SESSION 3

SIMPLIFIED STUDY

PROMPTING IN PRAYER

The Daniel Prayer is not just venting to God. . . . It is an outpouring of heartfelt emotion and passionate pleading based on God’s Word as we hold Him to His promises.

Anne Graham Lotz

BIBLE STUDY

Begin this session by having someone in the group read Daniel 9:2–3 aloud (see next page), and then work through each of the steps together following the method you learned in the workshop. Once you have spent a few minutes discussing the passage, watch the teaching from Anne.

STEP 1	STEP 2
Read God’s Word Passage: Daniel 9:2–3	What Does God’s Word Say? (List the facts.)
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
STEP 3	STEP 4
What Does God’s Word Mean? (Learn the lessons.)	What Does God’s Word Mean in My Life? (Listen to His voice.)
STEP 5
How Will I Respond to God’s Word? (Live it out!)
Name: _____________________________ Date: _____________

VIDEO TEACHING

The following outline may help you as you watch the video teaching.

I. Compelled by . . .

A. Problems in the world

B. Promises in God’s Word

II. Centered on God . . .

A. Privately

B. Sincerely

C. Desperately

D. Humbly

GROUP DISCUSSION

Take a few minutes to discuss at least one of these questions with your group.

1. What encouraged or challenged you in this study?

[Your Response Here]

2. What did you learn that was a new thought to you?

[Your Response Here]

WRAPPING UP

[God] is the Center-point. When our prayers are focused, regardless of what life throws at us, whether it’s a long, hard climb to the top of our profession or career, or the steady trail of perseverance as we set out to achieve our goals, or the confusion and lost feeling that can envelop us when we find ourselves in a thicket of problems and pressures and pain—if our prayers are focused on the living God, they will make a difference.

—Anne Graham Lotz, The Daniel Prayer, page 65

Daniel had this type of laser-focus when he responded to the promptings he felt to pray for God’s people. Before he spoke even a word, he “turned to the LORD God” (Daniel 9:3). The Lord was his Center-point, and regardless of the situation, he knew that God would deliver on His promises. Today, consider what would prompt you to pray as Daniel prayed. What would it look like for you to center on God privately, sincerely, desperately, and humbly? What promises from the Bible do you need God to bring to mind? During the upcoming week, write out a prayer to God in response.

MOVING FORWARD

Once you consider what compels you to pray and how you should be centered on God when you pray, you are ready for the next step. You should now consider what it looks like to plead in prayer as Daniel did for his people. We will examine this aspect of the Daniel Prayer in the next session.