Are Your Prayers On Vacation?
Talking to God
Daniel 6:1-28 / Ephesians 6:18
During this month we are looking at the themes from this years VBS - Serengeti Trek.
Serengeti Trek takes place during the last week of this month and by then we will have a good grasp of what the children will be learning.
Last week we learned about two men who only had one thing in common. Jesus’ disciple Peter (A Jew) and The Roman Centurion Cornelius (A Gentile). What they had in common was a desire to know God. Out of that desire God brought them together and opened the door for the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ to move out into the whole world.
We learned that the most important goal for Christians is to “Know God”
Not just to know about Him but to know –
Who He is, How He works, How much He loves us,
What He wants with us,
How we can fulfill His expectations?
Those are the goals – this week we will start learning how to achieve them
Have you noticed that summer is here? We had our first triple digit temperatures last week and it is supposed to do it again this coming week.
With summer come three things - the Heat, the Mosquitoes and Vacations.
Vacation :
: a scheduled period during which activity (summer vacation - school) is suspended
: a period of exemption from work granted to an employee for rest and relaxation
: a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation
Look around you this morning. Most of those not here are on vacation. At least that is what I’m going to tell myself. Yes, there are Sundays that seem empty because of vacations, but vacations are important.
Vacations break up the routine, Give time for rest (Mental-Physical) and they make us realize how much cheaper it is to stay home.
There was a pastor who told his congregation,
“I am not going to take a vacation this summer; the devil never does!” One of the members went home and re-read the Gospels to see if Jesus took vacations. He found that in His three years’ of active ministry, there were 10 periods of rest away from the pressures of ministry – (vacation!) - He went back and asked the pastor,
“Pastor whose example are we following? Jesus’ or the Devil’s?”
This morning we are going to look at the story of a man who was ordered to take a vacation and refused. His refusal almost cost him his life. But his refusal was an important step toward “Knowing God”
Who is this man who refused to go on vacation? –
open your bibles to the O.T. book of Daniel chapter 6 and let’s find out.
The man’s name is Daniel. He was taken into captivity from Israel and made a slave in Babylon when he was 16. He is about 80 years old when this story takes place and he has risen to become an important official in the Babylonian empire.
Daniel 6:1-9 - Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a prince to rule over each province. The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the princes and to watch out for the king’s interests. Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and princes. Because of his great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. Then the other administrators and princes began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling his affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize. He was faithful and honest and always responsible. So they concluded, "Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the requirements of his religion."
So the administrators and princes went to the king and said, "Long live King Darius! We administrators, prefects, princes, advisers, and other officials have unanimously agreed ( left out Daniel) that Your Majesty should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to Your Majesty—will be thrown to the lions. And let Your Majesty issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, a law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked." So King Darius signed the law. (flattering – what can it hurt?)
1. What was Daniel’s Crisis?
Daniel was told he could not pray to God. The law said in essence “ Take a vacation from prayer” – True the law said he could pray to Darius, but is prayer to the king really prayer? Could Darius answer Daniel’s prayers like God can?
The bible says in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 - I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God’s mercy upon them, and give thanks. Pray this way for (not to) kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity.
Daniel could have put his prayer life on vacation – it was only one month – what could it hurt. But, Daniel knew that we can vacation from a lot of things – but we cannot vacation from prayer.
Now I haven’t heard about any law in this country prohibiting us from praying however it seems like people think it is according to these figures
When the Christian Reader asked visitors to the Christian Reader website when they most often pray. Here’s what they said:
45 percent—whenever the Spirit prompts me
23 percent—at bedtime
18 percent—in the morning
11 percent—during my commute
1 percent—before meals
You see, we have an enemy that’s also wants us to take a vacation from prayer
When we don’t pray are we obeying the enemy’s desires to abandon God? The enemy wants us to pray to him. You say, “I don’t pray to the devil” – Maybe not consciously –
but the dictionary defines Prayer as;
A reverent petition (request) made to God, a god, or another object of worship.
