Daniel

When you look at the life of Daniel what do you see? Do you see the brave way he stood up to Kings and to lions? The cool way that God used him to reveal mysteries that no one else could solve? (1:17) What I see is a man who was betrayed over and over again by those who were around him, those who were jealous of him because of the gifts from God he had. You can not read the first 6 chapters of the book of Daniel and not see how over and over again people were jealous of Daniel and his friends. How they looked to seek to trap them and kill them through the Kings they served.(3:8-12,6:6-9)

Daniel was chosen because he was one of the top young men in the land.(1:3-5) He was found to be ten times better (1:20)than all those around him and he did it God's way and not the worlds way.(1:8) What I see in the life of Daniel is a man who not only had the opportunity to destroy those who were around him but a man that also defended them.(Daniel 2:24)Daniel knew that God would be the final judge and that those who were against him would be revealed for who they really were. (6:24)

I want to be like Daniel but how do I do that?

We see the key to this question in chapter 6 verse 10 which tells us "Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before."

Sounds simple doesn't it? Then why is praying so hard for us to do? Why do we run to others for answers instead of to God? If you read about Daniel and all he went through you will see similarities to your own life.

1) He was not in control of his environment. (1:1-2)
We are not either even though we think we are sometimes.
2) He was betrayed by others and falsely accused. (6:12-15,24)
Who are you thinking of right now that has betrayed you or lied about you?

So what made Daniel ten times better? He went to God every day, three times a day. He sought God for the answers not anyone else. He asked his friends to pray to God not sit around and discuss what they should do about the issue they faced. (2:17-18)

So if you want to be like Daniel then you have to Pray. We are not talking about little sentence prayers but prayers throughout the day, (6:10) and sometimes all night prayers.(2:19)

What would our homes look like if we prayed? What would our churches look like if we prayed? What would our businesses look like if we prayed? What would we look like if we prayed? I would think we would look a little more like Daniel and we would trust God with all of our issues.