We can learn a lot from Daniel and his prayer life. As an old man when the time came closer for the Israelites to return to their homeland, Daniel knew his people were not ready. The Israelites still did not have a right relationship with God. This grieved Daniel, so he prayed.

His prayer in Daniel 9 provides six important pieces about how to pray in a way that God answers during a crisis. We’ll look at each of these six steps over the next few days.

First, you let God speak to you before you speak to him.

You need to hear the voice of God. He will always make the first move in your life. He never expects you to do something he doesn’t do first. The Bible says we love God because he first loved us. We serve him because he first served us.

God initiates. Then, we respond.

So how do you listen to God? You read the Bible. We talk to God because he first talked with us through his Word.

Daniel did this: “It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. 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” (Daniel 9:1-2 NLT).

You will never pray effectively until you study Scripture and listen to God. The more you know the Bible, the more effective your prayers will be.