Welcome

1. Adult II Couples Class Welcome discoverjoy.com

2. Tell us what your job is now, but also as a child what you wanted to be when you grew up? Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

3. Prayer Requests -Tony: Cancer treatments -Cathy Laster: Cancer treatments -Abraham Garcia: Cancer treatments -William Stephenson: Biopsy -The Savages -Country Haven Church -Rebekah Heup -Woffords traveling -Global Missions Offering

4. Church Stuff Class Events Church Events • Benevolence Fund • R.E.A.P. (R-Team) • Scripture Readers Needed • Monthly Fellowships • September?? • October?? • November?? • Dinner out Friday (28 Sept) • 5th Sunday Breakfast (30 Sept) • Missions Banquet (Italia) • Quarterly Service Project • Samaria Project? • Blood Pressure Checks (9 Sept) • Business Mtg (12 Sept) • Missions Banquet (15 Sept) • Youth SNAC (16 Sept) • Children’s Wacky Night (19 Sept) • Men’s Camp Out (21-22 Sept) • Olive Grove Terrace Visitation (23 Sept) • Crochet Classes (29 Sept) • Men’s Prayer Breakfast (6 Oct) • Sunday School Teacher Luncheon (7 Oct) • Youth Crazy Night (10 Oct) • Women’s Fall Retreat (12-13 Oct)

5. Tell us what your job is now, but also as a child what you wanted to be when you grew up? Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

6. Chronological Bible Discipleship Iva May and Dr. Stan May week thirty-six Daniel/2Chronicles/Ezra /Nehemiah/Psalms/Haggai/Zechariah

7. Review Creation: God reveals His goodness through creation and His mercy in response to sin. Patriarchs: God reveals His response to the faithfulness of men (Job, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph). Exodus: God liberates Israel, and leads them to the Promised Land and shapes them into a nation holy to Himself. Conquest: Joshua, relying on God’s presence and power, leads Israel to possess and settle the Promised Land.

8. Review Judges: Every man does what is right in his own eyes, and Israel falls into the sin cycle. Kingdom: Israel asks for a king and God raises up a succession of kings from Saul to Solomon who rule over a united Israel. Divided: Israel divides into the northern and southern kingdoms and each descends into rebellion and idolatry, inciting God’s judgment.

9. Captivity Era • Beginning in 605 B.C. the armies of Babylon invaded Judah (S. Kingdom) • After a political rebellion Nebuchad-nezzar lays siege to Jerusalem until it falls in 597 B.C. • Installs Zedekiah as king, but he rebels • The prophet Jeremiah urges Jerusa-lemto accept Babylonian captivity • Prophesies that God will bring them back after the land rests for 70 years • In 588 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar responds to Zedekiah’s trea-son by again laying siege to Jerusalem • Jerusalem falls in 587 B.C. and the city and temple are des-troyed; the inhabitants are killed or deported to Babylon

10. Context • God speaks about future events • Immediate future (the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin) • Distant future (the coming Redeemer from the seed of Adam) • Far distant future (this Redeemer will crush the serpent’s head) • God tells Noah about the flood which would come and destroy the world in 120 years • God promises to make Abraham a great nation in the land in which he sojourns • In Deuteronomy, God gives a great many details about Israel’s future

11. Context What’s been going on in the Life of Daniel? • Lived in Babylon for 60 years • Served kings of Babylon, Medes, Persians • Has been elevated to high positions in the government • Slandered by jealous peers • Set up by his enemies • Thrown into the lion’s den and delivered • He has never faltered in believing that God had not forgotten Israel and would restore them one day • After reading Jeremiah’s prophecies, realizes that the end of the 70 year captivity is at hand • This realization motivates him to pray

12. Overview • We will look at the prayer that Daniel prays and its framework • We will look at the answer God gives and its bearing on future events

13. Key Truth • Daniel’s pattern of effective prayer involved preparation, confession, and petition.

14. Captivity Era Daniel 9 A Kingdom-sized Prayer Daniel’s Preparation for Prayer Daniel’s Prayer of Confession Daniel’s Prayer of Petition Daniel’s Prayer is Answered

15. Daniel’s Preparation for Prayer Daniel 9:1-4 Nehemiah 1 Matthew 6

16. Preparation for Prayer • Daniel is an Old and Wise Servant in a Secular Government (1) • The Medes have conquered Babylon • He has been retained as an official in the court of Darius the Mede • He still Desires to Hear from God through the Reading the Prophet Jeremiah (2) • He sees that Jeremiah had prophesied that the captivity would last 70 years; the end of that time was approaching • Meditation on the Word of God motivated him into a focused time of prayer

17. Preparation for Prayer • The elements of Daniel’s approach to God (3) • Prayer = interceding for his people • Supplications = seeking God’s favor for the people • Fasting, sackcloth and ashes = picture of denial of service to self • Daniel Begins His Prayer with Praise (4) • Introducing prayer with praise is seen in other noteworthy prayers • Nehemiah 1:5 • Matthew 6:9 • Daniel’s Praise for God • Proclaims God’s greatness • “…the great and awesome God…” • He promotes and magnifies God’s power • Man is the only creature able to do this • Proclaims God’s faithfulness and mercy • “…who keeps His covenant and loving-kindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments…” • Points out God’s mercy and shows an understanding for the need of it

18. Discussion How does Daniel’s preparation for prayer differ from what we do today? Does praising God in our prayers make Him powerful? What is gained by beginning our prayers with praise?

