Tag Archives: sackcloth and ashes

John MacArthur

John MacArthur –Praying with Fervency

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“I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Dan. 9:3).

The more you understand God’s holiness, the more you’ll recognize your own sinfulness.

People view prayer differently. For some it is a last resort after all human options have been exhausted: “All I can do now is pray for you!” Others liken it to a spiritual spare tire—something used only in the event of an emergency. Many who should thrive on prayer have been lulled into complacency by an affluent and godless society.

Daniel, however, saw prayer as an opportunity to express the passion and fervency of his heart to the God he loved and served. In Daniel 9:3 he says, “I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him.” That implies he set apart a specific time to devote to thoughtful, earnest, and fervent prayer. That is further supported by the way he prepared himself through fasting and donning sackcloth and ashes—symbols of humility and deep contrition over sin.

It might seem unusual for a man of Daniel’s spiritual stature to be overwhelmed by his sense of sin, but the closer one draws to God, the more aware he is of his sinfulness. We see that in Paul, who called himself the foremost of all sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). That might seem like a ridiculous statement to us but Paul saw sin for what it was. So did Daniel.

The title “Lord God” in verse 3 emphasizes God’s sovereign rule over all things. Daniel knew that God had permitted the Babylonian Captivity and that He alone could deliver His people from it. Consequently, Daniel gave the Lord his undivided attention as he prayed and sought mercy for himself and his people.

Daniel’s fervency is a rebuke to much of the flippancy we hear in prayer today. It was profound because it was generated by God’s Word and grounded in His will.

James 5:16 says, “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (KJV). Be like Daniel—a righteous person who prays fervently with great effect.

Suggestions for Prayer

  • Ask God to give you a greater sense of fervency in prayer.
  • Be sensitive to any sin that might be hindering your prayers.

For Further Study

Read Luke 11:5-13.

  • What parable did Jesus tell to illustrate the benefits of humble, persistent prayer?
  • How did Jesus contrast earthly fathers with their heavenly Father?
Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; A.W. – Red Hot Prayers

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“Cold prayers court refusal…Heat your prayers red-hot…Plead the blood of Jesus! Plead like one who means to prevail – and then you shall prevail!” This quote by famous British preacher C. H. Spurgeon makes a point: prayers must be fervent to avail.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel 9:3

In today’s scripture, Daniel is fervently praying to the Lord. While reading the book of the prophet Jeremiah, Daniel discovers the 70 years of captivity should be coming to a close. He also realizes certain prophecies are conditional, meaning God’s people must do their part by humbling themselves and repenting (Leviticus 26). Knowing this, Daniel earnestly focuses all his attention on the Lord, fasting and wearing sackcloth and ashes. First, he praises God and reminds Him of His covenant. Then he repents, accepting responsibility for the sins of the Jewish people. Last, he begs for forgiveness and mercy. God responded by sending the angel Gabriel to help Daniel understand Israel’s future.

Are you concerned about the country’s destiny? Are you fervently praying? Know God will answer. Pray today for the nation and its leaders to be humble, repent and seek Him wholeheartedly.

Recommended Reading: James 5:13-18

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Charles Spurgeon – The uses of the law

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“Wherefore then serveth the law?” Galatians 3:19

Suggested Further Reading: Proverbs 26:12-16

I find that the proudest and most self-righteous people are those who do nothing at all, and have no shadow of pretence for any opinion of their own goodness. The old truth in the book of Job is true now. You know in the beginning of the book of Job it is said, “The oxen were ploughing, and the asses were feeding beside them.” That is generally the way in this world. The oxen are ploughing in the church —we have some who are labouring hard for Christ—and the asses are feeding beside them, on the finest livings and the fattest of the land. These are the people who have so much to say about self-righteousness. What do they do? They do not do enough to earn a living, and yet they think they are going to earn heaven. They sit down and fold their hands, and yet they are so reverently righteous, because they sometimes dole out a little in charity. They do nothing, and yet boast of self-righteousness. And with Christian people it is the same. If God makes you laborious, and keeps you constantly engaged in his service, you are less likely to be proud of your self-righteousness than you are if you do nothing. But at all times there is a natural tendency to it. Therefore, God has written the law, that when we read it we may see our faults; that when we look into it, as into a looking-glass, we may see the impurities in our flesh, and have reason to abhor ourselves in sackcloth and ashes, and still cry to Jesus for mercy. Use the law in this fashion, and in no other.

