1.  Daniel was well practiced in prayer; according to Daniel 6:10 it was his practice to pray three times a day. Because of this he was prepared for this moment in his life.  The Daily Walk Bible asks this question: “How well do you pray ‘on the spot?’ Have you learned through practice and persistence to communicate often and long with your heavenly Father?  Standing side by side with Daniel’s confidence in God was his communication with God.  The two are inseparable, for to trust God is to talk to Him, and to talk to God is to trust Him all the more. We must be practiced in prayer so that we are ready for prayer in times of confusion, doubt, trial, discipline.

2.  Daniel’s prayer, by the numbers:

-4 Parts (Adoration, Confession, Acknowledgment of God’s rightness in His actions, Request)

-4 Themes from Evangelical Commentary on the Bible: (Israel’s rebellion against God, the Law, and the Prophets; God’s righteousness, especially in judgment; the Fulfillment of the Curses of the Law – Deuteronomy 28:1,15,49,64; and Hope in God’s grace and mercy) (Evangelical Commentary on the Bible)

-4 Predications (1. That God forgives and restores—if He didn’t Daniel would have no reason to pray; 2. He and Israel are in a relationship with God; 3. God is a merciful God; and 4. His concern that the world would take God seriously, His name and reputation would be restored.)

-3 Contrasts (God is righteous, the people are sinful; God is merciful, the people are rebellious; Contrast between God’s law and the lawlessness of the people).

3.  “Daniel realized he could not urge on God any merit of His nation for they had forfeited all claim to divine mercy.  They lacked any ground of merit on which to beg God’s favor.  The only basis for Daniel’s approach to God was his earnest desire for the Lord to glorify Himself by displaying the riches of His mercy and grace in pardoning and restoring His guilty but repentant people.” (Dr Gleason Archer)