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Category Archives: The Bible
Prayer in Daniel, just the verses
| Daniel 9:3 | Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. |
| Daniel 9:13 | “”As [it is] written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth |
| Daniel 9:17 | “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. |
| Daniel 9:21 | yes, while I [was] speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. |
Its great to just look at the verses related to prayer in the Old testament book of Daniel.
God’s Word and Prayer
God’s Word is a Treasure to be Pursued and essential for Prayer
In Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints —
Wow, note the connection between the Word of God and prayer. So the Word of God is really import to our prayer life. More about that later.
The Bible is the Word of God. Few things can change your life for the better than the time you spend studying God’s Word. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said this of God’s wisdom, “13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.” Again in Proverbs 8:10-11 where wisdom personified is speaking, “Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold; For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.” Read those verses again! God’s wisdom is a treasure. Who doesn’t love the thought of going on a treasure hunt? If we knew the location of some buried treasure, we would spare no effort to find it. If we had to miss a meal or two while we dig for treasure—no problem! Job felt that way, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12b). Job didn’t just say God’s Word was more important to him than food but more important than his necessary food. Think about it! The importance of God’s Word wasn’t lost on Jeremiah either, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).
God’s Word is a Treasure to be Pursued
The Bible is the Word of God. Few things can change your life for the better than the time you spend studying God’s Word. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said this of God’s wisdom, “13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.” Again in Proverbs 8:10-11 where wisdom personified is speaking, “Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold; For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.” Read those verses again! God’s wisdom is a treasure. Who doesn’t love the thought of going on a treasure hunt? If we knew the location of some buried treasure, we would spare no effort to find it. If we have to miss a meal or two while we dig for treasure—no problem! Job felt that way, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” Job didn’t just say God’s Word was more important to him than food but more important than his necessary food. Think about! The importance of God’s Word wasn’t lost on Jeremiah either, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”
Read the Word Daily
So you are eager to study the Bible. You have your good Bible translation in hand. Now what? Well, a good first place to start is a daily reading plan so you can begin to understand the big picture of God’s Word. Daily reading plans are available from various sources, including Olive Tree to help you read through the entire Bible in a year. Does reading through the entire Bible in a year sound like something you just don’t have the time for? Do you realize that by committing yourself to reading the Bible twelve minutes a day you could accomplish just that? That is just six minutes in the morning and six minutes in the afternoon. Everyone has time for that. We all waste more time than that every day don’t we? Just do it. If you are not ready for that kind of plan, then consider reading just one chapter in the book of Proverbs every day for a month. There are thirty-one chapters in the book of Proverbs, so that would work out great. Proverbs is filled with very practical information—wisdom from God that meets you where you are today. Another excellent choice for Bible reading is the Gospel of John, especially if you are a fairly new believer and want to get to know your Savior better. Even if you are an unbeliever, the Gospel of John is a good place for you to meet the Savior. John says he wrote his gospel that you might believe, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:30-31). If you are an unbeliever, you won’t understand the Bible very well, but God will be more than gracious in helping you to understand what you need to know in order to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior. So to begin Bible study, get into the habit of just reading your Bible—regularly.
Take Advantage of Bible-Study Tools
It is wonderful when you find a great Bible-teaching church, but your responsibility doesn’t stop there. You need to delve into God’s Word on your own on a daily basis. Remember, God’s Word is more important than your necessary food. Physical nourishment is essential, but spiritual nourishment is far more important to the Christian. This can sound rather intimidating but we are so blessed today to have an abundance of resources that can help us study the Bible on our own. The first requirement for every student of God’s Word is your textbook, and your textbook, of course, is the Bible and there are literally hundreds to choose from. When it comes to effective Bible study you should choose a Bible translation and not a paraphrase. The Bible is inspired by God as written in the original languages (Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic). Peter says in I Peter 1:21 that God superintended the authors of Scripture so that His Word was accurately committed to writing, “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Jesus Christ Himself taught in Matthew 5:18 that every individual word and, in fact, every letter of Scripture is inspired and extremely valuable, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Basically Jesus is saying, here, that every stroke of the pen, down the tiniest mark, is inspired by God and will never pass away. God is a God of details and the details are important. So choose your Bible translation carefully. Your christian friend should be able to help you make the best decision, here, but there are numerous good Bible translations out there including; the King James, New King James, New American Standard, The New International, The English Standard, and Holman Christian Standard, to name a few. This is not to say that you should not read a Bible paraphrase because they do have their place on your bookshelf, but if you can only afford one Bible, be sure it is a good word-for-word translation as opposed to a thought-for-thought translation or paraphrase. If you cannot afford a Bible, check with your church. I am sure someone there would be more than happy to give you a Bible. If you have access to a computer or hand-held device such as iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, etc., there are many Bibles available for free download. For a list of many free Bible resources, check with Olive Tree Bible Software at www.olivetree.com.
The Believer’s Insatiable Appetite for God’s Word
In light of the fact that God’s Word is a treasure, why do so few Christians love to dig into it? Why are most of us satisfied being spoon-fed a feel-good sermon on Sunday morning, but not willing to work ourselves at learning what God has to say to us? Take some time to meditate on that question in light of your own attitude toward studying God’s Word. Bible study is not optional for the believer, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, [I Peter 2:2]. First of all, that is a command, not a suggestion. We should desire or long for the pure milk of God’s Word as a baby desires or longs for milk when he is hungry. Every parent will smile at the imagery used by Peter here. There is no stopping the hungry baby, and the parents had better get the message or they will have no peace! A desire for God’s Word is one thing that typically characterizes a new believer. This is a God-given desire.