19. Daniel’s Prayer of Confession Daniel 9:5-8

20. Prayer of Confession • Daniel Identifies Himself with the Sins of the People (5) • “we have sinned” • Daniel apprehended the sin of a nation, despite the fact that he was a man of few faults before God • Not One Person of the Nation of Israel was Guiltless (7) • “…the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel…” • God’s consistent righteousness only served to highlight Israel’s faithlessness

21. Prayer of Confession • Confession only comes with seeing the specific problem…(5-6) • Sinned = missed the mark bringing on guilt • Committed iniquity = immoral behavior • Acted wickedly = brought judgment on themselves • Rebelled = set themselves against God • Turned from God’s law = set aside the role of the Law in their lives • Ignored God’s correction = ignored the prophets and judgments • …andaccepting God’s judgment as just (8) • They possessed the shame, because they made a decision to sin • The situation of the captivity was completely justified by the gravity of the sins of the people

22. Discussion Why was it important for Daniel to focus so much attention on confession? What role should confession play in our prayers? Remind us of our need for God’s forgiveness (keeps us humble) Daily, regular cleansing (“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 Jn 1:9) Make our prayers acceptable to God Keep us spiritually responsive and agile; able to make last second requests of God (being “prayed up”)

23. Daniel’s Prayer of Petition Daniel 9:16-18

24. Prayer of Petition • God Desires that We Make Requests of Him • God is pleased when we seek Him for the desires of our heart • Phil 4:6 - Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. • John 16:24 - Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. • Psalm 84:11 - For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. • The point of Daniel’s prayer was to bring a request of God • His approach to God’s throne was paved with praise and confession • His request was in line with what God promised in scripture

25. Prayer of Petition • Daniel ENDS His Prayer with a Petition (16-18) • That God’s anger toward Judah would be satisfied (vs.16) • That God would restore His relationship with the people (vs. 17) • That God’s answer would be based on an understanding of their desperate need of God, not His need of them (vs. 18)

26. Discussion What motivated Daniel to bring his prayer of petition before God? Jeremiah 25 How did Daniel’s petition measure up with God’s will? How do you think this affected what Daniel asked God to do?

27. Daniel’s Prayer is Answered Daniel 9:20-27

28. Daniel’s Prayer Answered • While Daniel is Praying, the LORD sends Gabriel to Answer his Prayer and Give him Understanding of Israel’s Future • Immediate future – Israel will be restored to the land • Distant future – 490 years (“seventy sevens”) represent the 70 missed Sabbath years (24-25) • At the end of these 490 years, the Messiah will come to offer Himself as atonement for man’s sins • Far distant future – Gabriel reveals God’s plans for Israel during the final seven years before the millennial reign (26-27)

29. Conclusions • Regular focused study of God’s Word will lead us to understand our need for prayer • Prayer, supplication and fasting, makes us more like Christ than most other things we can do as believers. • Effective prayer is more than just running into God’s presence, asking for stuff, and running back out

30. Conclusions • Daniel’s prayer framework provides a pattern for effective prayer • Preparation – regular time in God’s Word resulting in conviction and direction • Praise – taking time to praise God resulting in a proper perspec-tive of His authority and our need to submit to that authority • Confession – admitting faults and failures with an attitude of repentance • Petition – Preparation, praise and confession brings us to a point of understanding God’s will and asking for those things that fall in line with it • God hears AND answers our prayers in His time

31. Bible TRIViA QUIZ The Books of Daniel & Ezra(1pts) • What did Daniel do when he learned of the decree that no man should pray to any god but King Cyrus? • “Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house…and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.” (Daniel 6:10) • When they saw the reconstructed foundation of the temple, how did the older people who remembered the original temple react? • “Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes…” (Ezra 3:12) • What did the enemies of Judah and Benjamin first seek to do when they heard that they exiles were rebuilding the temple? • “…they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” (Ezra 4:1-2)

32. BONUS ROUND Bonus Questions(2pts) • In Daniel 8, the vision of the two-horned ram represented the kings of what two nations that would conquer Babylon? • “The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.” (Dan 8:20) • What were the words that the hand wrote on the wall during Belshazzar’s great feast? • “Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.’ ” (Daniel 5:25)

33. Jeremiah 29 Isaiah 44-45 2 Chronicles 36 Ezra 1, 6, & 14 The King of All Kings Adult II Couples Class Next week….. discoverjoy.com