Chapter Summary

Vision of the seventy weeks. Daniers prayer and confession.

Discussion Questions for Daniel, Chapter 9

1. Do you regularly practice corporate confession of sin? What might be the benefit of this practice? How could we incorporate this in our own groups?
2. Why would verse 4 be included in Daniel's prayer? Why is this an important reminder and how could we incorporate this in our own prayers?
3. What do verses 5-7 teach us about what a true apology looks like? Do we normally apologize in this way? How might this passage shape our own practices?
4. Verses 10-11 describe disobeying God's law and prophets. What would be modern versions of similar sins?
5. Why would Daniel recount Israelite history in verse 15? What about those historical events has relevance for Daniel's situation? What would be the relevance of those events for our prayers today?
6. Which discipline do you find more difficult personally - scripture reading or prayer? How does this passage help us see the connection between the two?
7. Based on verse 19, what is God's motivation for answering? What does this teach us about praying according to God's will and confidence that he will answer? How can we apply this to our own prayer life?
8. What happens to God's enemies in verse 27? Why would this be related to Daniel and how does this give him hope in the midst of his present circumstances? How does this relate to us?
9. Have you had a similar difficult life situation that pushed you to prayer? How does suffering help us grow closer to God? How can prayer help us in our suffering?
10. Verse 23 says Daniel's prayer was answered before he finished praying. Are we usually optimistic or pessimistic about God answering prayer? How can verse 23 shape our attitude in having confidence when we pray?

Key Words/Phrase

Prayer, v. 3. Vision, v. 21.

Characters

God, Christ, Daniel, Jeremiah, Darius, Gabriel.

Strong Verse(s)