As you may remember from Friday's post, Daniel had been reading in the book of Jeremiah and came across the part where it was foretold that the city of Jerusalem would be desolate for seventy years. Daniel immediately turned to the Lord in prayer, and if we look at how he prayed, we discover a lot about how we can pray more effectively for our own town or our nation.
The bottom line was, Jerusalem was in a mess. A post-war disaster zone, it had lain broken down and almost empty for many decades. Daniel himself was one of the casualties of the fall of Jerusalem: as a young teenager, he had been carried off to Babylon as a prisoner of war and had spent his whole life working there as a servant. Daniel could very easily have begun his prayer by moaning, "Why God? Why did you allow such things to happen to innocent children?"
Instead, he begins his prayer by proclaiming the character of God: God is great, just and faithful, always fulfilling His covenant and keeping His promises to those who love and obey Him. (vs 4) He is always in the right. (vs 7) He is merciful and forgiving. (vs 9)
Why is this important? What's the point of taking time for proclamation, instead of simply launching into intercessory prayer? God already knows that He is faithful and just, so why is it important for us to tell Him so?
Well, for starters, it's just the normal way to show appreciation to those we're in relationship with. A parent might know that they're a good cook, but it still means a lot when the family says, "That was a delicious meal; you're a great cook. Thank you very much." A friend might be fully aware that they've gone the extra mile to support us in a crisis, but it still touches their heart when we say, "You have been such a good friend to me. Your help and encouragement have made all the difference." If we naturally express our appreciation to the people around us, why on earth would we hold back from doing the same thing with God?
Does that mean we proclaim God's character so that He can "feel good" about Himself? No, of course not. God is completely secure in who He is; He doesn't need us to reassure Him about it. No, there are two other reasons why it is vitally important for us to speak out who God is.
Reason one: Proclamation has a big effect on ourselves.
Jesus told us that we ask for something in faith, it will be done for us. Yet so often, as we start to pray, we realise that we don't really have the faith for what we want to ask for - especially if it's something that feels impossible to us. Proclaiming God's nature and character will build our faith, reminding us that He is strong and powerful - that nothing is impossible for Him. Declaring that God is merciful and forgiving, and that He wants everyone to be saved, will give us hope for that wayward family member we're praying for. Speaking out the justice of God prepares our hearts to pray to Him about that difficult or unjust situation we're facing.
And, in addition to building our faith, proclaiming the character of God also builds our own character, making us more godly. As a parent, you might rightly accept that it's your "job" to care for your kids and provide for them. You probably enjoy the feeling of being generous to them. And yet we still teach our kids to say thank you for what they receive. Why? Because we want them to grow up to be thankful, appreciative people. Because we're human, we might even feel a little hurt or disappointed if they don't express appreciation for who we are to them, what we give them or do for them. If we expect this from our kids, why would we think that it's okay for us not to do the same thing with God?!
So the first reason why proclamation is important is because it has a huge effect on ourselves:
a) it builds our faith
b) it builds our character.
But there's a second reason why it's vitally important for us to declare out loud the character of God.
Reason two: Proclaiming God's character is a key to defeating our enemy, the devil.
The Bible tells us that when Christians praise and proclaim who God is, the enemy is silenced and has to flee from us (even if those Christians are tiny children - see Psalm 8 verse 2.) This is especially important when it comes to intercession where we want to pray for a situation where the devil seems to have had the upper hand - like when Daniel wanted to pray for Jerusalem, or when we want to pray about the devastation we see in the life of a person, a city or a nation. Praise and proclamation put the enemy in his place, because they put God in His place. This is crucial in the times when the enemy is lying to us, telling us that things will never change or that there's no hope.
So those are just two reasons why it's important for us to speak out the character of God when we come to prayer:
1) it has a big effect on ourselves
2) it has a big effect on the enemy
A plan of action:
So what are we going to do about it? It all very well to see this principle of proclamation at work in the life of Daniel, and other people whose prayers we can read about in the Bible. But how do we really make it a part of our own lives in an ongoing way?
Well, like anything else in life - from playing a sport to playing the piano - we'll never become really good at it unless we set aside time to practise it.
You and I probably want to have more faith, and we probably also want to have more victory over the devil's tactics in our life. Proclamation is a key to growth in both of those areas, so let's be intentional about building it into our daily lives.
For example, you could take just a few moments while you're having your shower in the morning to speak out loud* the things you know to be true about who God is. You might choose to proclaim an attribute of God that you've really experienced in your own life. (You are a faithful God; you have never abandoned me or let me down.) Or you might choose to speak out a characteristic that you're not so confident about, so that your faith can be built in that area. (You are Jehovah Jireh, the God who heals.) You could proclaim different qualities of God every day, or you could choose four or five specific characteristics and proclaim them over and over for a whole week.
Alternatively, whenever you read something in your Bible that describes what God is like, you could stop right there and then and declare it to Him in a prayer of proclamation.
Another time to practise could be when you are busy with a household task - for example, doing the hoovering. Above the sound of the vacuum cleaner, you could raise your voice* and declare different things about what God is like.
There are lots of different ways to do it. The key is simply to have a plan of action and to start right away. It will build our faith and it will put the enemy firmly in his place. And before too long, you'll discover that it has become a natural part of your lifestyle.
* Finally, why do I say, raise your voice and speak out loud ? Can't we just proclaim God's character silently?
A second reason why it could be important to speak out loud, instead of praising God silently is because the Bible tells us that faith comes from hearing the truth about God. (Romans 10: 17) As we declare His character with our own lips, we will begin to see our faith stretch and grow in 2019.
