Title: PRAYERLESSNESS AND PROWLING LIONS

Focus: Through Daniel’s story, God calls us to recognize the danger of prowling lions, eager to devour us by means of prayerlessness.

Function: To alert the people of the lurking danger of prayerlessness, and to teach them to recognize the spiritual harm the enemy can do us over against the physical harm we may face occasionally.

Text: Daniel 6:1-28

Mom and Dad are sitting down with their teenage son. Mark is an athletic person, who excels in playing soccer. In fact, Mark loves soccer and he is ready to devote his life to the game. He wants to excel in soccer these last two years of high school, so that he may be discovered by some coach from a major university and be offered a scholarship. If that should happen, then the road to a possible career in the major leagues may open up.

Of course, there are a number of hurdles to overcome: Mark’s ambition comes with a price: training, workouts, and numerous games, especially on weekends. There will be very little time to socialize with friends at church, or to be shaped by the ministries of the church, including catechesis and public worship.

In fact, parental support of Mark will mean that the parents, likewise, spend most of their time focusing upon the success of their son. But then, what’s at stake is the happiness and career of their son. Mom and Dad have made their decision: they will do whatever it takes to see Mark succeed in life, especially in pursuing his dream of becoming a professional soccer player. No matter the cost! No matter the hurdles to be faced!

And so it happens that Mom and Dad and Mark fail to hear and notice the roaring, prowling lion ready to prey upon them.

This week I received another copy of the “The Voice of the Martyrs.” Its focus is upon persecution of Christians in the Middle East. I’m amazed at the faith courage of Pastor “Hakim”, who was shot by Muslim terrorists for his faith. I admire “Lateef”—a Coptic Christian in Egypt, who has been tortured numerous times in Egypt’s jails on account of his faith.

Now like most of you, I deplore the brutality of persecutors and Christ-haters—I tend to think of them as roaring lions, always prowling and ready to devour their prey. And when I read these Christians’ stories of anguish and faith, I pray for them, and I wonder what I would do when faced with their lions or monstrous persecutors.

Then I read and studied Daniel 6. And slowly but surely the Spirit of God made me aware of another, far greater danger than physical torture or persecution—it’s the danger of prayerlessness. It’s the danger of disobedience and negligence of worship and prayer. The devil is a roaring lion. He does not only prowl around in lands and places of persecution. He is also preying upon your family, our children, our churches, and upon our souls. Open your eyes, watch your back, and preserve the breath of your soul.

The Book of Daniel is NOT a personal memoir of a brave Jew in exile. Rather, Daniel’s story instructs us how to live for God in exile, how to honor God when the lions are prowling around, and how to persevere for the sake of God and his rule—even if perseverance means physical death. Daniel’s story also reveals to us God’s ways and providence all throughout the world.

Consider, for example, that the story in Daniel 6 takes place at a critical time: King Darius has taken over the Babylonian empire. Under the Persian King by the name of Cyrus, Darius must now manage this vast empire and secure it for the glory of Cyrus and Darius. But God has different plans. God has promised that a remnant of the exiles—a remnant of Jews—would be allowed to return to Jerusalem, where they would restore the temple and the glory of God in the midst of Israel. 90 year-old Daniel is aware of those promises, and Daniel prays every day that God’s promises and plan of redemption for his people may come true.

The Book of Daniel is not a personal memoir that is supposed to inspire us to be as daring as Daniel. It’s far more than that. Daniel’s story is about the ancient conflict or battle between light and darkness, between the church and the world, between Christ and the anti-Christ, between God and Satan. More specifically, in chapter 6, God calls us to recognize the danger of prowling lions, eager to devour us by means of prayerlessness.

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Let me introduce to you the enemy—the roaring lion, the devil—who is always looking for someone to devour”(cf. I Peter 5:8). In chapter 1, the devil moves King Nebuchadnezzar to secularize Daniel and his friends by giving them food offered to his idols, and by giving them names that link them to Nebuchadnezzar’s idols.

That was a cunning trick of the devil. After all, this Daniel and his friends are a threat to the kingdom of darkness. So, let’s secularize them.

In chapter three, things get real nasty for Daniel’s friends. They refuse to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar and his gods. So, they end up in a blazing furnace. But God send an angel and saved them. In fact, God overthrew the devil’s plan and God’s rule began to spread in that dark empire called Babylon.

Now, in chapter six, just when God is about to fulfill his promise to his people to bring them back to Israel and to restore the temple, just at this critical moment the roaring lion sneaks up again: now he will try to get at the heart of Daniel’s faith and relationship with God. He wants Daniel to stop praying to God; and if that would lead to Daniel’s physical death in a lions’ den, so much the better. This praying Daniel is a threat to Satan’s rule. Therefore, Daniel’s prayer room must be turned into death chamber.

And thus we notice the plan of attack. King Darius learned that Daniel has (in the words of the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar—note ch. 5) “the spirit of the holy gods in him.” Daniel has “insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods.” In other words, this Daniel can be trusted. He is different.

Of course, what these pagans do not know is that Daniel has the Spirit of Christ in him. Daniel is being shaped by and nurtured by the Spirit of God. In fact, it’s through God’s prophetic word and visions and promises, and especially through God’s Spirit praying in and with and for Daniel and God’s people, that Daniel is wise, upright—a man of God, useful in the spread of God’s rule in Babylon and beyond.

So Darius planned to make Daniel “prime minister” of his empire. Daniel’s colleagues, however—120 high officials along with three cabinet members—aren’t pleased. Daniel stands in their way of self-interest. It’s hard to be a crooked, political high official and fleece your emperor, when the emperor has a man like Daniel looking after the king’s interest. So, Daniel must go.

