ELEMENTS OF PRAYER: GLORIFYING GOD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

Daniel 9:4

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Yesterday, we started a six devotion series on the elements of prayer by examining the importance of preparing ourselves before we come before the Lord with our petitions and praises. Specifically, we saw where it is critical to get our attitude, focus, and heart right with God as we direct our attention and direction His way.  

So what’s next?

What should we do once we are properly prepared to bring our prayers to the Lord?

We find the answer as we look at the opening words of Daniel’s prayer found in Chapter 9. Look again at those words here:

I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”  Daniel 9:4

Note that Daniel begins his prayer with words that glorify God and pay Him the ultimate honor, words of reverence that do the following:

1. Recognize God for who He is.

“I prayed to the Lord my God.”

Daniel prays to not just any God but his God, the God who made Him, the God who was Master over him, the God who loved him like a child because He was Daniel’s heavenly Father. Daniel recognized God for who He was and there was no other person he would place his hope and trust in.

As we find ourselves in need today, we need to follow the lead of Daniel and recognize that we have a God who is our Creator, a Parent in heaven like no other who is for us and ever wanting the best for us.

2. Acknowledge God for who He is.

“Lord, the great and awesome God.”

Think about it. We are children of a God who possesses infinite power and might, a Father who can do all things. Nothing is beyond the works of His hands and He has no rival anywhere. This is the awesome God Daniel came before to pray and this same God is the God we raise our petitions to today.

Truly, if this God is for us, who can stand against us? (Romans 8:31)

3. Praise God for what He gives.

“who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

God had made a promise with His people many years before Daniel lifted his prayer to Him.

The promise was simple.

God would be the God of the Israelites and they would be His people. All He demanded was that they be obedient to His commands and worship Him and Him alone. It was a covenant of love that He never broke although His people failed to keep up their end of the promise, something we will see as we continue looking at this prayer of Daniel.

Today, God’s covenant of love is still in play. He is still our God and we are still His people, His children who He cares for dearly. And as any father who cherishes his children, God raises us up to be the people we need to be by giving us His direction and guidance, expecting our obedience.

Daniel opened his prayer by glorifying God, recognizing and acknowledging Him for who He was before praising Him for what He gives. In doing so, he offers us all a model to follow, a model that begins with preparation and getting into the right mindset before we bring words of honor and adoration to the Lord, the great and awesome God.

Tomorrow we look at the matter of confession.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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