7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God because they will return to me with all their heart.
Jeremiah 24:7 (CSB)
1. Hear His Voice Before I lift mine.
1 In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, a Mede by birth, who was made king over the Chaldean kingdom—2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be seventy. 3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel 9:1-3 (CSB)
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
John 15:7 (CSB)
10 For this is what the Lord says: “When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:10-11 (CSB)
2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
James 4:2-3 (CSB)
2. Fix my eyes on His face, not fear.
3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel 9:3 (CSB)
6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 (CSB)
31 “But seek his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you.
Luke 12:31 (CSB)
15 I will depart and return to my place until they recognize their guilt and seek my face; they will search for me in their distress.
Hosea 5:15 (CSB)
3. Pour Out My Heart Honestly
3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel 9:3 (CSB)
I turned to the Master God, asking for an answer—praying earnestly, fasting from meals, wearing rough penitential burlap, and kneeling in the ashes. I poured out my heart, baring my soul to God, my God:
Daniel 9:3-4 (MSG)
4 In those days and at that time—this is the Lord’s declaration—the Israelites and Judeans will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the Lord their God. 5 They will ask about Zion, turning their faces to this road. They will come and join themselves to the Lord in a permanent covenant that will never be forgotten.
Jeremiah 50:4-5 (CSB)
3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel 9:3 (CSB)
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: Ah, Lord—the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands—
Daniel 9:4 (CSB)
5 we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commands and ordinances. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, ancestors, and all the people of the land. 7 Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel—those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you. 8 Lord, public shame belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. 9 Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the Lord our God by following his instructions that he set before us through his servants the prophets.
Daniel 9:5-10 (CSB)
13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to your truth.
Daniel 9:13 (CSB)
17 Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of your servant. Make your face shine on your desolate sanctuary for the Lord’s sake.
Daniel 9:17 (CSB)
18 Listen closely, my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that bears your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before you based on our righteous acts, but based on your abundant compassion. 19 Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for your own sake, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your name.
Daniel 9:18-19 (CSB)
20 While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the Lord my God concerning the holy mountain of my God—21 while I was praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the first vision, reached me in my extreme weariness, about the time of the evening offering. 22 He gave me this explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding. 23 At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God. ,So consider the message and understand the vision:
Daniel 9:20-23 (CSB)
14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (CSB)