Prayer & Fasting • October 2026

Standing in the Gap: Confessing the Sins of a People

“So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” Daniel 9:3 NASB1995

Daniel saw something that deeply troubled him.

As he read the prophet Jeremiah, he realized that Jerusalem’s years of desolation were connected to the rebellion of God’s people. His response is striking. He did not complain about the culture. He did not merely analyze what had gone wrong. He did not begin by pointing fingers at everyone else.

Daniel fasted, prayed, and confessed.

“We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled . . . ” Daniel 9:5 NASB1995

Think about who is praying those words. Daniel is one of the most consistently godly men in Scripture. Along with Joseph, Daniel is one of the few Old Testament figures we can count on one hand who seemingly have no blemish against their character. Yet, he does not pray, “Lord, look at what these people have done.” His prayer is filled with words like “we,” “us,” and “our.”

Daniel understood something we desperately need today—you can grieve over the sins of people without standing self-righteously above them.

That’s one of the great values of prayer and fasting. Fasting humbles us. As we voluntarily set aside food to seek God, we are reminded of our weaknesses, our dependence, and our own need for His mercy.

It’s easy to recognize the sins around us. It is much harder to allow God to search the sins within us. Perhaps before we ask God to change our nation, our city, our church, or our families, we should first pray, “Lord, begin with me.”

Daniel’s prayer does not minimize sin. He names it plainly. But neither does he end in despair. “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness” Daniel 9:9 NASB1995

This month, as you fast for a meal or perhaps for the entire day, spend some of that time in confession. Ask God to reveal anything in your own life that needs to change. Confess the spiritual apathy, prayerlessness, materialism, broken relationships, and unbelief that characterize so much of our culture—and that so often finds its way into our own hearts.

Then stand in the gap for others.

Pray for our families. Pray for Bellevue. Pray for our city. Pray for our nation. Pray for a spiritual awakening that produces genuine repentance and renewed obedience to God.

There is plenty of sin around us to criticize. However, Daniel shows us a better way.

Perhaps one of the greatest things we can do for people who aren’t confessing is to become people who do.