First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

• The vision of the messenger was so overwhelming, it nearly made Daniel faint. Daniel was emptied of all of his strength, but God transferred his strength to him through the messenger. God equips us for what he calls us to. He was getting Daniel spiritually and physically ready for the truth he was about to reveal through this fourth and final vision.
• Once again, we see evidence that God hears our prayers. The messenger said to Daniel, “For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words” (vs. 12).
• Dee Duke once said, “Almost everyone believes that prayer is important. But there is a difference between believing that prayer is important and believing it is essential. "Essential" means there are things that will not happen without prayer.” Daniel clearly believed that prayer is essential, that things will not happen without it.
• The messenger was trying to get to Daniel to reveal the truth of the vision, but he was delayed for 21 days in a spiritual battle. “If once the curtain were pulled back, and the spiritual world behind it came to view, it would expose to our spiritual vision a struggle so intense, so convulsive, sweeping everything within its range, that the fiercest battle fought on earth would seem, by comparison, a mere game.” Abraham Kuyper
• God equips us for this battle, giving us all the armor we need. Read Ephesians 6: 10-20, and also Romans 8: 38-39!
• In seasons of trials, what disciplines are you practicing that enable you to walk in obedience to God? What disciplines are you neglecting now that God might be calling you to revitalize?
• What do you spend time praying for that is outside of your own personal needs or beyond the boundaries of your lifetime?
• How does this chapter cause you to fear less as you consider the hard parts of your life and uncertain aspects of your future?

We are a collection of liars, adulterers, cheats, fakers, gossips, drunks, idolaters, doubters--sinners every one of us. But we gather in the hope that we can, as a result of Jesus’ call, get off the highway and turn around. Jesus comes to us even when we are years down the wrong road. Jesus finds and warms the long-buried heart, even when we thought it was lost and turned to stone.

• God hears our prayers immediately. "As soon as you began to pray, a word went out." God listens to our prayers, not because he has to, but because he wants to, because we are his children that he loves.
• God's plans are so much bigger than we can imagine. He wanted Daniel to see that his plan involved so much more than merely a return to the land and the rebuilding of a city. God's plan didn't end with Jerusalem, it ends with Jesus!
• Daniel prayed a human-sized prayer, and he got a God-sized answer!
• There are many ways to interpret this vision, and many variations of the way the segments calculate out, but all variations point us to the Anointed One, Jesus, and his redemptive, atoning work. All variations tell us that in the end, God wins!
• Our salvation was written in history, at the exact moment God intended. "Infinite wisdom dictated the hour at which the Messiah would be born, and the moment at which he would be cut off." History doesn't happen by chance; it's being unfolded according to God's perfect plan, in his perfect timing.
• God included Daniel in his kingdom work, because he loved him. This is true for us today (Ephesians 2: 10). Until Jesus comes again, we have a purpose here on this earth. He includes us in his work, we are part of the unfolding of his plan. So we hold firm, we walk in his ways, and we do what we can to make him known.
• Question for Reflection: We, like Daniel, pray for things right in front of us, which is right and good. But God's plan is far grander than we realize. How can you make sure you pause regularly and meditate on the cosmic extent of God's perfect plans?

How does forgiveness free paralysis in life and mission? How does Jesus connecting to us at the point of our deepest need loosen up our whole lives to be lived more fully for Christ? How does faith--robust, risky, sold out faith--get us connected to the One who alone forgives and brings to life?

Favorite takeaways (so many this week!):
• As we deepen our understanding of God as revealed in the Bible, our praying becomes richer and more soundly based on who God is.
• Just because we have confidence in the promises of God, and just because we rest in the sovereignty of God, doesn’t give us permission to be complacent toward God.
• God’s sovereignty is not disconnected to the prayers and the work of his people. He desires our participation to fulfill his purposes, even though he doesn't need it. What a privilege!
• By naming our sins specifically and confessing them before the Lord, we take genuine accountability and it rightly convicts us in a deeper, transformative way.
• Daniel doesn’t just intercede on behalf of God’s sinful people and leave himself out of the equation. He bears the burden with them, as an active participant. We, too, are called to corporate confession. We bear the burdens of the sin and brokenness on behalf of the entire body of Christ.
• Daniel appealed for mercy for the sake of God's glory, not his own. He asked God to restore his people and his city and his temple because it will bring glory to HIS Name. 2 Corinthians 4: 15: “For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”
• Jesus would come and not just bear the burdens of ours sins, but he would carry them to the cross once and for all. 2 Corinthians 5: 21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” He who knew no sin, and yet instead of confessing to his Father on our behalf, he took our place!
• Jesus is always and forever interceding for us even now. He is our perfect mediator, continually praying for us, as our great high priest who pleads our cause before God the Father.
• What difference does it make to know that Jesus is constantly interceding on your behalf? How does that affect your prayer life?
• What do you think Jesus is praying for you right now?
• What promises of God do you need to rest upon today? You may consider rewriting Daniel’s prayer for yourself, incorporating these promises.

The question of the willingness of Jesus is urgent for all of us. Especially at the point of our greatest shame and deepest need. We might imagine that Jesus is willing to be with us when we are being good. When we are doing our Bible study or serving in a mission. When we are writing a check or being nice to someone. Sure, I imagine Jesus is willing to bless me when I am on the road of serving him. But is he willing to be with me in those back streets of the soul? YES!