The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 7:1-28 (day three)

“And the books were opened.”

There’s been a witness to every injustice you’ve ever suffered. Every act that has wounded your soul has been recorded. Despite the amount of power a person amasses, impunity is ultimately out of reach. Blood cries out from the ground; deeds get weighed in the balance; secrets become rooftop news; schemes lose their cover of darkness. Whether a king lords it over a subject, or whether a person in the inner circle merely looks with smug satisfaction on someone of lower station, God knows. The way others treat you matters to God, and you are therefore responsible for the way you treat others. This will all become starkly clear on that day when the books are opened.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 7:1-28 (day two)

…His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him. Vs. 27 b (restatement of vs. 14)

Daniel’s dream sounds terrifying, doesn’t it? I don’t have a clear picture of what those beasts looked like, but I can read from Daniel’s state of mind they were disturbing. Not only that, what they represented was unsettling. Kingdoms, terror, and destruction is not the kind of thing that one wants to know about the future. What I found compelling about the interpretation is that we are not given specifics. Not in the way that we, perhaps, would like. Details like who exactly, when exactly, and where exactly are not revealed. And even if Daniel is given all those details, that is not what he chooses to record. That is not the important part. Kingdoms will rise and fall. Injustice will triumph for a time. Then something else will make all of that stop. This is the heart of the message. Authority will be given to one who will no longer suffer injustice. His kingdom will be everlasting. Skip to the end, friends. We don’t know the details of the middle part of this story, but we certainly know the ending. Fix your eyes on him. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. We proclaimed it a few days ago. He is risen, and he will reign forever. Put your confidence in the ending of this story.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 6:1-28 (day seven)

He is Risen!

Daniel 6:17 “A stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel.”

Darius and the satraps thought they had sealed Daniel’s fate. They made sure that no one was going in or out of the lions den. But God had other plans!

Matthew 27:66 “And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.”

Pilate and the pharisees thought they had sealed Jesus’ fate. They made sure that no one was going in or out of the tomb. But God had other plans!

Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.”

Satan and the demons thought they had sealed our fate. They made sure that we could not reach heaven. But God had other plans!

The same Power that saved Daniel from the mouth of the lions and raised Christ from the dead, is the same Power that personally gives each of us new life!

He is Risen Indeed!!

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 6:1-28 (day six)

The disciples did not even bother rushing to the tomb the next morning. Jesus was dead, and the tomb was sealed. It was final; hopeless.

But Darius arose in haste to see if Daniel’s God had indeed delivered him from the lions. Even Darius knew that while he, the king, was unable to rescue Daniel, God was able.

Isn’t that the Easter story; the good news?

When there seems to be no way, God is able. When our hands our tied, God is able. When it looks like the enemy has won, God is able. When it looks like death is the victor and the tomb is sealed, God is able.

The disciples would soon discover the able-ness of God for themselves, and they would never be the same.

May we live and rest in the able-ness of God. That’s Gospel kind of living.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 6:1-28 (day five) 

“and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.”

Daniel’s life of faithfully serving God was sustained by discipline. Even his enemies knew where Daniel would be and what he would be doing.  He was that disciplined. In his book “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” Donald Whitney explains that the result of discipline is freedom. An accomplished pianist can play (has the freedom to play) any piece of music because they have spent countless hours in disciplined practice and study. Same is true in the Christian life.

Daniel’s discipline provided structure and substance that created devotion and determination for serving God.  In Daniel’s life his freedom (even in captivity) looked like courage, patience, wisdom, and insight.  Daniel found strength, peace, and the voice of God in his discipline.

In these days that seem so disrupted and unpredictable, maybe we can find the same freedoms that Daniel had (even in Stay Home Work Safe). Let’s begin rhythms of prayer and devotions during this COVID crisis. Let’s find freedom to faithfully serve God and others.  May our discipline lead to  freedom.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 6:1-28 (day four)

King Darius was oblivious to the schemes of his officials.  He did not recognize their treachery against Daniel.  Daniel understood though.  Since his captive and kidnapping to Babylon as a young man, he had distinguished himself before the Chaldeans.  Now, in his late eighties, he continued to demonstrate the devotion to God that had set him apart from all the rest.  Even after all these years of serving as a leader in Babylon, he was still viewed as an ‘exile from Judah’ by these jealous leaders.

Daniel knew when the injunction was signed…He knew they would come for him…He did not change his pattern of worship and prayer to God though.  Daniel’s devotion to God brought its own reward.  That God elected to deliver Daniel from the lions was extra blessing.  Just as his three friends had responded years before,..“God is able to deliver and even if He chooses not to deliver us, we will still serve Him”…Daniel was steadfast in his commitments.  Daniel gives us a model of devotion! Stand firm.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 6:1-28 (day three)

“Then the king went off to his palace and spent the night fasting”

Was Darius’s way of passing the night a type of prayer that God actually heard? One could claim that Darius simply engaged in an attempt to manipulate a deity: If I do A, God will be bound to do B. But the sense of the passage does not seem to indicate a cynical attitude on the part of the king. Instead, we see in Darius a genuine concern for Daniel, a high regard of God’s character, and a recognition of God’s power. Taken together with his self-denial through the night – no food, no music – Darius seems to have placed himself in an humble posture of prayer. If this was the case, God inclined himself favorably towards Darius’s righteous behavior. When anyone seeks God earnestly, God will be found.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 6:1-28 (day two) 

 Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. vs. 10

We have said this more than once in the past few weeks, but it bears repeating: Daniel’s faith was not a faith of crisis. Daniel did not turn to God because things weren’t going well for him or his people. Daniel did not panic and remember that God could deliver him from trouble. Daniel’s faith was born out of a life committed to following the Lord as a matter of course. It was his duty, his act of obedience, his love for Jehovah that created the core of his person. As a result, when things looked grim around him, he was already in a place of security. He knew the Lord, and the Lord knew him. Our relationship with Jesus needs to be the center of who we are, not a remedy for the current crises around us. Center on Him and you will begin to gain a heavenly perspective on everything else.