The Power of a Prayerful Life (Part 4)
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
I am sure you have heard the wise old adage…
“Anyone can count the seeds in one apple, but only God can count the apples in one seed.”
“Anyone can count the seeds in one apple, but only God can count the apples in one seed.”
So it is with the power of a prayerful life… The influence of a life dedicated, disciplined, distinguished and defiantly given to prayer. In these past 3 weeks we have looked at Daniels life here in Chapter 6 and his prayer recorded for us in Chapter 9 and noticed that prayer was not only important to him, but was likely the most important thing to his life. His relationship with his God in Heaven was the most important and he wasn’t going to let anything in heaven or on earth distract and derail his relationship and his worship of His God.
And today we are finally getting to the Lions Den, but before we get there… I want us to think on that statement for a minute.
“You can count the apples on the tree, but who can count the apples in a seed?”
See seeds represent hope. Early this spring Amy and I went out and bought a bunch of seeds with the hope that if we did our part in planting them, that they would produce a plant, and that plant would produce a fruit, and hopefully many fruits. And in each one of those fruits there are more seeds, and each seed has the potential to produce a new plant and that plant has the potential to produce a new fruit.
Seeds represent potential. And sowing seeds represents faith.
Jesus said in John 15:1-3
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
The power in a prayerful life lives on so much longer than what we notice here on this earth while we are still alive. And today as we finish up this four part message, it is my prayer that we all will look to live a life that is marked by this kind of prayer and faith in our Father in Heaven.
So turn with me to Daniel 6 and we are going to be reading verses 10-20
Daniel 6:10–20 (NIV)
10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. 12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” 13 Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” 14 When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
15 Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.” 16 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” 17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. 19 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
Daniels Deliverance is miraculous and we need to take a few minutes to unpack it. So let’s set the stage…
First was Darius’ expression of faith and then the doubt of the night…
When Darius had Daniel cast into the lions den he proclaimed… Daniel 6:16
Daniel 6:16 (NIV)
16 …The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
but the profession of faith in Daniels God wasn’t very strong as the King went home to a sleepless and comfortless night. A night where his whole being was given over to fear and restless thoughts about the fate of his beloved Daniel who he had favor in.
And so he rushed to the den in the morning and looking down into the den and crying out he asks…
Daniel 6:20 (NIV)
20…“Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
And the voice that comes out of that den brings a smile to the face of the king.
21 Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”
God had shut the mouth of the lions and saved Daniel from certain death…
Charles Spurgeon once said concerning this famed scene…it was a good thing that the lions didn’t try to eat Daniel. They would not have enjoyed him, since he was half grit and the other half backbone.
But why is it that God delivered Daniel in this situation when time after time, and for century after century there have been others who did not experience this type of deliverance. In fact, out of the 12 apostles that followed our lord, there was only one who wasn’t martyred and that is because he was exiled to the island of Patmos and that was John, the beloved disciple of Jesus. John the Revelator.
So how come God delivers some but throughout much of history so many others die for their faith?
37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
It’s because of what God wanted to do through this miraculous deliverance and Daniels life that was dedicated to prayer and worship of his God.
By this deliverance God not only vindicated Daniel but also put on a miraculous display of his power before King Darius.
This is evident in the King’s reaction to Daniels Deliverance.
Darius’ Decree: A Testimony to the Power of Prayer
Darius’ Decree: A Testimony to the Power of Prayer
23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
The king was overjoyed at the fact that Daniel was delievered from the hand of certain death by the lions without even a scratch on his body.
Whether the lions were resting and sleeping soundly next to Daniel and Daniel used them as a pillow as some artists have depicted, we do not know. What we do know is that God sent his angel down from heaven and that angel shut the mouths of the lions. He acted as a guard which wouldn’t allow any danger to come to the Lord’s anointed. And church there is power here that we need to tap into.
We often talk about the evil that runs rampant all over this world and we believe that Satan has been given dominion, but remember that only 1/3 of the angels fell with Lucifer. That all the demonic powers are only 1/3 as powerful as the angels that are on our side. And if one angel can hold back a pack of lions from devouring Daniel then think about what God can do with the army of heavenly hosts that are at his command.
And it’s not like the lions weren’t hungry as we find out…
24 At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. 25 Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth: “May you prosper greatly! 26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. 27 He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” 28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
I love what Dr. David Jeremiah writes about this scene…“The lions go their reward. Instead of one tough old Jew, they got a lot of tender, spineless Persians for breakfast. Those hungry lions ate every one of them before they hit the ground.”
