Charles Ellicott Commentary Daniel 9:13

"As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Jehovah our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in thy truth." — Daniel 9:13 (ASV)

Made we not our prayer.— The reference is, as in Daniel 9:6, to the conduct of the nation from the first. There had been plenty of external show of praying, as appears from Isaiah 1:0 and elsewhere, but these prayers were of no effect on account of their formalism. The conditions of acceptable prayer are implied in the closing words of the verse “turning from iniquity, and wisdom in the truth,” i.e., in the revelation of God. On the phrase “make prayer,” see Exodus 32:11.