O Canada, We Stand On Guard In Prayer For Thee
Daniel 9:1-19; Psalm 72:8; Amos 6:1
By Ralph Juthman
INTRODUCTION
Video: O Canada
Tomorrow, July 1st we celebrate our nation of Canada’s 146th birthday!
The Canadian charter explicitly states that ‘Canada is founded upon the principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.’
Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley ( of the hat company), Premier of New Brunswick, one of Canada’s founding fathers, was a God fearing man. He woke up on the day they were to decide the name of this new confederation and read from Psalms 72:8,
‘He shall have Dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth.’
So Tilley suggested that the new confederation be called the Dominion of Canada, and it was so named on July 1, 1867.
The word Dominion has been removed from our national identity for a while now. But the inspired association with Psalm 72:8 remains the foundation of our spiritual heritage. In fact if you were to go to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, this verse is still forever ensconced on the concrete entrance into the Parliament buildings.
It does not take long for a visitor to Canada to see how far we have drifted as a nation from those biblical moorings.
I wonder what Sir John A MacDonald, Sir Samuel Tilley and the other fathers of confederation would think of their federation today?
• Sexual perversion such as legalization of homosexual unions!
• Rebellion is idolized by virtually every section of society. We live in one of the most rebellious generations of all time!
• Witchcraft ( As drug addiction continues to be the scourge of the nation, our government moves periously closer to legalizing marijuana)
• Violence (Abortion on demand and now Quebec is set to legalize euthanasia, an act that will spill over the rest of the nation)
However the greatest enemy for our nation is not another country, terrorism, or gay marriage. No, the greatest enemy that our country faces is COMPLACENCY and INDIFFERENCE from within the church.
Amos 6:1 laments, “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria…’
We are a blessed nation. But the danger we have is to take the blessing for granted, and like the Isrealites forget God and what He has commanded us. We have become comfortable and complacent.
If we are to see any change in the direction Canada is taking it will come when the church wakes up from its lethargy and with passion turns to the Lord in prayer and mission.
Is there hope for our nation? YES! With God there is always hope!
If we expect to see Canada return to God, then revival will begin with God’s people, the church.
I can see a lot of similarities between Canada and where the people of Israel were spiritually. Daniel receives a wakeup call from Gods word, and proceeds to intercede for his people.
We stand on guard for Canada when…lessons Daniel teaches us would be good for the church in Canada to emulate.
1. We UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF THE LORD
In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the
Babylonian kingdom-- in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures,
according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of
Jerusalem would last seventy years.
I picture Daniel reading and studying his copy of the Scriptures. He was an old man,
approaching 90 years of age. He had been sent to Babylon almost 70 years earlier and had
proven himself as the prime minister under 3 successive kings. Here’s what he was reading
from Jeremiah 29:10-12:
“When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious
promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will
call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
We know that Daniel and others had been taken captive in 605 B.C. and that it was now
538 B.C. and so Daniel has been in captivity for 67 years. He recognizes that his people are
only 3 years away from returning to Jerusalem. He also realizes that they are not spiritually
prepared, so he is driven to his knees in prayer, simply from reading and understanding the
Word of God.
Although things looked humanly hopeless and it appeared impossible that the exile would
end soon, Jeremiah now had a firm word from the Lord. Are you facing anything that looks
hopeless right now? If so, stand on the promises of the Word of God and pray like Daniel
did.
I think there was probably a step between his reading of the prophet Jeremiah and Daniel’s
prayer. I picture Daniel reading the Scriptures and then spending some time meditating
upon what he had just read. He rolled these truths over in his mind. Then he prayed.
Even though God announces what He is going to do in Jeremiah 29, He also indicates very
clearly that He will bring it about through prayer. As His people pray, He will accomplish
what He is going to do. Prayer is so important that God will often delay what He says He will
do until we start responding in prayer. Prayer is not a way to get God to work for us ¬ it’s His
way of involving us in what He intends to do.
