Prayer Thursdays: April 20, 2017

Just this:

Daniel 6 (NLT):

⁴ Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. ⁵ So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”

⁶ So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! ⁷ We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. ⁸ And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” ⁹ So King Darius signed the law.

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. ¹¹ Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help.

What was found in Daniel?

Faithfulness

Responsibility

Trustworthiness

Loyal to his God

What was not found in Daniel?

Fault

Moral compromise

Corruption

Access to power didn't degrade his character. Threats from the powerful didn't alter his allegiance. Threat of death didn't sway him from His God. Those who plotted Daniel's demise had to come find him--he didn't beg them for his life or try to make a deal with the conspirators.

Daniel's life was an offering to God, not to lions. Their paws became his pillows, because he was in communion with the Lord every day. Daniel is the only one who slept the night he was thrown in a lion's den.

What an example of prayer as a lifeline and the lifeblood of an extraordinary life. But even more importantly, look at God! The rescuer. The listener. The one who is for the innocent.

Daniel's impeccable character promoted him in the halls of kings. Daniel's devotion to God, however, caused a Babylonian king to declare (Daniel 6:26-27):

I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel;

For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever. “He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”

May our prayer-fueled devotion to God and our excellence and dependability be a perpetual act of worship that compels others to kneel at the feet of the true King.