How Not To Get Eaten By A Lion: The Life and Crime(?) of Daniel

Daniel prayed. That's a good thing! But then the king passed a law that said NOBODY could pray (except to the king) for 30 days. God said to pray, the king said not to pray. What should Daniel do? What would you do? Oh yeah, there's one other thing... if you DO pray you get fed to a bunch of hungry lions. Prayer is talking to God Daniel would continuously talk to God through prayer. Even when he was threatened to be thrown into the lion’s den, Daniel would continue to pray to God. Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart . – Colossians 4:2 Daniel 2, Daniel 6 Daniel and the Lion’s Den Daniel was a very good, faithful man, who always obeyed God. He would pray to God consistently, three times a day. Daniel had a very close relationship to God due to how often he would talk to God through prayer and because of his unshakable faith. God also gave Daniel an incredible gift—Daniel was able to interpret dreams. This gift led Daniel to successfully interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The king then gave Daniel a high up position in the kingdom and gave him many gifts. Because Daniel was so smart, other wise men in the kingdom were very jealous. Their jealousy led them to convince King Darius to make a new law—that the people were only allowed to pray to the king. If people chose not to obey this law, they would be thrown in the lion’s den. These jealous men knew that Daniel would never obey this law since he would pray to God several times a day. Daniel continued to pray in his room, even when he had heard about this new law. After the jealous men saw him do this, they told King Darius. This made King very upset because he cared for Daniel and tried to get him out of trouble, but knew there was no way around it. Before throwing him in the den, King Darius told Daniel “Your God, to whom you are so loyal, is going to get you out of this.” The next morning, King Darius went to check on Daniel and heard Daniel say “ My God sent his angel to shut the lion’s mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have wronged you, Your majesty.” Daniel had not been harmed! They both knew that Daniel was protected because he had completely trusted God and had faith in Him. Daniel had a great amount of love for the Lord. Daniel also had a deep and personal connection to God because he would intentionally talk to God all the time through prayer. Regardless of the situation he was facing, he would make time to pray. Sometimes, we can get so caught up in our daily routine, that we neglect to prioritize our quiet time with God. But the truth is, God wants to hear from us—He wants us to talk to Him because of His love for each and every one of us. I can talk to God. Questions to think about: 1. Why did Daniel continue to pray, even when he knew his life would be threatened? 2. Why did Daniel have such a close relationship with God? 3. How can I remember to talk to God on a daily basis?