Daniel’s Prayer Offers Template for National Day of Prayer

“Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name” (Daniel 9:19).

Americans across the country are invited to participate in the National Day of Prayer which encourages personal repentance and righteousness in the culture.

Since 1952, every president has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation; however, a call to prayer by American leaders can trace its roots back to 1775 when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in formation a new nation. Since then, U.S. records cite over 1,400 official calls on the state and federal levels for national prayer.

“God longs for His people to humble themselves and to seek forgiveness and pray for guidance,” wrote Franklin Graham on the National Day of Prayer’s official website. “Pray that as a nation we would return to God. As we call on God, let us do so by genuine faith, believing that He hears our prayers. God can heal this great land, for which our forefathers fought and died. We need spiritual renewal, we need a revival in America, and we need each and everyone to pray.”

Based on Daniel 9:19, the 2017 theme is titled “For Your Great Name’s Sake! Hear Us…Forgive Us…Heal Us!” In a chapter titled “Daniel’s Prayer,” Daniel learns that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. In response, he confesses to God and pleads to Him in prayer and petition.

“If ever we needed to pray for our nation, it’s now,” said Anne Graham Lotz, Chairman of the National Day of Prayer. “Our situation today is similar to one we found in the Old Testament. God’s people had disobeyed Him, rebelled against Him, and defied Him, provoking His severe judgment…Daniel responded to the promise he read in Jeremiah by holding God to His word with a very powerful prayer…that moved heaven and changed not only his nation, but that of the nation in which he had been held captive.”