Praying For Our Nation
Daniel 9:3-19
Introduction
Have you ever wondered what it means to live within another country? Whether you are a citizen or a long time resident, what does that mean to us? We have a number of rights. First of all, we have the right to take for granted all that we have. We live in a country with very few natural disasters, with an extremely high standard of living, reasonably low crime rates, and the freedom to do most of the things we would like to do. The point is that we do not even want to think about these things. Obviously they are not repulsive, but we would like to put them into the category of breathing air and a beating heart. We are glad that they are there, but we don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about it. What is our second right? We also have the right to complain loudly when things don’t go our way. If a politician makes a bad decision or the economy weakens or if things are just a bit uncomfortable, we can point fingers and make a lot of noise. But we have another right. We have the right to pray for our nation. This is more than a right, it is a responsibility. Paul tells us: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Timothy 2:1–2 ESV) The focus here is on the praying for leaders, but we need to pray for our nation in general. To learn how to do that, we are going to look at one of the most powerful prayers for a nation, that of Daniel.
Daniel’s Prayer
Daniel’s nation was in a time of crisis. This prayer was not even prayed within the territorial limits of the nation. When Daniel was just a boy, Judah was invaded and conquered by the Babylonian Empire. The Babylonians took the best of society and exiled them, putting them to work in the civil service for the Empire. So you have the leaders, the ones gifted to rebuild the nation, left in exile to help build up the nation that conquered Judah. This left the rest of the people in Judah struggling to make ends meet. At the time of this prayer, Daniel is now an old man. He knows from prophecy that the time of the exile is nearing its end. While others might rejoice, Daniel knows that the problems that caused the exile have not been fully dealt with. You see, the exile of the Jews was not simply about an aggressive Babylonian Empire. The Jews had been unfaithful to God and unjust to others. God used the Babylonians as an instrument of his punishment and correction. As Daniel sees the end of the exile, he is afraid that Judah has not learned its lesson and could go through the same thing again. While others celebrate, Daniel prays. It is a prayer of repentance. We acknowledges the sin of the nation. He confesses the sin and acknowledges that God’s judgment is just. In many ways, Daniel’s prayer of confession here is similar to David’s prayer of confession in Psalm 51. There is only one big difference. We know the prayer in Psalm 51 is the result of David’s sin of adultery and murder. Listen to how Daniel prays. “We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.” (Daniel 9:5–8 NIV) Daniel includes himself in the confession and repentance, even though the Book of Daniel makes it clear that he was righteous and we have no record of Daniel ever compromising his faith. Why would Daniel do that? Why not point at the sinners and ask God to forgive THEM? Daniel knew he could not pray for his nation if he did not stand with his nation. In that way, he joined in their repentance. But on what basis could Daniel have hope? Was it based on Judah’s ability to be good enough? If that was the case, Daniel was in big trouble. Daniel makes it very clear. “We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.” (Daniel 9:18 NIV) Here we see the same principle we have seen over and over. Our hope is not in who we are but in the nature and character of God. Daniel knew Judah’s righteousness was not enough, but he did know that God’s mercy was enough.
Our Prayer
So here we are in Canada. We are not in exile. We have political freedom. We are able to live where we want. We are not in crisis. Or are we? Yes we should be thankful for what we have, but that does not mean there are no problems. What could possibly suggest crisis in our nation? There is a major problem of materialism. People in the west are focused on getting more and more and more. There is very little sense of contentment. We have the resources to drastically reduce plague, drought and famine, but we would rather spend our money on more stuff. What will God say to us when we are called to answer for the financial resources that we have been given? Where is Canada at spiritually? First of all, we have to be clear what our expectations are. We should not expect Canada to be a Christian country. You cannot legislate faith. Centuries ago, a king would become a Christian and it was expected that all their subjects would become Christians automatically with them. We should have no such expectations. So we cannot make people believe, but should Canada at least adopt Christian customs and values and make people live under them, even if they believe otherwise? I think that would be bad thing and would be a huge obstacle to people coming to faith. You may not realize this, but the separation of church and state is a Baptist distinctive that we hold on to. But what we mean by separation of church and state is not what others mean. The first Baptists emerged in a world where governments were closely aligned with churches. A denomination would become a state church and the government would persecute people of other denominations. Then there would be a change of government and thus a change of state church, which would mean revenge against the previous state church and those who supported it. The Baptists saw the folly of this and vowed to always avoid that close relation to a government. That is a healthy separation of church in state. Where Canada has gone wrong is in a misunderstanding of this. People have misunderstood freedom of religion for freedom of religion. I have heard people speak of separation of church and state as a reason why religion must remain completely private, ignoring the fact that separation of church and state as a legal principle is American and not Canadian. While we do not want Baptist or even Christian as the state church, our crisis is that Canada is moving into a place where any public display of religion is not tolerated. We do not want to be the voice of Canada but we want to be a voice in Canada but that voice is being taken away from us. So the crisis in our nation is that Christian values are being removed our society and those values are being replaced by materialism. We need to repent. What do I mean we need to repent? We are not the ones who taking our nation down the drain. We have nothing to confess. If you are not convinced by Daniel’s example that we should stand with our nation in repentance, let me share a greater example. We know that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jesus was sinless and did not need to repent. But he was willing to stand with his nation in repentance, as a sign of solidarity. If Jesus was willing to do this, how much more should we stand with our nation? The problem is, it does not look like Canada has had a major change for the good. We can not rely on the righteousness of our nation in order to earn forgiveness. Thankfully, we do not have to. We need to pray for nation, trusting in God’s great love and compassion. It is in God’s mercy, in his amazing grace that there is hope for our nation.
Conclusion
Daniel is an incredible example of a man willing to intercede for his nation. Instead of just complaining or pointing fingers, Daniel was willing to pray. Daniel’s prayer was one in which he stood with his nation, sharing in the responsibility for the crisis and standing with them in confession and repentance. Daniel trusted in the mercy of God that there yet be hope for Judah. Canada is in crisis, although a somewhat different form than that of Judah. We have turned our back on our Christian heritage and have embraced materialism. We need to stand with Canada in repentance, even if we do not feel personally responsible for Canada’s problems. We need to intercede to God on behalf of Canada, trusting not in the righteousness of out nation but in the amazing grace of our God.
