Over the last few devotionals, we’ve been looking at how Daniel prayed during a time of crisis in his life and the life of Israel. His response shows us how we can pray in a way that God answers.

So far we’ve learned that we must let God speak to us before we speak to him and focus our attention on God and seek him.

Then, we must express our desires with passion.

Too many of our prayers are simply routine. We speak without really thinking about what we’re saying. We have the words memorized. There’s no passion or authenticity.

The truth is, God cares more about the passionate sincerity of your prayers than the words you use. Think about how the right words with the wrong emotions won’t work with your spouse or with a close friend. That won’t work with God either.

Human beings are made in the image of God, and God shows emotions. He gets angry. He gets sad. He gets happy.

God doesn’t just love you. God loves you passionately—emotionally.

This is how Daniel described his passionate prayer in Daniel 9:3: “I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him” (GNT).

The word “pleading” in Hebrew means to ask with emotions. It’s a serious seeking. It’s searching with all your heart. It’s begging.

That’s a prayer God will listen to and answer.

I like this paraphrase of Daniel 9:3: “I poured out my heart, baring my soul to GOD” (MSG).

Perhaps you need to pray like that for your family. You need to pour your heart out and bare your soul to God on their behalf. Maybe you need to do that about your relationship or your finances.

All of us need to do that about the world around us. Everyone seems to be in crisis mode. Our concern with the economy and the devastation of war, famine, and evil in our world have taken its toll.

We need to pour our hearts out to God about it.