DANIEL’S PRAYERS
Finally, the discussion will cover the Daniel’s prayer life. Prayer is an important part of anyone’s life. The apostle Paul wrote, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). In writing to the church at Thessalonica, it was not Paul’s intent to command people to spend every waking moment of their lives on bended knee praying to God. Instead, the apostle is giving an exhortation to spend their lives constantly ready to pray. Paul was a person with an excellent prayer life as at the beginning of the letter, he wrote: “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;” (1 Thessalonians 1:7). Prayer is our way of speaking to God and a great privilege. Think of our earthly parents. There is great joy to be found in the heart of a mother or father when their offspring takes the time to call, write, or visit. In fact, if too much time passes my mother will call wondering why I have not called. What about God? The Father wants to hear from His children. Prayer is our way of communing with Him. What about the prayer life of Daniel? His prayers will be broken down into three categories: Blessing, Prohibition, Peril.
Blessing
Remember Daniel 2 and how God blessed Daniel with the interpretation of the dream? Again, how did Daniel react? “Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter” (Daniel 2:19-23). Let us break down this reply.
The basic statement made by Daniel is “God is the One who is all powerful.” All wisdom is of God. There is nothing mightier than the God of Heaven. God is in control of the seasons. God controls the powers that be. Incidentally, the same thought is portrayed by Paul in Romans 13 when he wrote: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God (Romans 13:1). God is the only one who has ALL knowledge and it was God who gave this knowledge to Daniel. Daniel is praising God in times of blessing.
Christians should always be willing to go to God for all the blessings we have. There is a song called “Count Your Many Blessings.” One of the lyrics states “Count your many blessings/name them one by one/ count your many blessings/ see what God has done.” What if one took the time to count every blessing? Chances are that person would still be counting that time the next day. Every heartbeat is a blessing from God. Every breath of life is a blessing from God. There are simply too many to count. Let us remember to pray to God during the blessings on our lives.
Prohibition
“Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God” (Daniel 6:4-5). This occurred during the reign of the Persians. There were certain members of the Persian community who were jealous of Daniel and his standing position with the Persians. They wanted to do their best to try to catch Daniel at fault but realized that they could not. The only way they could hurt Daniel was to get him in trouble for following the laws of God.
“Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not” (Daniel 6:6-8). By bending the ear of Darius, a new law is passed making it illegal to pray to any god or ask anyone but Darius for anything. Again, the punishment for disobeying Darius would be death by lion’s den. This is because the Persians worshipped fire and would not use it as punishment. Furthermore, the law of the Medes and Persians could not be changed after it was passed. There is no way someone could be saved from this fate.
How did Daniel react to this new law? “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God” (Daniel 6:10-11). Before the law was passed Daniel would go to a window that would open toward Jerusalem, kneel, and pray three times daily. After this law was passed, Daniel would go to a window that would open toward Jerusalem, kneel, and pray three times daily. The law dictated that anyone who prayed would face death. Prayer had been prohibited by the government. Daniel still prayed.
There are a few questions that anyone who reads this should be asked. If the government passed a law that made it illegal to pray to God, would we stop? If a law was passed making it illegal to worship God, would we stop? If a law was passed to make it illegal to be a Christian, would we stop? A law was passed and Daniel would not stop praying.
Peril
This goes hand in hand with the fact that Daniel prayed in times of prohibition. This prayer landed Daniel in a load of trouble. As it was seen in verse eleven, these men viewed Daniel praying. Daniel was inevitably thrown into the lion’s den. He prayed in the face of peril. Not only was praying outlawed but the punishment was death. It would cost Daniel his life.
Sadly, there are those who will not obey God, even when the punishment is less. Excuses heard may be “My family will disown me” or “People will make fun of me.” Daniel faced death for his obedience. Whatever type of peril we face, we should be willing to obey God. Remember the example of Daniel and the response of the three Israelite youths. Remember the response of the apostles. “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29) Again, God will never punish His people for obeying the commands of God rather than the commands of men.
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