These officials can’t find any political flaw or fault with Daniel. So, they look for a way to trap him and get him killed. Do you recognize the near invisible enemy behind these plotters? Do you smell the foul breath of the devil coming through the conniving words of these officials to King Darius? Do you recognize the enemy’s roar of victory when King Darius issued his decree?

Daniel smells a rat; or rather he hears the roar of the devil. I love the way Daniel responds: (vs. 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.”

Imagine that President Obama had the power of a tyrant and issued a decree, saying: “All Christians must stop praying for a month. We’re going to concentrate upon the benefits of serving the government. Those Christians turning to their God instead of government will be arrested and put to death. In order for you to show your commitment and loyalty to your government, I forbid you to pray--only for a month, of course.” How many of us would be bothered by such a decree? For how many members of the Christian church would such a decree be a bother at all?

How intensive, how frequent are our prayers? How seriously do we take God’s call to be at prayer every day? I would not be surprised if some would even argue that it might be good for us to take a “prayer break” for a month. “You know, so that we realize again how important prayer really is for us.”

Daniel won’t have any of it. You see, Daniel knows his place as a man of God. Daniel knows that God’s house of prayer in Jerusalem is in ruins, sacked by Nebuchadnezzar. So, Daniel has transformed his house into a house of prayer. The Levites in Jerusalem may not be praying in the temple. But God has Daniel—and many friends—who keep their eyes on God, who open their windows toward Jerusalem, who pray to God because they know that their “help is from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

Daniel prays prayers of intercession—for the people of God in exile, as well as in Israel. Daniel prays prayers of confession—pleading with God to forgive the sins of Israel, as well as Daniel’s own sins. Daniel prays prayers of obedience—he keeps on knocking on God’s door, for Daniel knows that God wants to be prayed to. Thus Daniel shows the Spirit of Christ in him, for behind and under and in the midst of Daniel’s prayer are the sustaining prayers and presence of Christ’s Spirit. Through the eyes of the N.T. we can say that Jesus intercedes for Daniel and in Daniel—on behalf of God’s people.

Here is the climax of the story: Daniel on his knees is Daniel at his best. On his knees, Daniel overpowers and slays the roaring devil! Daniel survives and conquers the prowling lion that is always after us.

“But wait a minute,” you say, “Does not Daniel first have to face the lions’ den? Must he not first go through that nightmare of being thrown into that pit?” I know what you are saying. But you are missing the boat. That God saved Daniel from the lions by way of sending an angel—that is not the main focus of the story; it’s more an interesting development, a somewhat unique experience. But it’s not the main thing! It’s only a minor detail.

Do you want to see where the real victory over the lions is located? It’s found in the calm, steely, steadfast, prayerful Daniel who is at peace with God. Daniel has rest and assurance—even in the face of certain death. King Darius, in contrast to Daniel, however, is restless. Darius is caught in the wicked web spun by his own cabinet members. And the law of the Medes and Persians has King Darius by the tail. He is caught in his own law. He can’t undo what he said he would do.

Daniel is at peace, at rest with himself and God. His prayer room at home has shaped Daniel to enter the lions’ den with a calm conviction that led King Darius to bless Daniel with the words: “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

While Daniel enters the lions’ den with the King’s wish over his head, King Darius goes to his bedroom. But he can’t sleep. He is restless! Ill at ease! Feeling guilty! Feeling trapped! Feeling stupid for being duped by his cabinet members. And Daniel? Well, Daniel is at peace with his lot, resting in God’s hand.

I suppose we all know that there are people who do not pray anymore, because they say that prayer does not make any difference. In fact, they get turned off by God saving Daniel from the lions, and by God seemingly not hearing them or saving them from the lions of sickness, adversity or death. Many people stop praying because they don’t think that God answers their prayers.

This is why I say that we should not stare ourselves blind on the lions’ mouths being shut by the angel of God. It is entirely in God’s hand, whether to save us from calamities and persecutions and hardships or hand us over to adversities and death. In Daniel’s case, God had more work to do for Daniel. In fact, through Daniel’s resolve to pray in the face of death, Daniel glorified God. And King Darius ended up glorifying Israel’s God as well. That’s why Darius issued another decree: “…that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.”

In this story, then, God calls us to recognize the danger of prowling lions eager to devour us by means of prayerlessness. We must seek God—in prayer, in his Word, in public worship, in service and in obedience.

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So, here’s what we should do: Watch our back! Mark and his parents saw nothing but career advancement opportunities for their athletic son. They failed to hear the roar of the prowling lion. It was only later—20 years later that Mark’s parents’ looked back and realized that through theirs and their son’s neglect of prayer, of catechesis, of worship, of spiritual disciplines and of the nurturing of Christian relationships—through that neglect their son has turned his back from Christ and the living God. Their son, though popular on the soccer field, is spiritually dead today. And that is a tragedy.

Watch your back. The danger for us does not lie in the Middle East or in Pakistan where radical Muslims make life miserable for Christians. The danger for us is to neglect prayer, and worship, and the nurture of our faith. The danger for us is to neglect God and his Word simply because we don’t feel a need to bow down to him and serve him with all our hearts. Alter all, life is so comfortable without owing or nurturing allegiance to God. And guess who is laughing? It’s the devil and his pack of lions. Watch your back! He is always trying to sneak up on us!

Prayer is the breath of the soul (so said one commentator, H. Veldkamp). If Daniel had stopped praying for 30 days, his lifeline, his relationship with God would have died. His service to God would have suffered; his heart would have become restless. His life as a witness for God in that dark kingdom of Babylon would have died as well. Satan loves nothing better! And he is still at this strategy today. Be at prayer. And be aware of God’s enemy. Now and always! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.