Dare to be a Daniel

One of our grandsons loves superheroes like Superman who is powered by a fictional substance called kryptonite.

One of my superheroes is the prophet Daniel who saw God work wonders in his life.  He connected with God through prayer and obedience - a greater power than kryptonite.

I have been re-reading Daniel in the Old Testament again recently and marvelling at the kind of man he was.  He was not a strong warrior like David, but he faced just as threatening situations as the great Hebrew king.

He was taken captive in Judah and marched to Babylon as a slave.  But God had blessed him with great intelligence and a humble spirit - a rare combination.

What stands out for me is Daniel's wonderful prayer life.  He determined from the outset to remain true to God, no matter what.  He sought God in prayer in all circumstances and God gave him insights through visions, dreams and revelations.

Amazingly, he became a noted wise man and high official in the courts of several Babylonian and Persian kings even though he was an alien from a conquered nation.

The book of Daniel is filled with great stories of God's hand upon Daniel from the moment he was recruited to serve King Nebuchadnezzar.

But the one that sticks in my mind is Daniel being thrown into the lion's den.  He was the victim of a plot by jealous rivals high in King Darius' court who resented the king's trust in him.

They succeeded in getting Darius to issue a decree that people were to pray only to Darius for the next 30 days and anyone found to have broken this law would be thrown to the lions.

Daniel could tell this was a trap and he went immediately to his room, opened the windows facing Jerusalem and continued praying to God for wisdom three times daily as he always did.  The conspiring officials found him praying and succeeded in getting the king to throw him to the lions.

The king was clearly impressed with Daniel's faith and Daniel's god and did not want to have him killed.  But he had already signed the decree and the Jewish exile was cast into the lion's den.

After a night of tossing and turning, the king ran out the next morning to see if Daniel had survived - and he had.  He said that "my God sent his angel to shut the lions' mouths so that they would not hurt me."

Darius responded by having the conspirators thrown to the lions.  And he sent out a statement to his people declaring that Daniel's God "is the living God and he will endure forever."

Daniel lived his life so close to God that an angel told him "you are very precious to God" when the prophet sought an explanation of a vision he had received.

In my view, Daniel's power came partly from his habit of praying three times a day to the Lord.  He sought God himself and the wisdom that only God can give.

But the second element of his power was obedience.  When he determined what God wanted, he carried out God's wishes.  And he always turned the spotlight on God, not himself.

Obedience to the Hebrew God in ancient Babylon and Persia was tricky to say the least.

The result was an immense influence on an alien society and great glory to God.

The same path of prayer and obedience is open to me.






A new post on my prayer blog - "Dare to be a Daniel"