If we wish to see a turnaround in the nation it will begin as the people of God
return to the basics of the Word of God and prayer
We need to be people who return to Gods word then we
2. We TURN TO THE LORD
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in
sackcloth and ashes.
Daniel takes off his beautiful oriental robes and jewelry and dresses himself in a simple
gown of rough burlap. The term “sackcloth” is used 46 times in the Bible and was a symbol
of deep grief and mourning.
Spreading ashes on the head was more of a statement of guilt and symbolized deep
repentance. When you’re covered with ashes, you don’t feel clean because they represent
something that is burned or lost. In the Bible, the repentent person often covered their entire
body with filthy ashes. Basically, when you put on sackcloth and ashes, you aren’t
comfortable, and you don’t feel clean. It was an outward sign of inner pain and agony.
Fasting is another act of humility that enhances prayer. You fast because you are so serious
about prayer that you don’t have time to eat. Fasting also teaches you to say “No” to your
bodily appetites so that you can focus on prayer.
When we are humble before God, others will see it, but we aren’t doing it for
Have you ever fasted? If you have, don’t talk about it, or you’ll spoil it. But if you wonder why
your prayers don’t seem to be getting past the light bulbs, perhaps your pride is getting in the
way.
Verse 3 says that Daniel “pleaded with the Lord.” That’s a Hebrew word that means, “to
wrestle” like Jacob did with the angel in Genesis 32. Then verse 4 says, “I prayed to the
Lord my God...” The Hebrew word “prayed” is an emphatic imperative that denotes extreme
intensity.
So many of our prayers are just vain repetitions. My own prayers seem anemic compared to
Daniel’s. Many of us are like the little boy who said his prayers one night and got confused
with his rhymes, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If he hollers
let him go . . . eeny, meeny, miney, mo.” What?
Some of our prayers are so dull and lifeless that we could just say, “Dear Lord, yadda,
yadda, yadda.” Daniel’s prayer was filled with urgency and fervency. Ten times he says
something like, “O, Lord” or “O My God.” The word “O” is actually an untranslatable word
that represents a groan.
Romans 8:26 says that when we are praying in the Spirit there are
often groans that can’t be uttered. Have you agonized in prayer? Have you wrestled and
groaned when you prayed?
If we are to see God move I our land, we must be people who walk in Gods way of humility,
Micah 6:8 says, ‘No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good and this is what he
requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your
God.
The key to receiving God’s blessing, is humble obedience to His will. James tells us, ‘he gives us
More grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the
humble."
3. We PRAY TO THE LORD
Daniel begins this prayer in the spirit of worship
I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong.
We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.
"Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame--the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, LORD, because we have sinned against you.
The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;
we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.
All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. "Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.
You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 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 sins and giving attention to your truth.
The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the LORD our God is righteous in
everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
Daniel pours out his heart to God in verses 4-5: “Oh Lord, the great and awesome God, who
keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands. We have sinned
and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your
commands and laws.”
He doesn’t make excuses; instead he admits that the nation of Israel has gotten exactly
what it deserved. He does not blame anyone else for their misery. Drop down to verse 13:
“Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have
not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to
your truth.” This is a prayer that needs to be prayed in our church and throughout America
today!
When you read Daniel’s prayer you notice that his confession is both personal and
collective.
He speaks about his sin even though Scripture does not record Daniel doing
anything wrong. He recognizes that he is part of a community of sinners when he says, “We
have sinned.” He didn’t say, “Oh, Lord they have sinned.” Have you ever noticed how easy
it is to confess other peoples’ sin?
Daniel recognizes that he is part of a group that has been punished by God for their shared
sins. While Daniel may not have been personally liable for the sins that caused his people to
be sent to Babylon for 70 years, he took responsibility. Friend, have you ever taken that
kind of responsibility for the sins of our nation?
