This month we are looking at stories from the life of Daniel to learn how to STAND with and for God in this New Year, and today we are going to look at probably the most familiar story we know about Daniel, Daniel in the Lion’s Den. I don’t know what image comes to mind when you think of this story, but for me it’s usually something like this. (Picture) Since this is usually a story we find in children’s Bibles, we often see Daniel surrounded by cartoon lions that look like big tame cats that he could pet, or cuddle up with. While this is fine for telling the story to children, we need to understand that the circumstances of Daniel being in the lion’s den were much different, and his experience teaches us something about standing strong in our own faith.
The first thing to understand is that the lions were not tame pets. These were wild beasts kept in a dungeon underground for the sole purpose of killing people who were tossed in. The idea of being tossed into this pit must have been terrifying for anyone, including Daniel. The second thing to consider is that Daniel might be in his 70’s or even 80’s at this time, and had risen to be one of the top leaders in the nation. Daniel had been a risen up as a valuable and trusted leader under King Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, and when the Persian’s defeated Babylon, Daniel remained in power. In Daniel 6, we see the new king, Darius, divide the nation into the three regions and appoint an administrative leader over each one. Because of Daniel’s gifts and abilities, the king not only made Daniel an administrator, but planned to put Daniel over the entire kingdom.
Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” Daniel 6:3-5
While the king saw the value of Daniel’s leadership, the other leaders were jealous. Daniel was not only better at the job than they were, but he was a foreigner. He was neither a Persian nor a Babylonian, he was from Israel and he had never given up his faith in God. The more God blessed Daniel as he stood out and stood up, the more those around him wanted to tear him down. When God raised Daniel up, others tried to tear him down. There is an important lesson for us here.
We often think that if we are serving God, living for God, or standing out and standing up for our faith that things should go well for us. We have this idea that when we are faithful, we will get what we want, and when we follow God, life will be easy. But this is simply not true, and it never has been. All through scripture we find stories of people who stood strong in their faith and things were difficult. Moses stood strong each time he went to Pharaoh, and each time Pharaoh sent him away saying NO. Even when God finally set the people of Israel free, their travels through the wilderness were difficult.
Before David became the king he honored God and yet he was chased down and persecuted by Saul. Jesus lived for God in all ways. He stood out, and he stood up, and yet he was constantly misunderstood and persecuted. The Apostle Paul followed Jesus and did all God called him to do and he was arrested, beaten, put in prison, shipwrecked, and finally killed for his faith. We have to let go of this idea that if we will just stand strong in our faith that everything will be easy. It won’t. Problems will come, pain will come, disappointment and trials will come while we are serving God and standing strong, but through it all, God will be with us.
So as God raised Daniel up, the other administrators wanted to tear Daniel down, but they couldn’t find any grounds for it in his work, so they turned to his faith. They had the king issue a decree that no one could pray to anyone but the king.
So these administrators went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! The royal administrators have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” So King Darius put the decree in writing. Daniel 6:6-9
Those jealous of Daniel plotted to destroy him, and now Daniel has three choices.
● He can stop praying for 30 days.
● He can fake it and pray privately so no one notices.
● He can stand strong and pray as he always did.
I had to ask myself what I would do in a situation like this. Please don’t read more into this than what I am saying, I know we are in a politically divisive time, and I am not suggesting either side is, has, or will ever do this, but what would we do if we were told we had to pray to the president alone for 30 days or else be killed. Would we stop praying? Would we keep going as we always did? Or would we just pray privately so that no one would know. The decree did not say you had to pray to the king, just that you couldn’t pray to any other god or human. So I won’t pray to the king, I’ll just pray to God in private. I can see myself doing that, not making waves, but that is not what Daniel chose to do.
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. Daniel 6:10
Daniel stood strong, and what gave him the strength to stand during this difficult time was his willingness to kneel.
Kneeling to pray is what gives us the strength to stand.
Now let’s be clear, what gave Daniel the strength to stand strong and pray during this time was that he had been kneeling to pray, three times a day, for years. Daniel didn’t go out now and make a public show of his faith, he simply did what he had always been doing. It says he prayed just as he had done before. His practice was to kneel down to pray, and it was a lifetime of prayer that gave Daniel the ability to now stand strong.
What gave Jesus the strength to stand strong and not only carry a cross but be willing to die on it? It was a time of prayer on his knees in the Garden of Gethsemane. One of the most moving places I visited in Israel was that garden, really a grove of olive trees. From the garden you can see the walls of Jerusalem in one direction and the wilderness in the other. Jesus had a decision to make that night. He knew Judas was coming to betray him. He knew they were coming to arrest him and that he would be tried, publicly humiliated, and put to death. Jesus could stand strong in his faith, go to Jerusalem, or he could flee to the wilderness. The choices literally laid before him. He kneeled down to pray and it was during that prayer that Jesus resolved to stand strong and carry the cross.
