Two Things to Confess in Prayer

More than once in the Book of Daniel (Daniel 9.23; 10.11, 19), a heavenly being called Daniel “greatly beloved.”

What made him so greatly beloved?

Reading his prayer in chapter nine will show you. Meditate on verses 13 and 14 in particular, and you will see his understanding of human nature and of God’s nature, “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice” (Daniel 9.13–14).

Daniel confessed the unfaithfulness of his people and the faithfulness of the Lord.

Daniel quoted or referenced Scripture, and acknowledged that it had revealed the truth, the way things would happen.

He was like David, a man after God’s own heart. DR

Look to Yourself

If you are a parent, you know how much you put into rearing your children. Similarly, most preachers devote their entire selves and lives to growing a congregation.

Knowing those things, you can appreciate what John said, “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward” (2 John 1:8).

John had worked for the salvation of lost souls that comprised the church to whom he wrote, but if the members there were not careful, they could end up lost.

Therefore, he warned them to look to themselves, so that rather than losing the things for which John had worked, he, and those to whom he preached and taught, would receive a full reward. DR