Many readers of Scripture, and even some individuals who do not read the Bible, are familiar with the story of Daniel and the Lions’ Den (Book of Daniel Chapter 6). However, very few people remember the infraction of the Law that got Daniel sent to the lions’ den.
The real story behind Daniel’s brush with death centers on the jealousy of a number of presidents and princes in the court of the Babylonian King Darius. The presidents and princes knew of Darius’ preference for the young Daniel, and they sought some means of dispensing with Daniel. They found it, but the story did not end exactly the way they had planned.
To provide some context for the story of Daniel, it is important to look at the emphasis our Lord placed on the power of prayer. And it is equally important to understand one of the ultimate purposes of prayer.
If we were asked to identify the last ten things we prayed for, how many of those things would include the relief of or the protection from some form of suffering, either for ourselves or for a loved one.
The removal of suffering is a perfectly appropriate objective for our prayer. However, there is no guarantee that prayer will always result in the removal or avoidance of our suffering. Just ask anyone how often they earnestly petitioned the Lord to remove or allow them to avoid some trial of suffering, but they endured it anyway. Hopefully, they did so with a measure of grace that allowed them to endure it well. That can also be prayed for.
The avoidance of suffering, especially in a fallen world like ours, is not always possible, nor is it the primary objective of prayer. For what then does Jesus encourage us to pray?
There are a number of clear instances where the Lord encourages His disciples to pray, but none more revealing then when He Himself is being led to His crucifixion and death.
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)
On the eve of His death and departure from this world, Our Lord gave us clear guidance on how to use the power of prayer. The Lord’s counsel to pray to avoid temptation is really about our need to avoid the great destroyer of humanity – Sin.
If we need to better understand the destructive capacity of sin in society, we need look no further than our television screens and the ongoing wars and conflicts across the globe. It is easy to pick villains and victims in these circumstances, but the truth is that there seems to be no limit to man’s capacity for self-destruction.
We all face trials and suffering, but avoiding them is not the primary objective of our prayer. Instead, we should plead with the Lord that we may be found striving to avoid any actions that will separate us from God. It is Temptation that leads to sin, sin separates us from God, and what helps us avoid temptation is prayer.
We see this most especially in what we call The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
(Matthew 6:9-13)
Returning to the story of Daniel, does anyone recall what it was that got Daniel offered up as dinner for the lions?
The presidents and princes of Darius got the King to sign a new law forbidding the petitioning of anyone other than Darius himself. In other words, no prayer to God. Daniel was well aware of the law, and he also understood that violators would be cast into a lion’s den. There was a great temptation for Daniel to Not pray. Here is what Scripture records as his response.
Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. (Daniel 6:10)
For Daniel, the greater risk was not to pray. What risks do we run to simply utter a prayer?
In truth, our society’s greatest temptation may well be our unwillingness to take time to pray.
Please take some time this week to pray. Pray most especially for our fallen world.
Copyright © 2024, Deacon Mark Danis
Image credit:"Daniel's Answer to the King," Briton Riviere, Public domain, via WikiArt