God Glorify Yourself Through Your People Again!

Daniel 9:17-19

"Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."

When Daniel prayed for God to restore Jerusalem he didn't pray for it because it was his desire or because it would be better for him. Sure, a restored Jerusalem would end the captivity of God's people and allow them to move home. This would most certainly be of great benefit to the people, making their life easier, more familiar, and granting them once again status among nations. It would mean they no longer lived under a curse but once again would be blessed by God. I wouldn't blame Daniel for wanting this to happen for what it would mean for the people.

However, Daniel's prayer, as recorded in Daniel chapter 9, shows his plea is for God's glory to once again be displayed. With words like 'for your sake' and 'your city and your people' he portrays a humble spirit before the Lord. Restoring the city and the people would bring glory and attention to the God of those people. Daniel is aware that the city belongs to God, the people belong to God, and the events that happen are all to bring glory to Himself.

If America could be compared to Jerusalem, we can see a nation that belongs to God and once was known to the whole world as a Christian nation serving the One True God, but now has lost her luster and status among the nations. Just as the sins of Jerusalem brought judgement and punishment, so has America's sins. Just as the people forgot their God, so has America. Just as Daniel recognized the times in which he lived, we, too, recognize we are living under judgement.

I know many people who are afraid of where America is headed and what the future will look life for our children. I know many who recognize that we have gone astray from our Christian roots and heritage. I know many who pray for things to be restored to their former glory. I am one of those who long for how things use to be.

The words in Daniel's prayer hit me hard this morning when I realized I have been praying for these things in my own desire, for my own comfort, for my own gain. I have not had Daniel's perspective that all of this is God's. It's his nation, his people, his story.

His nation and people USE to bring him a glory that reached to the ends of the entire earth when they understood their place under God, relied on him for everything, ruled according to his Word, and displayed a love of God through love for his creation and for all his people in the world. His nation and his people USE to point to him as the King of Kings, as the Creator of all, as the Redeemer, as the Sustainer and Giver of Life, as the Ruler over all.

How grieved God must be at how we have hidden his light in the world. How we have distorted and misrepresented who he is as the rest of the world has watched. Today we are a Christian nation who kills it's own, is greedy and proud, and are found seeking our own glory. It has become all about us and not about him at all. There is no glory to God in the highest coming from our nation.

Daniel desired God to restore Jerusalem and God's people to bring glory back to God. His heart was not seeking anything for himself but rather for the God he so faithfully served. Daniel knew their sins caused the judgement but he also knew God loved his people, was a merciful God, and that God wanted to restore them to their former glory because doing so would bring Glory to Himself.

When we pray for healing and restoration for America or for the Christian Church is it for our comfort and for our glory or is it to once again bring glory to God?

Do we desire for God's people to rise up to make a name for ourselves or so God might glorify Himself through us?

What is the condition of our heart in the matter? Arrogance or Humility? Self-seeking or God-seeking? Taker or Servant?

When we seek God's will, God's glory, God's purpose we align ourselves with his plan for the situation. When our heart and motives are right and pure, THEN God will display his glory through us once again, and by default we will be a blessed people again. We are His people and he desires for us to live for him and when we do he is glorified and we are blessed.

Lord, change my heart to align with yours. Let mine no longer seek for my own gain but for yours. Let me humbly serve and seek to honor you and trust that you will work out everything according to your perfect plan. Amen