Your God is what is most important in your life. What has first priority? Where do you put most of your energy? Where your life is focused so is your prayer life focused.
There’s a story about one area of Africa where Christianity began to spread, converts were zealous about daily devotions. They would find their own spot within the wild thickets and pour their hearts out to God. After some time the spots became well-worn, and paths were created. Soon, one’s prayer life was made public. If someone began to neglect his or her devotional life, it would soon be noticed by others. Believers would then gently and lovingly remind those in neglect, "The grass grows on your path."
We all have times when “The Grass grows on our paths” but if you let it get too long it’s hard to find the path again
Ephesians 6:18 - Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.
2. What was Daniel’s Response?
Daniel 6:10 - But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
Daniel placed his commitment to God above the law. Are there times when we shouldn’t submit to the government? Daniel believed so. That time comes when government or any other power tries to force us to disobey God.
Jesus and his apostles never disobeyed the government for personal reasons (going the extra mile) ; when they disobeyed, it was in order to follow their higher loyalty to God. Their disobedience often had consequences: they were threatened, beaten, thrown into jail, tortured, and executed for their convictions. Like them, if we are choose to disobey, we have to be ready to accept the consequences.
A great illustration of this principle was when Jesus was asked about paying taxes to Rome. Jesus said in Luke 20:25 - "Well then," he said, (After inspecting a roman coin with the picture of Caesar on it) "give to Caesar what belongs to him. (Obey the Law) But everything that belongs to God must be given to God." (God is the higher authority) Our commitment belongs to God.
The hard thing about our situation today is determining what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God. Or who do I obey and when? You can only answer that question if you know God – And you come to know God through prayer.
Shouldn’t logic tell us that when you and I and act in ungodly ways we have taken a vacation from prayer and have compromised our ability to know God.
Annie Ortlund, Today’s Christian Woman - The quality of your life will be determined by the amount of time you spend alone with God in reading, praying, and planning.
Daniel made a decision to obey God instead of man. So we read in;
Daniel 6:12-13 - So they (his enemies) went back to the king and reminded him about his law. "Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to Your Majesty—will be thrown to the lions?"
"Yes," the king replied, "that decision stands; it is a law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked."
Then they told the king, "That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is paying no attention to you or your law. He still prays to his God three times a day."
They had backed Darius into a corner and even though he was king he had to obey his own law. So, he had Daniel placed into a cave with the lions and they sealed up the entrance. Darius’ parting words to Daniel were;
Daniel 6:16 - "May your God, whom you worship continually, rescue you."
4. How did God answer Daniel’s Prayers?
(How would you have spent the night?)
Daniel 6:19-22 - Very early the next morning, the king hurried out to the lions’ den. When he got there, he called out in anguish, "Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you worship continually, able to rescue you from the lions?"
Daniel answered, "Long live the king! My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty."
Daniel would not take a vacation from God. Why?
Because his desire was to know God in His fullness.
Your needs and reasons to give God praise may be smaller or larger than Daniel’s but to God all prayer is important.
That’s why we are told in;
Matthew 7:7 “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.
3. God says to pray – Why Pray?
Because we are constantly being pulled in directions away from God
Because we need His strength, wisdom, encouragement and love every day.
Because we walk into Lion’s dens everyday.
Because in prayer you draw closer to God than any other way.
When you pray you become sensitive to God and His working around you.
Remember Ephesians 6:18 - Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.
How can anyone pray on all occasions?
1. One way is to make quick, brief prayers your habit. Make prayer your response to every situation you meet throughout the day.
2. Another way is to order your life around God’s desires and teachings so that your very life becomes a prayer.
You don’t have to isolate yourself from other people and from daily work in order to pray constantly. You can make prayer your life and your life a prayer while living in a world that needs God’s powerful influence.
My Commitment for today
Because prayer is important I will;
a. Develop a closer friendship with God
b. Learn to feel comfortable talking to and about God.
c. Trust that God is always there for me.
d. Make choices that honor and please God.
