MIDWEEK MEDITATION

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 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. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

Daniel 9:3-10

Sometimes to go forward, you must look back.
 
Daniel was reflecting on God’s promise to return His people to their land. After so many years living in exile, visions of home, of the temple, and of what life used to be like must have been dim. But he clung to that promise of his people returning one day. Fearful that God’s people might continue in their cycles of sin and unfaithfulness, Daniel goes to his knees in prayer. 

He prays not only for himself, but for God to forgive their long history of sin and brokenness. He was a spiritual leader who interceded on behalf of others and was willing to break the cycles of sin in his own generation. This man, so far from home, helped return an entire people back to their land and back to their God. 

We desperately need spiritual leaders today. Who can you intercede on behalf of? What cycles of sin need to be challenged and broken in your context?

May you lead one person back to God this week.