Technology can be an amazing instrument when we need help. I needed to install a new cabin filter in my car and I wanted to make sure I did it correctly. So, I searched YouTube and it gave me step by step instructions of how to do it.
Through the internet, we have pretty much a direct line to instructions on how to do just about anything. Even though AI (artificial intelligence) has raised many concerns, it, too, can be a very useful tool if used correctly. But imagine having all of this information close at hand and never using it.
But do you realize that through prayer, we have access to resources far more powerful than the internet. Yet, we choose instead to trust our wisdom and our ability. God is telling us today that prayer isn't just an avenue by which we accept Divine resources - prayer really does make a difference.
So how seriously do you take prayer? Do you think of prayer as just something you do each day? Or do you think of prayer as an effective tool for getting things done? Today we're going to continue in the Book of Daniel and see how he prayed passionately and accomplished great things for God. Prayer
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In the second chapter of Daniel, we find that King Nebuchadnezzar had a distressing dream and was looking for someone to interpret that dream for him. He put all the wise men to a test. Not only did he want them to interpret the dream, but he also wanted them to tell him what the dream originally was. That way he could be sure they weren't making things up just to appease him. They failed.
Daniel 2:13 – “The decree was issued that the wise men were to be executed, and they searched for Daniel and his friends, to execute them.”
That was a very scary time for the wise men. It wasn't enough just to try to interpret the king's dream, but the king would not share what his dream was and wanted the wise men to tell him that as well. That was a very difficult task. These advisors to the king certainly couldn't be expected to read the king's mind and know the dream itself. It was an impossible task. Or was it?
This was, without a doubt, an issue of life and death. Since these wise men could not produce the answer that the king wanted, in anger, he ordered all of them to be executed. Daniel was considered to be one of these advisors. Daniel needed something that was impossible for him to do on his own. He had no control, no talent to draw from, and no natural abilities to use.
But the same is true for us. It's almost ironic how much time we spend trying to have some sort of control over our lives. We wear our seat belts. We buy insurance policies. We make good diet and exercise decisions. We save for retirement. And yet, while these are all responsible and good decisions to make, in the end they only provide the illusion of us having control over our lives. Despite our best efforts, we're always on the brink of a crisis that's out of our control.
Basically, when we look at our lives, we're always in need. We make ourselves think that we are secure based on the things that we have done. There's never a moment in life when we don't need God's grace and power. The only question is how aware are we of our need for God's help? One of the ways that we begin to have a passion for prayer is by reminding ourselves that regardless of how comfortable our present situation might be, we still need God.
As we move along in our story this morning, we will see that Daniel felt his need in that particular moment. His life was now at stake. But for Daniel, it didn't take that particular moment for him to become a man of prayer. Daniel had always depended upon prayer. He knew how much he needed God. God may be wanting you to realize right now your need for Him and how much you need to trust Him and come to Him in prayer.
Daniel 2:14-18 – “Then Daniel responded with tact and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to execute the wise men of Babylon. 15 He asked Arioch, the king’s officer, “Why is the decree from the king so harsh?” Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel. 16 So Daniel went and asked the king to give him some time, so that he could give the king the interpretation.
(You see, Daniel hadn’t even been a part of this interpretation task yet)
*********17 Then Daniel went to his house and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter, 18 urging them to ask the God of the heavens for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of Babylon’s wise men.”
Daniel knew that he served a God who majored in the impossible. So, Daniel goes straight to the king. He was smart enough to know to go straight to the source of the problem. Then he went straight to God. He was humble enough to know that he needed God's help. I can see God asking us right now, did you notice that Daniel didn't treat prayer as a last resort? Isn't that something that we do a lot? Daniel knew that prayer was his first and best option.
Far too often we only begin to pray with passion and fervency when we're at the end of our rope. Why is that? I think it's because we underestimate God. We need to learn to trust not only in the power of God but also in His wisdom to do the right thing. So, we underestimate God. But at the same time, we overestimate ourselves. We believe that we are wiser, stronger, and more resourceful than we are. We think that we can handle the problem by ourselves. Am I right?
When we go to God and pray in faith, we should expect things to happen. When we pray in faith, we believe not only that God hears us, but that He will act. I wonder if there is a situation in your life where you're treating prayer more like a last resort rather than your first and best option? How many times have you caught yourself saying, “Well at least we can pray.” When we finally decide that we can't accomplish something on our own, then we go to God in prayer. Prayer isn’t the least we can do. It’s the MOST we can do. Whenever you get frustrated and give up on trying to accomplish something on your own, and you say, “I don't know where to start,” I say “start on your knees.”
Daniel got the news about the Kings decree when he was alone, but he didn't keep it to himself. Instead of going off by himself to pray, he went and found his friends. He prayed, but he didn't pray alone. That is a lesson that Jesus would have us learn today as well. In Luke 11, Jesus's disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, and Jesus gave them the answer in what has become known as the model prayer. But as you read Luke 11:2-4, there's a word that's noticeably missing. Ironically, it's the word that's probably the most present in our daily prayers.
That word is “I”. You can go ahead and look - it's not there. Every single pronoun, other than the ones that refer to God, is plural. Us. Our. We. Jesus wants us to pray together in community. That doesn't mean there's never a moment for solitude in prayer. Jesus Himself did that on many occasions. But it does mean that praying together gives the people of God a sense of unity and identity.
It kind of works like this. When we pray together, we declare God's rule over His people. We kneel together as a way of standing against the ways of the world. Praying together is a very practical way that we bear witness to each other's burdens. We know each other, and we know the pain in each other's lives. So, we approach the throne of grace together.
Daniel 2:19 – “The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and Daniel praised the God of the heavens.”
