Mercy Undeserved

Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. ~ Daniel 9:17-18

People talk about the prayer of Jabez, for whatever reasons that may make his prayer so special. I never bothered about the ‘prayer of Jabez’ craze, and I still do not know what it’s all about. What about the prayer of Daniel? Nobody talks about it, but what an attitude! Daniel prayed with total humility. He never for a moment thought that he did anything to deserve an answer from God.

Many of us forget that God does not owe us anything. We do not deserve anything from Him, neither should we expect that God should listen to our prayers and respond to them, being the sinners that we are. Yet, He does. Daniel is right. We do not make requests to God because we deserve it. Rather it is because of God’s great mercy that we dare to ask and pray. This is something that I can draw out of today’s Bible study.