Dare to be a Daniel (Pt 4)

Daniel 2:17-18 (ESV)

[17] Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, [18] and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

What is your first response to crisis? Panic? Reaction? Flight? Fear? Lashing out at the threat? Daniel’s first response was to get some information, “He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, ‘Why is the decree of the king so urgent?’” (Dan 2:15). Then he sought out his friends and asked them to pray. Daniel’s immediate reaction to the crisis was informed prayer.

Nehemiah’s rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem started with prayer (see Neh 1-2). Ezra succeeded because God stirred the heart of a pagan king and the good hand of God was on Ezra (Ezr 1:1; 7:6). Certainly this was partly in answer to Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9. The Old Testament prophets and the New Testament Apostles were men of prayer. Peter took the gospel to Cornelius because God spoke to him in a vision when he was in prayer while waiting for a meal (see Acts 10). One of the key things the early church devoted themselves to was prayer (Acts 2:42).

It seems like sometimes we talk about prayer more than we pray. Are we, as believers, truly devoted to prayer? Are we, as churches, truly calling people to prayer and providing opportunities for prayer? Do we really believe that prayer is important, or do we just give prayer lip service? Daring to be a Daniel is not so much about taking a stand or opposing the enemy. It is primarily about being devoted to God. In Daniel’s life one of the evidences of that devotion was his commitment to prayer. He ended up in the Lion’s Den, not because he set up a rally to oppose the king’s new rule about praying only to the king for 30 day, but because he continued to faithfully pray (see Dan 6). Do you dare to be a Daniel? Then let us pray.