Daniel and his friends prayed in faith and waited in expectation for God's answer. But that wasn't the end. When God gave Daniel the answer, Daniel was quick to give credit where credit was due. He praises God in a beautiful acknowledgment of the character and power of God.
Has this ever happened to you? You know you need to go to God in prayer about something. But you find many times that it's difficult to know exactly what to pray for? Our motives get a little muddled, our intentions get confused, and we're not really sure about the best outcome for a given situation. So, what, then, do we pray for? But we are very fortunate that God gives us the gift of wisdom. Look what James says about that:
James 1:5 – “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.”
This verse assures us that if we are undergoing any difficulty in our life, that during such times we can confidently ask God for wisdom. God has an abundance of wisdom and He will give it easily. This was certainly the case for Daniel. But as James was telling us this, noticed that he doesn't stop there - he tells us how we should ask:
James 1:6 – “But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.”
This should be a huge encouragement for us. This tells me that when we're struggling to pray and we really don't know what outcome to ask for. If we are fumbling through our words, we can be absolutely confident because wisdom is a gift God loves to give His children. And through His wisdom, we can pray about something from God's perspective.
Maybe you're going through a trial this week. Just ask God for wisdom and how to respond, how to make decisions, what to say, and then move forward. And as you ask, don't doubt, but instead trust in the vast resources of divine wisdom that's waiting to be poured out upon you. So, Daniel praises God for the answer.
Daniel 2:20-23 – “and declared: May the name of God be praised forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to him. 21 He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
********22 He reveals the deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him. 23 I offer thanks and praise to you, God of my ancestors, because you have given me wisdom and power. And now you have let me know what we asked of you, for you have let us know the king’s mystery.”
When we think big thoughts about God like Daniel did here in this prayer, we don't tend to think so much of ourselves. When Daniel went to the king and told him that he had the answer to the mystery, he was quick to give God the glory and all the credit. Daniel prayed passionately because he knew exactly what was needed. One of the reasons we can pray with passion is because we are aware of our own needs. But another reason we can pray with passion is because we have a growing understanding of who God is.
Daniel was certainly in touch with his need, but these verses show us that he was also well aware of who God was, is, and always will be. As we think about the awesomeness of God, we ought to be driven to prayer for any of our needs. Though many attributes of God's character move us to prayer, listen to a few of them that drove Daniel to praise God.
-he praised God for His wisdom. When we think about the way that God rules the universe and intertwines millions upon millions of individual occurrences all for His glory, it should drive us to our knees, as we ask Him to share His wisdom in our personal situations.
-Daniel praised God for his faithfulness. The sun rises and falls. The seasons change. All of these things happen in cycles that God set up and watches over because He is faithful. His faithfulness reminds us that what God promises, He will make good.
We read promise after promise that God has made to His people in the Bible, and each one of those promises still applies to us. Not because we deserve it, but because God is faithful. When we pray, we should have a steady stream of God's promises running through our minds as we ask Him to act in our world.
-and then Daniel praised God for his generosity. Daniel sought God's mercy and God bestowed that mercy by giving Daniel the answer to Nebuchadnezzar's demand. God did what was best. He always does. This is true generosity and Daniel acknowledged it and praised God for it. Even though God's answer may not always be what we expect, we can trust that it is always what we need. The fact that God is so generous in this way ought to cause us to pray even more, trusting Him to act in just the right way at just the right time. Daniel not only gave God all the praise and glory, at the same time, he actually witnessed to the King.
Daniel 2:27-28a – “Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, medium, magician, or diviner is able to make known to the king the mystery he asked about. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in the last days.”
Maybe something is troubling you right now. Maybe that's why you came today to talk to God about it. We need to look at our days of trouble as opportunities for God to display His glory.
When we stand back and look at the second chapter of Daniel, we can find that it really gives us a simple formula. God's people have a need. God provides the deliverance. God gets the glory. In a sense, this is the formula for prayer.
Think about it like this. Let's say you were very sick. Maybe you were so sick that you couldn't get out of bed. So, a friend or family member cared for you for a few days. That person brought you soup and fix your pillows. They made phone calls for you and little by little nursed you back to health.
Who would get the glory in that situation? Certainly not you. You were the one who was sick and in need. No one would praise you for getting well. Your need was the mechanism that drew attention to the kind, loving character of another person.
The same thing is true when it comes to God. God is there for you in whatever trouble you are going through. In fact, you might want to memorize this next verse as an assurance that God is watching over you.
Psalm 50:15 – “Call on me in a day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor me.”
This is so beautifully simple. When we're in trouble, we call on God, and God gets the glory. It's simple, but difficult at the same time, because when we're actually in that day of trouble, we rarely think about anyone other than ourselves. Our main objective is to get out of the trouble in one piece.
But maybe God has used this message today to change your perspective and get things in order. Maybe we would do well to look back on all of those days of trouble as opportunities for the glory of God to be displayed. If we did that, we might also pray with a greater sense of expectation, waiting for God to do what only He can do.
Are you or someone you love going through troubling times right now? Then do as Daniel did, gather some of your closest friends and pray together. Ask them to be in prayer for specific needs in your life. And then when that need is met, you can thank your friends for their prayers, but more than anything you should thank God for answering that prayer and give Him all the glory.
So pray passionately, pray fervently. If God is tugging at your heart today to make a decision, won't you bring it to the altar? Won't you give it to God? Leave whatever it is that's troubling you at the foot of the cross and give God the glory for hearing your prayer.
My prayer right now is that if there is anyone here today that has never made a decision for Jesus Christ, that this be the day that you surrender your will to God's will and let Him have His way in your heart.