What God was able to do through this deliverance is so much larger than Daniels life though. Daniel had been praying that God would intercede. Daniel had been praying that God would deliver his people and give them back their land in Jerusalem that they had been taken captive from 70 years ago.
Daniel had been praying for the Lord’s deliverance and I believe this is the very act that caused all of history to change.
It might be easy to think that Daniel talks about two separate Kings here in the last 5 chapters of his book. King Darius the Mede and King Cyrus the Persian, but I would argue that he is talking about the same guy.
Secular historians have taken note that Cyrus the Persian was 62 when he took over the throne.
31 and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
It would be better understood if there was just a comma placed where the and was in verse 28. So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius the Mede, the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
And because Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian are the same man, we can look to the book of Ezra to see what King Cryus decrees…
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: 2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “ ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’ ”
All of history has changed because of one life dedicated to prayer. All of history can look back to Daniels deliverance from the den of lions and how God used it to re-establish the Israelites in Jerusalem. Which in just 500 short years the Lord would allow a baby to be born in a manger, to a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem. And that baby would grow up to be the savior of the world.
“Anyone can count the seeds in one apple, but only God can count the apples in one seed.”
“Anyone can count the seeds in one apple, but only God can count the apples in one seed.”
Take Edward Kimball, for an example. Never heard of him? Rest assured – most people have never heard of him.
Kimball was a Sunday school teacher who not only prayed for the hyper boys in his class but also sought to win each one to the Lord personally. He decided he would be intentional with every single last one of them. Surely he thought about throwing in the towel. If you have ever taught the Bible to young boys, you know that the experience can often be like herding cats.
One young man, in particular, didn’t seem to understand what the gospel was about so Kimball went to the shoe store where he was stocking shelves and confronted him in the stock room with the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That young man was Dwight L. Moody. In the stockroom on that Saturday, he believed the gospel and received Jesus Christ as his Savior. In his lifetime, Moody touched two continents for God, with thousands professing Christ through his ministry.
But the story doesn’t end there. Actually that’s where it begins. Under Moody, another man’s heart was touched for God, Wilbur Chapman. Chapman became the evangelist who preached to thousands. One day, a professional ball player had a day off and attended one of Chapman’s meetings, and thus, Billy Sunday was converted.
Sunday quit baseball and became part of Chapman’s team. Then, Chapman accepted the pastorate of a large church and Billy Sunday began his own evangelistic crusades.
Another young man was converted whose name was Mordecai Ham. He was a scholarly, dignified gentleman who wasn’t above renting a hearse and parading it through the streets advertising his meetings.
When Ham came to Charlotte, North Carolina, a sandy-haired, lanky young man, then in high school, vowed that he wouldn’t go hear him preach, but Billy Frank, as he was called by his family, did eventually go. Ham announced that he knew for a fact that a house of ill repute was located across the street from the local high school and that male students were skipping lunch to visit the house across the street. When students decided to go to interrupt the meetings of Mordecai Ham, Billy Frank decided to go see what would happen.
That night Billy Frank went and was intrigued by what he heard. Returning another night, he responded to the invitation and was converted. Billy Frank eventually became known as Billy Graham, the evangelist who preached to more people than any other person who ever lived, including the Apostle Paul.
You could continue following this trail and see where Graham and all of us started with the ministry of Jesus. Think about how far-reaching Christ’s message has gone.
This fascinating chain of events was triggered by a Sunday school teacher’s concern for his boys.
If you are like most people, you have served in some capacity and wondered at times if you were making a real difference or not. Maybe you’ve thought about quitting because you didn’t think you were making any difference.
Next time you are tempted to give up, please remember Edward Kimball, whose persistence and faithfulness was tremendously honored by the Lord. The story would have looked very differently if Edward Kimball did not take his Saturday to seek out young Dwight Moody.
You can count the apples on a tree, but only God knows how many apples are in a single seed.
Prayer
We are called to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice. You can have it all Lord. God you can have all of me. You can have my mind, my thoughts, my intellect, my reason. I give my mind to you so that you can do with it what you will. You can have my heart, my desires, my wants, my family, my friends, my deepest desires. Lord I give you my heart to you, my heart wants you Jesus. You can have my strength, my energy, my physical body. Where you Go, I will Go, What you say I will say God. God I give you my body as a temple for your Holy Spirit. Indwell in me and reveal to me anything that I need to submit to you, anything that I need to turn from so that you can fill my temple with more of your Spirit. Lord I am yours and You are Mine. This is my offer of worship back to you God because of all that you have done for me. I give it back to you because you first loved me and gave all of yourself for me. I am nothing without you Jesus. I love you God. May I be faithful in the days ahead by the strength you have given me in the Holy Spirit.
