Great and Awesome God

Monday, December 1, 2014
Daniel 9:3-10 KJV 

3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness [belongeth] unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, [that are] near, and [that are] far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8 O Lord, to us [belongeth] confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9 To the Lord our God [belong] mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

OBSERVATION QUESTIONS
1) The prophet Daniel had read God's word and understood that the time for the captives to be free had come. As a result, what did the prophet do? (v.3-4a)
2) What did the prophet confess about God? (v4b, 7a, 9a)
3) What sins did the prophet confess to God concerning himself and his people? (v.5,6,9b,10)
4) According to the prophet, what did God's people deserve for their sins? (7b, 8)

APPLICATION QUESTIONS
5) Have the people of your family, church, and/or nation sinned against God? If so, please explain how?
6) Have you ever confessed the sins of your family, church, and/or nation to God? If so, when and under what circumstances.
7) If your family, church, and/or nation has sinned against God recently, is the Lord leading you to intercede on their behalf?

LIFE LESSONS
8) We don't deserve God's forgiveness, but He offers it to all who believe in Him.
9) Intercession is the confession of corporate sin before Almighty God.
10) The Lord is merciful and forgiving toward all who keep his commands.
11) The elements of intercessory prayer are: (a) Confession of personal sin, (b) confession of corporate sin, (c) Confession of God's goodness and mercy, and (d) Petition for the Lord's forgivness and mercy.