The Choice to be Fearless
Darius tossed and turned all night. He could not eat and
he could not sleep. Early the next morning, Darius ran to the lions’ den,
calling out, “‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve
continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’ Daniel answered, ‘O king,
live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They
have not hurt me’” (6:20–22). The overjoyed Darius scooped Daniel up out of the
den, then immediately executed the men who had hatched the plot. He then
proceeded to issue a decree that everyone in his kingdom was to fear and
reverence the God of Daniel. Listen to Darius’ testimony: “For he is the living
God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion
will never end” (6:26). God was
glorified!
Which makes me wonder what my choices really reveal. When
I pray, God, be glorified in my life, do I truly mean it? Am I
willing to back up that request with choice after choice after choice to lay
everything on the line...
reputation, position, education...
ministry, marriage, motives...
safety, success, strategy...
family, future, finances...
children, career, comfort...
dreams, desires, duties...
time, talents, treasures...
My whole life...
and trust it all to Him?
If you and I rarely exercise our faith, how can we be
surprised when it’s too weak for anyone to notice? Too weak to move others to
recognize and acknowledge that our God is God? Too weak to be contagious?
Daniel’s choice to trust God repeatedly, regardless of how difficult or
dangerous the situation was, impresses me that he wanted to serve a God who is
God. If God was unable to come through for him—if He was unable to “push the
wheelbarrow across the tightrope over Niagara Falls”—then He wasn’t a God worth
knowing. Or serving. Or risking his life for.
But the truth was that Daniel’s God is God. With years of
experience to back him up, he knew when he prayed that he was speaking to a
living Person who would listen and respond to him. Again and again, as he had
relied on God, God had been there for him. God had intervened miraculously in
his circumstances and honored his trust in many ways.
But even more than the knowledge that God is real, Daniel
was supremely confident that the living God of the universe was committed to
him. He had established a personal, covenant relationship with the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This confidence comes through clearly when he
relates, “I prayed to the Lord my God . . .” (9:4). Daniel knew that God was
his, and he was God’s. And it is this covenant relationship with God that is
the bedrock of the Daniel Prayer. There was not a shred of doubt in Daniel’s
mind that God would hear his prayer. And God would answer.
Confident Faith in God’s Covenant
Daniel would have entered into a covenant with God as a
result of growing up a Jewish boy. The covenant was claimed by his parents, who
would have had him circumcised on the eighth day of his life as an outward sign
of it. Daniel’s willing participation in the sacrificial system and the
ceremonies in the temple further solidified his relationship with God.
Even in his old age, his memories of the temple
sacrifices were precious to him because his participation had been heartfelt,
not just ritualistic or traditional (9:21). He knew the living God was his God.
When God had come through for him when he had made his choices again and again
to trust Him completely under great pressure and risk to himself, he was
increasingly confident that God claimed him also.
A covenant relationship with God is a vitally important
necessity in prayer. While God can hear and answer any prayer He chooses, when
you and I come to Him in a covenant relationship, we are guaranteed He will
listen to us and will answer us. So, before beginning the actual words of the
Daniel Prayer, it’s to our benefit to determine if we are in a covenant
relationship with God. Are you? I am.
No comments:
Post a Comment