Prayer Lessons from Daniel
üIntro: Most of us here would probably be able to give a definition of prayer. Right? Prayer is = entreating / making requests of God, simply asking! Talking to the Lord! If prayer is simply asking or talking to God why don’t we do it? When we do pray why is it so hurried, impersonal, cold, matter of fact, I want to look at this man Daniel and see what we can learn from his prayer life! ü Background ü Daniel was a Jewish boy who was carried away to Babylon when ü Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. ü We are told he and three friends whose Jewish names were changed to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were favoured. (Interesting “birds of a feather flock together”) 1:3-8 ü Fine qualities in these young boys were 1:4 - Not all of us have the same qualities - Young men were princes and Daniel a President ü but they show diligence! ü This quality to excel is sorely lacking in Christians today! ü__ Prerequisites to Daniel’s powerful prayer life…__ Daniel would not defile himself - 1:8 Obeyed God’s laws and trusted Him Illus: 6:1-4 - Daniel was faithful, faultless- Daniel was what we find in the N.T. as “blameless / beyond reproach / walked with God! Daniel had an excellent spirit = Integrity, knowledge, understanding, honourable, Memory verse this month - John 15:7 - We must have His Word abiding in us, as we abide in Him; trusting, depending, resting! Abide = A place to stay, living in His truth! Our relationship with Him determines what power we can have in our prayer lives. ü Four lessons to learn from Daniel 6:10 That should be evident in our prayer life!
- ü Our prayer life should be Personal / Private · It was personal with Daniel - His house, His knees, His windows, his chamber Illus: His God - Dan.6:10 - Matt. 6:5,6 - “thy Father” - he is mine / yours. Can’t see Him but… His private time set aside with God. His habit to talk with the Lord - Private, personal prayer where we get real with God!- All alone, heart exposed, be open. Be honest, He loves you even though He knows all! His closet - Matt.6:5, 6 - Where is our place? You can pray anywhere! - Do we? Greatest thing we can do is pray in our closet earnestly for - family, each other, souls…
- ü Our prayer life should be void of Pride · Falling on our knees before God - Daniel 6:10 - A reminder of our place / position · How we come to God is important- 2Chron. 7:14 Humility is fertile earth We come into His presence! We must humble ourselves. We think to highly. · Our recognition of Who He is - Ps. 18:2 - He is our Rock - Total dependence! Illus: · God is near to the contrite heart - Is.57:15 - Daniel knew he needed God- humbles you! · Prov.30:13 - That generation is today! Christians live like they don’t need / want God! · Moses, Solomon, John, and Daniel - Showed reverence, respect, fear, honoured God!
- ü Our prayer life should be Persistent / Consistent Dan. 6:10 - “as he did aforetime” - Our prayer life should be habitual in a good way! Daniel knew about the decree, you should know trials are coming, you should know the world hates you, you should know friends will forsake you, you should know your heart will be broken, you should know the storms of life are coming. - Be ready - PRAY! Daniel got on his knees - 3 times a day. - Puts us to shame! Muslims - have to pray toward Mecca 5 times a day! They are required by their religion! Illus: In the bathroom at airport - wash feet- go to great lengths. Do we! Christians get to pray to a loving, heavenly Father. We pray because of our relationship! Don’t just fit praying into your day. Col.4:2 - continue = active and involved 1Thess.5;17 - always ready to pray / attitude Let your day spring from or revolve around prayer!
- ü Our prayer life should be Purposeful - Thankful & Specific! We must approach the Lord with purpose! Our needs, trials, problems, issues, of life! Dan.6:10 - “…knew the writing was signed…” 30 days not talking to God was worse than a lions den for Daniel! 1Thess: 5:18 - We act as if God doesn’t know our circumstances. He knows and cares! Phil.4:6,7 - We are encouraged to tell God our requests. Our trial, We need peace! We are to be a thankful, grateful people. God has done wonderful things in our lives! A thankful spirit takes you a long way! It Reminds us of Who He is! Keeps our attitude right. A “Thank you Lord” blesses His heart. Daniel had that attitude of gratitude! Illus: How satisfying is a sincere thank you to you! ü Conclusion: ü Four things we learned from Daniel’s prayer life
- Our Prayer life should be Personal / Private - special time alone with God!
- Our Prayer life should be void of Pride - A humble attitude before God!
- Our Prayer life should be Persistent - Consistent, daily meetings with God!
- Our Prayer life should be Purposeful - Be thankful and specific in requests ü __ Concluding Thoughts__ __ __ ü Dan.6:18-23 - ü Why was Daniel delivered from the lions?
- __ Believing__ prayer to his God!
- __ Humbled__ himself!
- Prayed in his __closet __ daily!
- God rewarded his request openly! ü Challenge - Do you want a prayer life like Daniel? Do you want a life that is guided by the power of your prayers? Do you want a prayer life like Daniel? One that can shut a lion’s mouth? __ YOUR DECISION__!