For meditation: The more we learn, the more we realise how little we know; the more we do, the more we realise how little we do; the holier we become, the more we realise how unholy we are. Being sluggish is most unsuitable for the Christian (Hebrews 6:10-12).

Sermon no. 128

19 April (1857)

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Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

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Morning “To preach deliverance to the captives.” / Luke 4:18

None but Jesus can give deliverance to captives. Real liberty cometh from him

only. It is a liberty righteously bestowed; for the Son, who is Heir of all

things, has a right to make men free. The saints honour the justice of God,

which now secures their salvation. It is a liberty which has been dearly

purchased. Christ speaks it by his power, but he bought it by his blood. He

makes thee free, but it is by his own bonds. Thou goest clear, because he bare

thy burden for thee: thou art set at liberty, because he has suffered in thy

stead. But, though dearly purchased, he freely gives it. Jesus asks nothing of

us as a preparation for this liberty. He finds us sitting in sackcloth and

ashes, and bids us put on the beautiful array of freedom; he saves us just as

we are, and all without our help or merit. When Jesus sets free, the liberty

is perpetually entailed; no chains can bind again. Let the Master say to me,

“Captive, I have delivered thee,” and it is done forever. Satan may plot to

enslave us, but if the Lord be on our side, whom shall we fear? The world,

with its temptations, may seek to ensnare us, but mightier is he who is for us

than all they who be against us. The machinations of our own deceitful hearts

may harass and annoy us, but he who hath begun the good work in us will carry

it on and perfect it to the end. The foes of God and the enemies of man may

gather their hosts together, and come with concentrated fury against us, but

if God acquitteth, who is he that condemneth? Not more free is the eagle which

mounts to his rocky eyrie, and afterwards outsoars the clouds, than the soul

which Christ hath delivered. If we are no more under the law, but free from

its curse, let our liberty be practically exhibited in our serving God with

gratitude and delight. “I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou

hast loosed my bonds.” “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

 

Evening  “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I

will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” / Romans 9:15

In these words the Lord in the plainest manner claims the right to give or to

withhold his mercy according to his own sovereign will. As the prerogative of

life and death is vested in the monarch, so the Judge of all the earth has a

right to spare or condemn the guilty, as may seem best in his sight. Men by

their sins have forfeited all claim upon God; they deserve to perish for their

sins–and if they all do so, they have no ground for complaint. If the Lord

steps in to save any, he may do so if the ends of justice are not thwarted;

but if he judges it best to leave the condemned to suffer the righteous

sentence, none may arraign him at their bar. Foolish and impudent are all

those discourses about the rights of men to be all placed on the same footing;

ignorant, if not worse, are those contentions against discriminating grace,

which are but the rebellions of proud human nature against the crown and

sceptre of Jehovah. When we are brought to see our own utter ruin and ill

desert, and the justice of the divine verdict against sin, we no longer cavil

at the truth that the Lord is not bound to save us; we do not murmur if he

chooses to save others, as though he were doing us an injury, but feel that if

he deigns to look upon us, it will be his own free act of undeserved goodness,

for which we shall forever bless his name.

How shall those who are the subjects of divine election sufficiently adore the

grace of God? They have no room for boasting, for sovereignty most effectually

excludes it. The Lord’s will alone is glorified, and the very notion of human

merit is cast out to everlasting contempt. There is no more humbling doctrine

in Scripture than that of election, none more promotive of gratitude, and,

consequently, none more sanctifying. Believers should not be afraid of it, but

adoringly rejoice in it.