We are much better at making excuses than confessing sin. We live in a “no-fault” culture
where you can get “no-fault” insurance, and a “no-fault” divorce. The mantra of our modern
culture is, “Hey, it’s not my fault.” And we’ve come up with some pretty names to excuse
our sin. We say, “I goofed” or “I blew it” or we talk about “mistakes” or “weaknesses.” What
we call a “moral failure,” God calls “adultery.” What we call “a little weakness,” God calls
“wickedness.” What we call “a mistake,” God calls “madness.” Proverbs 28:13 says,
“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds
mercy.”
Daniel was not only willing to confess his sins; he was willing to repent, that is, to change his
behavior. There can be no true confession without repentance. They are spiritual Siamese twins
that can’t be separated. If you think you can continue to sin and then just run to God and say,
“Oops, sorry I did it again,” then we don’t really understand the holiness of God.
A Sunday School teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word “repentance.” A
little boy put up his hand and said, “It’s being sorry for your sins.” A little girl also raised her
hand and said, “That’s true, but it’s being sorry enough to quit.”
True confession always starts with the general and then proceeds to the specific. Notice
what Daniel said in verse 5: “we have sinned and done wrong.” That’s general. Then he
gives some specific examples of how they had done this: “we have rebelled” - “we have
turned away from your commands and laws” - “we have not listened to your prophets.”
Drop down to verse 11: “All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to
obey you.”
It’s important to get detailed with God, because in confession you aren’t informing God of
your specific sins, you are agreeing with God about those things you have thought, done
and said.
Daniel admits that the mess they are in is their own fault. I really believe that one of our
major hindrances to prayer is that some of us are angry with God. You might not want to
admit this ¬ especially in church -- but it may be something you feel deep inside.
Maybe you feel like God has let you down.
Not so with Daniel. You can’t find a trace of anger towards God in this prayer. Daniel puts
the blame where it belongs ¬ on himself and on his people.
There is perhaps nothing harder for us to do than to admit we are wrong. Do you remember
how Fonzie on Happy Days struggled to admit he was wrong? “I was wrrrrrrrrrrr…wrrrrrrrr…I
was not right.” Denial is not just a river in Egypt. Some of you may be in trouble spiritually
because you are floating down the river of denial ¬ be careful because that river flows into
the ocean of disaster.
4. We seek the GLORY OF THE LORD
Notice verse 17. Daniel says that his prayer is “for your sake.” 19 different times in this prayer reference is made to God while man is referenced only 11 times. So many of our prayers are focused on our needs and concerns. Daniel prayed this prayer for the return and rebuilding of his nation and he died before these events were fully implemented. We have no record that he ever returned to the Holy Land. He wasn’t praying for himself because He was praying for God’s glory.
I’ve noticed an alarming tendency in evangelical circles where we think of God as just being there for me. The fact is that we are here for Him. Daniel’s petition is not for God to act in the way that best “meets man’s needs,” but rather for God to act in His own best interest.
Daniel’s prayer then concludes with a crescendo of boldness as he pleads with God to act. Look at verses 18-19:
“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.”
Daniel’s confession was the result of his deep sense of the majesty of God as displayed in His divine attributes. In verse 4, he calls God “great and awesome.” In verse 14, he refers to God as being “righteous in all he has done.”
James 4:3 says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” Could it be that one of the reasons our prayers are so ineffective is because we’re praying with wrong motives?
Try praying with the Glory of God as your goal, not your personal gain and watch what God does!
There are so many ways we can apply this passage today but I want to just mention one application. God’s people had really messed up. They had sinned repeatedly and were sent to another country as a direct result of their disobedience. But, God never forgot about them, did He? He had plans to bring them back, plans to prosper them and to give them hope again.
Friend, no matter how much you have sinned, there is always the promise of mercy, grace and forgiveness ¬ as you turn to God in humility and confess your sins. Someone has asked the question: “How far can you go in sin before God will no longer forgive you?” Answer: “No one knows because no one has ever gone that far.”
Are You praying for God’s glory to be revealed to Canada?
Video: God Bless You Canada
