Charles Spurgeon Commentary Daniel 9:3

"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes." — Daniel 9:3 (ASV)

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes;

I set my face unto the Lord God. This expression is full of meaning. When people resolutely set their faces to prayer, bending their whole mind that way, seeking God with their faces toward him, not in pretense but in deep and solemn earnestness, it is then that they succeed with their supplication.

Daniel speaks of prayer and supplications, by which we may understand that he prayed much and prayed often, setting apart a regular and considerable portion of his time for this holy exercise. He was a very busy man, for he was the first of the presidents over the one hundred and twenty princes; yet, despite that, or because of that, he would make time for communion with God.

And he was wise in doing so, for any portion of our time that is stolen from prayer is also stolen from ourselves. The old saying is true: "Prayer and provender hinder no man's journey."