Daniel 9:20-27
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The Seventy Sevens
Summary
"As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given..."
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Text
Daniel 9:20-23
Daniel's prayers are answered! The vision comes to him while he's still in prayer, and as a result of his prayer. His prayer is powerful and effective (James 5:16). He says that he is "speaking and praying," so we may understand that he was praying aloud. He was also confessing "my sin and the sin of my people," demonstrating his degree of identification with his people.
Why pray? For many reasons, but including 1) God has ordained that he works in response to prayer, and he commands it; 2) Prayer makes us dependent on God; 3) Prayer is part of God's sanctifying work in us. Kierkegaard the Danish Christian existentialist/philosopher said, "Prayer does not change God, it changes Him who prays."
