Through The Bible in a Year - April 23, 2026

"We do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy." -Daniel 9:18

When Daniel approached God in prayer, he could have claimed that his extraordinary merits had earned him a hearing — he was a prophet of great insight, a courageous proclaimer of God in a land of idols, and a servant of God who had remained faithful through exile, lion dens, and decades of enslavement. If anyone had grounds to approach God based on personal righteousness, surely it was Daniel.

And yet, including himself in his prayer for God’s people, Daniel said, "We do not come because of our righteousness." Not even Daniel could come before a holy God on the basis of personal merit. He came — as we must come — entirely on the basis of God's mercy.

This cuts against something deep in the human heart. We are wired to keep score, to believe that our good days earn us a hearing with God and our bad days cost us his disregard. But the gospel dismantles that ledger entirely. God does not hear us because we have been good enough. He hears us because He is merciful enough.

What a relief this is. You do not have to clean yourself up before you pray. You do not have to earn your way into God's presence. The door is already open — not because of anything you have done, but because of who God is. Come as you are, and come confidently, on the basis of His great mercy which he fully displayed when he sent Jesus for you.

PRAYER: Father, I confess that I often approach You based on how well I think I've been doing — measuring my worthiness before I pray. Forgive me for that pride. Today I come not because of anything I have earned, but because of Your great mercy. Thank You that the door to Your presence is never closed to a heart that cries out to You. Teach me to rest in Your mercy that was so fully displayed in Jesus’ sacrifice rather than to strain for your recognition on the basis of my own merit. In Jesus' name, Amen.