Unashamed Prayer

Taking the Lord's help, I'd like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read together, Daniel chapter 6, and the text you'll find in verse 10. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

As we know, Daniel being taken captive into the land of Babylon because of the sins of the people of Israel as they failed to listen to the voice of the prophets that the Lord sent to them in the end. The Lord, as he warned them, King Nebuchadnezzar came and took them off into captivity and there they were for those 70 years and Daniel was one of those that was taken right at the very beginning of that captivity and as he established right from the beginning the scripture said he set his heart to he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank.

Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. And so right from the beginning Daniel he was a principled man who stood by what he believed to be right even though he was taken off into a foreign land, even though he was maybe unaccountable to his mother or his father or those that were in office in the temple in those days. He was completely separated from all of those things, yet he feared the Lord. He was a man who feared God and that fear of God caused him to live a life that was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, devoted to the Lord, that he would not compromise anything.

He believed that the Lord was watching him and he believed that the law of the Lord was higher than the law of the land of Babylon and so Daniel is a stranger in a promised land and he desired or he he purposed in his heart, he made that decision within himself that he was not going to compromise his faith and belief in God even though he was surrounded by materialism, idol worship and he was outside of his original land of his upbringing. He chose to follow the Lord. Jeremiah, as he prophesies regarding Israel and their captivity, in the end he says that the Lord is going to take you, you are going to go.

But when you do go, the land that you are going to go there, you're to live faithfully in that land. You are not to be carried about with the goings-on of that land. You are to live as though you are part of that land, yet not being contaminated by the sins that are taking place within that land.

Jeremiah 29 says, thus from verse 4, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build ye houses, and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

Take ye wives, and begat sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, that you may increase there, and not diminish. And seek the peace of the city, whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. In verse 10 it says for thus saith the Lord that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return for this place and then he gives them this great promise for I know these thoughts that I think towards you saith the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you, and ye shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart, and I will be found of you, saith the Lord. and I will turn away your captivity and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, saith the Lord, and I will bring you again into the place whence I have caused you to be carried away captive.' And so the Lord gives them this great promise that when they are in the land they're going to go to captivity, but when they are there they're to continue living there peacefully. they're to build houses, they're to settle down, they're not to fight against the Babylonians, they're not to resist the people that the Lord had used to take them captive, they're to they're not to be burdensome, they're to plant gardens and they're to eat the fruit of them, they're to continue to multiply and to increase just like they were in the land of Egypt when they multiplied and multiplied as they were in captivity then.

And so the Lord says to pray for that land, to pray for that city where I have caused you to be. As the Lord Jesus Christ tells us to pray for your enemies. And so he tells the people of Israel, yes, you're going into captivity, but when you're there in captivity, continue to live for the place where you are taken and then to pray. for that city where I have caused you to be carried away' and this is a good word for us, to the Lord's people, for we are, we have been taken from the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of darkness and we are living in the kingdom of light yet we are part of this world.

We are strangers and pilgrims living upon this earth. We do not belong here. As a believer in the Lord Jesus, we belong to the kingdom of Christ. We seek a city that is out of sight. We are here. And we're to continue living in this world to the best of our ability, for the honour and glory of God. And we're to pray for those people that live round about us, for the good of those people, for the salvation of those people, to seek the peace. of this city, we're to be the lights in a dark place, we're to be the ones just like Daniel who intercede and confess the sins, our own sins, not only our own sins but not only the sins of our families but also the sins of this town and this country by which we are living, asking the Lord that he will not deal with us as we deserve to be dealt with, to seek the peace of this city and if this city experiences the peace of God. then we benefit but if this city experiences the judgment of God then we also suffer, we are caught up in that and so as they were to live, they were to live in the light of all that God had commanded them.

They were to be faithful unto their Lord even though they were experiencing discipline and chastisement from because of their sin. So they were called to live in exile, but they had an end in sight. The Lord had promised them that after seven years, 70 years, they would return back to the land of Jerusalem. They weren't to just relax, they were to continue calling upon the Lord, praying unto the Lord.

Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you and you will seek me and find me when ye search for me with all your heart. And so the whole nation of Israel that was taken into captivity were to seek the Lord.

But Daniel, it seems, excelled at this. He was above them all. He was taken to a great high position of authority. He was seen to be a faithful, yet he never compromised. He never changed his ideology. He never changed his thoughts. His mind was focused upon the Lord.

In chapter 6 and verse 20, it was obvious, even to those that were around about him, that Daniel was the servant of the living God. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel. And the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou service continually able to deliver thee from the lions? The king noticed. The servant of the living God. Chapter nine. Verse three. Verse 2, In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by books the numbers and of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem.

