.\u00a0 Why was Daniel the guy, out of all the captives in Judah who was given this insight?\u00a0 It\u2019s very simple.\u00a0 God could trust Daniel with the revelation.\u00a0 How do I know that God could trust Daniel with the revelation?\u00a0 The rest of the Book of Daniel tells me.\u00a0 No matter where he was he was faithful.\u00a0 In fact, he\u2019s the one earlier in the chapter who is reading from the prophet Jeremiah, trying to figure out how long is the captivity and when will it end?\u00a0 Now if Daniel can be trusted with that he can be trusted with greater insight because the Bible teaches this: Luke 16:10, \u201cHe who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous and a very little thing is unrighteousness also in much.\u201d\n\nIsn\u2019t that why when we select elders and deacons, 1 Timothy 3, the Bible says look at how they govern their family, look at how they govern their home, because if they can\u2019t govern their own house how in the world are they ever going to govern God\u2019s house?\u00a0 It\u2019s a basic biblical principle.\n\nYou know, you look at David, the second king of the United Kingdom and when Samuel, the man of God, came to anoint the next king and he said to David\u2019s father, Jesse, bring out your boys, and he brought them all out and Samuel said there\u2019s something not right, you\u2019re not showing me everything, do you have another kid around her somewhere?\u00a0 Oh, you mean that scrawny bratty kid in the back there.\u00a0 Remember what David was doing?\u00a0 Tending sheep\u2026 tending sheep!\u00a0 His faithfulness in that area qualified him to be the king.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that interesting?\u00a0 Or look at Joseph.\u00a0 Joseph didn\u2019t wake up one day and become the second in command in Egypt.\u00a0 That happened to him about the age of 30.\u00a0 But what about from age 17 to age 30?\u00a0 No matter where Joseph was he was trustworthy; he was even trustworthy with someone else\u2019s wife.\u00a0 No matter where God put Joseph, Joseph could be trusted and God just kept promoting, promoting, promoting and finally he\u2019s the second in command of the known world.\n\nSee, we look at things that we have in our lives and we say this is just menial, it doesn\u2019t matter, so I fudge a few numbers on expense reports, so I overstate my hours, so I misrepresent my generosity, does it really matter, no one\u2019s watching.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is those are the most important decisions; those are the decisions which determine future roles, future leadership.\n\nYou know, when I was at the College of Biblical Studies I would give take home tests and you couldn\u2019t believe the criticism I got from my colleagues\u2014what are you doing!\u00a0 Do you not understand that those students are going to cheat?\u00a0 And my answer was always the same\u2014you can cheat me, you can fool me but there\u2019s someone\u00a0 you can\u2019t fool\u2026 God!\u00a0 God is watching everything you do on that test, whether you\u2019re going to be honest or not.\u00a0 And He\u2019s determining your future marital partner, because if you\u2019re going to cheat on a test you\u2019re going to cheat on him or her.\u00a0 He\u2019s determining your future role because if you can\u2019t be faithful on something that minor how in the world is God supposed to bless your ministry.\u00a0 How is God supposed to trust a person with eternal things, the souls of men and women, in terms of proclamation or shepherding.\u00a0 How can God trust you with those things when\u00a0 you\u2019re going to cheat on an exam?\u00a0 So what you do on this test I would tell the students is either going to increase or shrink your future.\u00a0 Now that got their attention.\u00a0 You\u2019re doing this for God, you\u2019re showing up at work, you\u2019re on time, you\u2019re doing what you\u2019re supposed to do, nobody is watching, nobody is watching the clock\u2026 God\u2019s watching!\n\nAnd this is who Daniel was; this is why he could be trusted with not just the reception of revelation but the discipline to understand and discern that revelation because he was faithful no matter where God put him.\u00a0 Is that you?\u00a0 Is that me?\u00a0 May God help us to understand these things as we look at Daniel\u2019s life and the life of prayer that he role modeled.\n\nIt may be that you\u2019re here today and you don\u2019t know God personally; you\u2019re showing up at church because that\u2019s what you do in the Bible belt, you show up at church.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is there\u2019s a God in heaven that not only made you but redeemed you and not only did He redeem you but He wants a personal relationship with you.\u00a0 He wants to walk with you through the trials and the struggles of life.\u00a0 He wants to bless you.\u00a0 He wants to increase your sphere of influence.\u00a0 That\u2019s what He wants to do.\u00a0 But how can you enter into those blessings if you\u2019ve never received His gift?\u00a0 His gift is what we call the gospel; the gospel is called good news because Jesus did the work.\u00a0 He suffered on our behalf, died on our behalf, resurrected on our behalf and what He asks lost people to do is to receive the free gift that H has given.\n\nIn the mind of God there\u2019s only one way to receive a gift and that\u2019s by faith, for by faith and without faith it is impossible to please God.\u00a0 [Hebrews 11:6, \u201cAnd without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.\u201d]\n\nOur exhortation here at Sugar Land Bible Church is to trust in what Jesus has done.\u00a0 If the Spirit places you under conviction our exhortation to you is to respond to that conviction and to receive, as a free gift, in the quietness of your own mind and heart, without raising a hand, joining a church, giving money, it\u2019s just a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where you receive by faith as a gift what he has done.\u00a0 That can happen right now in your life even as I am speaking.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you need more information on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\u00a0 As\u00a0 you receive this give continue to walk with this God that saved you, continue to grow in this God that saved\u00a0 you and watch the manifold blessings begin to be poured out on your life.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we stand today just overwhelmed at what we have and what You have done.\u00a0 Help us, Father, to walk in those things by grace this week, being good stewards of those things that You have entrusted to us.\u00a0 Make us people of faith, make us people of obedience, make us people based on the choices that we make the kind of people that become qualified for even greater blessings on the horizon.\u00a0 We ask that You\u2019ll continue to do this great work in our lives, in our prayer lives.\u00a0 We lift these things up in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t