Prayer & Fasting | Elder Ang Peng Hoe

Daniel’s Prayer for His People1 It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians.[a] 2 During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.[b] 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:“O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. 5 But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. 6 We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.Daniel 9:1-6 (NLT)✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞True and False Worship1 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.Tell my people Israel[a] of their sins!2 Yet they act so pious!They come to the Temple every dayand seem delighted to learn all about me.They act like a righteous nationthat would never abandon the laws of its God.They ask me to take action on their behalf,pretending they want to be near me.3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.‘Why aren’t you impressed?We have been very hard on ourselves,and you don’t even notice it!’“I will tell you why!” I respond.“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.Even while you fast,you keep oppressing your workers.4 What good is fastingwhen you keep on fighting and quarreling?This kind of fastingwill never get you anywhere with me.5 You humble yourselvesby going through the motions of penance,bowing your headslike reeds bending in the wind.You dress in burlapand cover yourselves with ashes.Is this what you call fasting?Do you really think this will please the Lord?6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;lighten the burden of those who work for you.Let the oppressed go free,and remove the chains that bind people.7 Share your food with the hungry,and give shelter to the homeless.Give clothes to those who need them,and do not hide from relatives who need your help.8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,and your wounds will quickly heal.Your godliness will lead you forward,and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.Isaiah 58:1-8 (NLT)