Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Daniel 9:4-10
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, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 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. 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. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 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. (ESV)
by Linda Harris
As Daniel prayed for the Hebrews, he could have said, “They sinned; they rebelled; they disobeyed.” We know Daniel as an upright man, yet he included himself in the confession.
Prayer revolutionaries of today are taking responsibility for the sins of previous generations, asking God to forgive generational sins (C. Peter Wagner, Warfare Prayer). Some people rationalize, “Our generation didn’t break the treaties with Native Americans; we aren’t responsible for their plight.” But such apathy doesn’t break the cycles of poverty and addictions rampant on reservations. Ask God how you can help correct the transgressions of previous generations.
Copyright Information
Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2008, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service .
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