And I set my faith unto the Lord to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and made confession and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments, we have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. And so Daniel in captivity still remembers the word of the Lord. He is serving the true and living God, compromising his faithfulness to him and as he sees the time approaching he begins to seek the face of the Lord just like Jeremiah the prophet said, you shall call upon me. and you shall go and pray unto me. If you hearken unto me, you shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I set my face unto the Lord to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth. and ashes. And chapter 10, again, right at the end of the captivity when some of the children of Israel had returned back to Jerusalem under the reign of King Cyrus, Daniel again, we find him at the throne of grace.

We find him praying unto his Lord, not not turning away, not being discouraged by all that is taking place, but remaining faithful unto the Lord through the whole really of his life and through the whole of that time of captivity. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning Three full weeks I ate no pleasant bread, and neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all. Three whole weeks were fulfilled, and in the fourth and twentieth day of the first month I was by the side of the great river, which is Hadikil, and I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed with linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of opas, and so faithful even right onto the end of captivity, right onto the end of his life, right at the beginning when he's taken as a young man into captivity, he makes a principle, I'm not going to defile myself, he starts out as he means to continue.

How easy it is, isn't it, for us? And we go into a new place and we think, or just try and fit in. I'll compromise some of my beliefs. I won't make out that I'm a Christian. And hopefully I can get away without telling everybody. If I just act like them a little bit, maybe they won't notice. If I just talk about some of the things that they're talking about, and then hopefully I'll fit in and they'll be my friends. Well, not Daniel. He says, I'm not going to compromise. I'm not going to reject my God, the God of my fathers.

And right from the beginning, he took a stand. and the Lord blessed him, and the Lord gave him favour in the sight of all of the kings that he served under, right unto his old age, when the children of Israel returned back to the promised land, to Jerusalem itself, and began building the temple. And so he loved God. But God also loved Daniel. And the Bible tells us, doesn't it? We love him because he first loved us. Daniel had some wonderful experiences as he prayed to the Lord.

He, as the angel of the Lord appears to him and speaks to him and tells him something that I always love to read about. In chapter 9, verse 22, it tells us there, And he informed me and talked with me and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplication, the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee, for thou art greatly beloved. therefore understand the matter and concerning the vision. And so this angel comes to Daniel and he informs him, as you began to pray, as you set your heart to seek the Lord by prayer with supplications and fastings, the commandment came. Who did the commandment come from? God. The commandment came from God to the angel, go to Daniel. and give Daniel the understanding that he needs to interpret the dreams, the visions that he has seen. But the angel testifies, he's greatly beloved. And he doesn't tell him that only once. Chapter 10, verse 11.

Verse 10, And behold, a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee and stand upright. For unto thee I am now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood a-trembling. Verse 19, He says again, he touched me and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened and said, let my Lord speak for thou hast strengthened me.

And so this angel, Angel Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Lord, had a message for this faithful servant of his. that he was greatly beloved. Now all of the Lord's people, all of those in Christ Jesus are greatly beloved. As God said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and the imputed righteousness which is bestowed upon the Lord's people, they are all greatly beloved. But sometimes You know it's hard for us to believe that God could actually love us as we examine ourselves as we saw the other evening and we see that the remainder of sin that indwells within us and then we look at the lives of people like Joseph and we look at the lives of Daniel and we look at the life of Paul and we think well yes we can understand why the Lord may love them because they're so faithful, they're so committed, they're so diligent in their calling.

Why would the Lord ever love me or have any concerns for me? He loves you notwithstanding all. He loves you including your sinful body. He understands your weaknesses. He understands your frame. He remembers that you are but the dust of this earth and you are beloved by him. You are his beloved because you are in Christ Jesus. And so as he speaks to Daniel, O Daniel, greatly beloved. So he speaks to his people that you are greatly beloved. What an encouragement that is.

Sometimes when we come to pray, we may think that our prayers don't even go anywhere. We can be tempted to doubt that God even listens to our prayers. But here we have some inside information. We have what is actually going on when we pray. Your prayer, he says, when you began to pray, when you set your heart to pray, the commandment came to me and I came. So God saw him and God heard him and God sent the angel to help him in response to his prayer. But all Daniel's faithfulness made him a target for attack.

He was a spotted bird. And if you've ever kept chickens, I think I've used this illustration before, but if you bring a new chicken into a chicken coop, they all begin to attack the chicken. They don't like the new one. They don't like the one that looks different.

And it's the same with the Lord's people. Daniel was a faithful man and he wanted to do everything in the fear of the Lord. And that made him vulnerable to attack from the kingdom of Satan and from those that were round about him. and those men that were under him sought opportunity to find fault in him, but they could not find any fault. The way that he went about his daily business was outwardly faultless. He was set in a position of authority and power, yet he feared God more than he feared the king. And as those men began to examine his life, they could find no occasion or fault with the way that he was doing things.

