Daniel 9:18-19

Daniel 9:18-19 (ESV):  “18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

Interceding before God on behalf of your country is not only patriotic—it’s loving. It’s good and right to have a heart for the ethics and morals of your nation and to long for its restoration. Pray for the sins of your nation, that the God of mercy would forgive and heal us.

Daniel, like so many others in Scripture, cared deeply for the nation of Israel. It grieved his heart to see his people in captivity because of their sin. So Daniel “set his face before the Lord”—meaning he came to God with determination and fervency, seeking the God of heaven. He confessed the sins of his nation and pleaded for God’s mercy. Daniel was a true patriot who loved his countrymen deeply. The Lord heard his prayer and answered with a remarkable revelation: the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.

Are you patriotic? Do you care about the moral and spiritual health of your nation? If so, you have a heart like Daniel. The only right response, then, is to intercede for your countrymen. We have sinned greatly against our holy God. Plead for His mercy—that He would forgive and restore our land. And watch—He may hear that prayer as He did Daniel’s. Pray, Christian!

Father, we come to You with broken hearts today. We and our nation have sinned greatly against You. Forgive us for how we have profaned Your name as a so-called “Christian nation.” Have mercy on us, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within us. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.