Daily Devotional
What Gives You the Right to Pray?
“Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God…the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.”
Daniel 9:20-21
January 23, 2020
Ponder This
What is the “evening offering” Daniel is referring to? Daniel is living in Babylon. There was no temple or altar in Babylon. No evening sacrifices were being offered. Those had ended almost seventy years ago.
In God’s temple, the one back home in Jerusalem, evening sacrifice time was between 3 and 4 p.m. in the afternoon. That’s when the animals were slain. It was also called “the ninth hour.”
When Daniel says, “I was praying at the time of the evening sacrifice,” he’s basing his prayer on the sacrifices made long ago, linking his prayer to those sacrifices.
May I tell you, Jesus died exactly the same hour! “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?’” (Matthew 27:46).
Daniel was praying long after being made and hundreds of years before Jesus’ death.
Practice This
Daniel’s prayer, like any prayer ever offered, will only get to heaven on the basis of a blood sacrifice. Whether that sacrifice was made seventy years ago, as in Daniel’s case, or two thousand years ago as in our case. Whenever we pray, we must link our prayer with Calvary.
FOR YOUR GIFT TO THE MINISTRY
Front Porch Moments by Gayle Foster
WITH KEY INSIGHTS FROM HER FATHER, ADRIAN ROGERS
I try to unplug each morning with Jesus with just my rocking chair, my Bible, and a pen.
Having a secret place is very important because I know that Jesus is always there waiting for me. I know where I can find Him! His presence is everywhere, but there are places where it is so thick you can cut it with a knife. You may not even have a front porch, but there is a secret place for you as well. God’s invitations are for anyone who will respond. There is no more important request than the one found in Psalm 27:8: “My heart has heard You say, ‘Come and talk with Me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’”
