“As soon as you began to pray,
an answer was given,
which I have come to tell you,
for you are highly esteemed.”

We probably do it more than we think. I would venture to guess that when crisis strikes most people instinctively begin to pray. When you pray do you review your situation and tell God how He should remedy the situation.

Do you stand before God like an attorney giving his opening statement to the jury who presents the case with an extensive explanation and then tells the jury what verdict they should render?

Picture if you would a basketball coach calling his last time out of the game. His team trails by three points with six seconds left to play.  During the time out he tells the team what play they will run and reviews with each player what their responsibility is.  As he finishes one of the players says, “No! We are not going to run that play we are going to run this play.

Such actions would not be tolerated yet in prayer we consistently tell God what to do.  Do we honestly think that God needs our help in deciding what to do? Do we think that God is a bumbling idiot of a God?  That he is making up the rules as He is going on.  God is not stumbling through crisis after crisis trying to figure out to do next.  That might be what we do, but it is certainly not what God does.  God has a specific plan and purpose for every single one of us.

Prayer attaches us to not just those plans but also the God of those plans. Daniel in prayer describes our God as

‘great and awesome’,
‘keeps His covenant’,
‘righteous’,
‘merciful and forgiving’

God is not in need of advisors; he is in need of followers.

The purpose of prayer then is not to advise God, but to submit to God. The beauty of prayer is

“As soon as you began to pray,
an answer was given,
which I have come to tell you,
for you are highly esteemed.”

God said through the prophet Isaiah,

“Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.”

Ron Susek in his book God Will Answer gives the following illustration.

A multi-ton ship filled with precious cargo may slide into New York’s harbor from the other side of the ocean, but it still needs one person to grab the rope and tie it to the dock. Without this person the captain cannot enter port and the supplies will never arrive.

Prayer is much like the dockworker’s job.  A sovereign ship filled with God’s answers to prayer slides into our lives.  God knows whether to send a passenger ship filled with just the right people, a cargo ship filled with just the right supplies.  It is the praying person who grabs the rope and attaches the will of God to his or her life.

Prayer pulls God into our chaos.  Prayer is intended to establish God’s will not determine it.  Prayer changes our hearts, our minds, and our attitudes by drawing us into God’s plan.

Just as God answered Daniel’s prayer, so we can have the confidence that God hears and answers our prayers.

It is important to notice how Daniel prayed.  Daniel prayed with deep passion. He had great concern for his nation and his people.  Daniel begged for mercy, not for help.  He knew that his people deserved God’s wrath and punishment. He prayed for mercy not on the basis of who the Israelites were but on the basis of who God is.

The result,

“As soon as you began to pray,
an answer was given.”

I want to challenge you to read again Daniel’s prayer, taking specific notice of how he prayed.  I want for you that you would be challenged to pray to God as Daniel did, appeal to God not because of who you are, but because of who God is.  I am sure when you do,

“As soon as you begin to pray,
an answer will be given.”