living true in babylon # 3

21 June 2009

BIG IDEA on your knees you can stand tall & live true

launch pad

TIMELINE

Daniel teenager Ch1 & 2 diet deal & the death sentence …

Age unknown Ch 3 fiery furnace Ch 4 Neb goes insane

Daniel in 60’s Ch 7 – 8

Daniel 80’s Ch 5 writing on the wall, Ch 6, 9-12 (Ch 9 Jer 29:10-14 70 yrs, 10 21 day fast)

3-4 Daniel rises to prominence & jealousy leads to intrigue & undermining

Daniel is trustworthy & not corrupt or negligent – man of excellent spirit, integrity & diligence how to stand out in a crowd

5 a cunning plan - only point of attack that remained was his walk with God – they cleverly use his integrity & diligence to master his downfall

6-9 trap is laid

10 Daniel decides to continue his practice of prayer – consider it – it’s only 30 days, he’s 80+

So what brought Daniel to prayer?

Why not have a break – it’s only 30 days! Why pray 3 times a day? use tact & avoid lions

Why pray near a window? Surely silent reflective prayer would work for 30 days!

So what brought Daniel to prayer?

WAS IT …

·       previous answers that inspired Daniel? sense of thanks

·       defiant response to the intrigue & cunning trap laid to catch him? I won’t bow

·       hunger for His presence?  

·       habitual diligence?

·       doesn’t matter if I die attitude

·       sense of responsibility Ezekiel mentions him as a man of integrity

·       love of God? relationship oriented prayer life

·       awareness of God testing his heart? Would he be a worthy vessel of further revelation?

·       urgency of the season e.g. Dan 9? an awareness of history, of destiny, of the moment? Does Ch 6 happen before or after Dan 9?????

I don’t totally know the reason why but I know who wants you to stop praying?

Devil Flesh World

They will use any means to keep you away from prayer …

·       comfortable, non-threatened of life      

·       distracted life - lack of urgency

·       dullness of heart – nominal church attendance – inattentive to God

·       discouragement & disappointment – lack of answers, difficult circumstances

11-15 men find Daniel continuing his habit of prayer & trap is enacted – king is trapped

Both king & plotters are scheming – Daniel stands out as a beacon of moral integrity

Routines in prayer are helpful – place, times, content

16-18 Daniel & king go into lock down

19-23 Daniel is delivered “because he had trusted in his God”

How is trust exhibited? reliance thru ongoing prayer

Daniel experiences the power of the age to come

Probably only physical miracle in Daniel’s account – ch 1 food deal could be seen as miraculous – all miracles in Daniel concern insight, wisdom, prophetic interpretation

24 cunning plan is turned on its perpetrators

25 God is honoured thru the Kingdom

6:10 Especially notable is the fact that Daniel’s knowledge of the decree of Darius not only failed to dissuade him from his practice of seeking God’s face three times each day, but also created a desire in him to seek God’s face immediately. The trap was sprung, and, though Darius was pained by his own decree (v. 14), the strict nature of the law of the Medes and the Persians compelled him to send Daniel to the den of lions (vv. 16, 17).[1]

Prayer will get you into trouble & out of trouble

What are we told about Daniel in this chapter

3 his excellent spirit

4 no corruption, he was trustworthy, did not neglect his duties,

5 kept Lord’s commandments – their only possible avenue of fault! People knew he prayed

6-8 the area they chose was prayer!!!! He was obviously habitually diligent in prayer

10 fearless, habitual, diligent

21 respects the King – he’s got it figured out what is really going on here

He’s broken a the King’s law which did not damage the King at all but not God’s law

23 trusted God

28 Daniel prospers

BRING IT ON HOME

SALVATION OPPORTUNITY

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[1]Believer's Study Bible, c1991 Criswell Center for Biblical Studies., electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995), Da 6:10.