But that decision didn’t come because Jesus prayed just in that moment, it came because Jesus had spent a lifetime in prayer. Jesus prayed for 40 days after his baptism, He created moments to be alone to pray, and His prayer life was so engaging that His disciples asked Him how they could pray. Prayer was an ongoing part of Jesus’ life, and it was a lifetime of kneeling to pray that gave Jesus the strength to stand.
Tomorrow we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, and King was a man who stood strong in the face of persecution and trials. Through death threats and violence directed at himself and his family, King stood strong and many have said that his ability to stand came from his willingness to kneel in prayer. During the Montgomery bus boycotts, which were early in King’s life as a civil rights leader, he faced great opposition and persecution from all sides. He was ready to quit when he sat down and prayed:
Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right. Now, I am afraid. And I can’t let the people see me like this because if they see me weak and losing my courage, they will begin to get weak. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I’ve come to the point where I can’t face it alone.
In her book, Standing in the Need of Prayer, Coretta Scott King said, When Martin stood up from the table, he was imbued with a new sense of confidence, and he was ready to face anything. Kneeling to pray, and acknowledging our own weakness and our own need for God, is often the door that leads to the strength to stand.
It wasn’t that one prayer that gave King strength, it was a lifetime of prayer. Prayer can’t be seen as our last resort when we are in trouble, but the practice of a lifetime that can give us strength. Prayer is one of the rhythms that deepens our relationship with God and it helps us be able to hear God when He calls us to stand out, stand up, or stand strong. Last week we talked about how important it is to hear God’s voice when we feel called to stand up, and prayer is a big part of hearing that voice.
Daniel knelt down to pray, but that is just one way we can practice prayer in our lives. Prayer can be done as we walk, as we sing, as we read, or as we practice silence. Prayer can be written in journals, be voiced sitting at a table, turned into art, and shared with family and friends. If you are looking for some new ways to pray, I invite you to check out the next steps this week and not only read about prayer, but consider how to make prayer an ongoing part of your life. Allow your conversation with God to literally overflow into every area of your life so that when the time comes you will be able to stand strong.
If in our time of prayer we hear God telling us to stand strong, we then need to trust God with the results.
Daniel knelt to pray three times a day. He may have prayed for God to change the heart of the king and take back the decree. He may have prayed for God to deliver him from the coming evil. Daniel didn’t know the results when he knelt down to pray, but he did know that he could trust God. Daniel 6:13-24
Daniel trusted God for the results. He didn’t know if God would rescue him, or how God might rescue him, and it may not have mattered to Daniel, he just knew that he needed to stand strong and trust God. That is what Daniel did, and God delivered him. We don’t know how God closed the mouths of the lions, we don’t know what the angel of the Lord looked like, and I can’t imagine that Daniel spent a peaceful night cuddled up with a lion, but the lions did not harm Daniel.
Jesus left the Garden of Gethsemane and trusted God for the results. Standing strong wasn’t going to mean no pain and no persecution, but Jesus trusted God for the results, and three days after His death, Jesus rose victorious over sin and death. His trust in God, and his willingness to stand strong, not only delivered Him, but all of us.
Standing strong in our faith doesn’t mean that everything will always work out the way we want it to, and it doesn’t mean life will be easy. Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den without knowing the results. Jesus was nailed to the cross trusting God for a resurrection. There will be times when God might call us to stand strong without knowing the results. What can help us trust God and stand strong is a lifetime of kneeling down to pray. It’s not too late. A lifetime of prayer can start today. Let us pray.
Next Steps
Stand Strong
Read the story of Daniel in the lion’s den found in Daniel 6.
● What new insights do you see?
● What would you do in Daniel’s situation?
● What example from Daniel can you follow?
Kneeling to pray is what gives us the strength to stand.
Prayer is one of the 5 Rhythms that can strengthen our Relationship with God. Learn more about prayer, and different ways to practice prayer, from our http://bellefontefaith.com/prayatfaith.
● When has prayer helped you stand strong in faith during a difficult time?
● How can you strengthen your prayer life so you can stand strong both today and into the future?
● How can prayer become part of your family life?
Trust God for the results.
● Daniel stood strong without knowing the results. A harrowing night in a lion’s den led to his deliverance.
● Jesus stood strong without knowing the results. A harrowing three hours on the cross and three days in the grave led to our deliverance.
● Where are you needing to stand strong without knowing the results? Even if the situation is not easy, how might God deliver you?
● When have you trusted God with an unknown future or during a difficult time? What did you learn? How was God with you? How did God deliver you?
To learn more about the 3 Relationships and how to stand strong in faith, go to https://bellefontefaith.com/3r. You can take the free assessment and find resources to help you stand strong in your faith.