And the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion or fault, for as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against Daniel. against this Daniel is that we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

My mind went to Timothy chapter, 1st Timothy chapter 3 when it gives the credentials really of a minister and it says Moreover, verse seven, moreover he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and snare of the devil. And it's been said, although this list is really for those to enter into the office of the ministry, yet really it is something that is to be looked at for all believers. all believers are to be above reproach, that when our lives are examined by others on the outside, they are to see us that we have been with the Lord Jesus Christ, that we are different, that we seek to conduct our lives without error as much as possible, that we seek to conduct our business in the fear of the Lord without any backhanding or or any fraud or any lies or deceit that may be prevalent in the society round about us.

And so Daniel, he had an opportunity. He had an opportunity to he had the responsibility of a lot of money. And it seems that those that were around about him were trying to bring him down by trying to find some accusation that he had done some fraud or something along those lines. But when they examined him, as they say, we went through his books, they found no fault.

And so they said, the only thing we can do The only thing that will bring this man down is to find something with him and his God. And so they came up with a plan to exploit the faithfulness of Daniel and the pride of the king. They spoke flattering words to the king to inflame his pride and to cause him to think himself to be as higher than a god that within one month, if anybody wanted to ask anything of anybody, they were to come to the king.

The king falls for their trap and changes the law. But the law changes, but Daniel, he doesn't change. He's unmoved by the situation and continues in his daily routine of prayer three times a day. Some may say, well, maybe he wasn't aware, but the scripture tells us When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house. If you remember, when the temple was first built by Solomon, Solomon prayed as he dedicated the temple.

And he goes through various situations that might happen in the lives of people and in the lives of the people of Israel.

And he says, when they turn to this place, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place. In 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 44, If thy people go out to battle against their enemies, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shalt pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and towards the house that I have built for thy name, then hear thou in heaven their prayer, and their supplication, and maintain their cause. they sin against thee, for there is no man that sinneth not, and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry away captivity unto the land of their enemy, far or near. Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captive saying we have sinned and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness and so return unto thee with all their hearts and with all their soul in the land of their enemies which led them away captive and pray unto thee toward their land which thou givest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen and the house which thou hast built for thy name, then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven, thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause." That was the prayer that Solomon or the dedication that Solomon did at the end of the construction of the temple when they turn to this place. they've been taken away captive, if they've come into, if they've been taken away into another land, if they turn to face this place, what do we find with Daniel?

He's a man who had the knowledge of the scriptures, he knew Jeremiah, he knew about David and and Solomon and the prayer and the dedication of the temple. And when he knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and he began, his window being open, the chamber towards Jerusalem. He kneeled down and prayed. His prayer was directed to where Jerusalem was and where the temple used to be. The temple was the dwelling place of God. He directed his petition to God, the one who is able to help him in his present situation, the one who is far greater than Darius, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who is all-mighty and all-powerful. He directed his prayer to him.

He kneeled down. He didn't try and hide it, that he was praying. He didn't just stand at his window and pretend that he was looking at a nice view out of the window, but he made sure that nothing changed. He was unashamed of his God. He was unashamed that he was praying and he was unafraid of the commandment of the king.

Often it is that people are afraid. pray. They're embarrassed to pray. Maybe at lunchtime, maybe at work and we maybe don't pray because we think people may see us and we might even try and do it very secretly and hide away or something like that. We're embarrassed to speak to God.

Daniel wasn't embarrassed. He prayed with his windows opened. He kneeled down as he did every single day even before the commandment came. He was not ashamed of his God. He did not think it an immature thing to pray. He did not think it was a weak thing to pray. That is the mindset, isn't it, today by many. Well, I don't have to pray. I don't need to pray. I can deal with things my own way. It's just a third world, uneducated thing to speak to a God that doesn't exist. Well, we know that God does exist. And we know that he dwells in heaven, his dwelling place, and he hears the prayers of his people.

And he heard the prayer of his servant, Daniel. his servant Daniel directed his prayer to God and he kneeled down in humility before him and he gave his petition. We know that Kneeling is not essential for prayer. We know as we go through the scriptures, people pray in all manner of positions. Some people have prayed laying down on the floor, crying out to God. Even Solomon, when he was dedicating the temple, the king kneeling before the king of kings with his hands outstretched. the Lord Jesus Christ fell on his face and he prayed more earnestly. You can pray standing, you can pray sitting, you can pray laying upon your bed. But Daniel, he chose to pray and he chose to pray so that the people knew this is what I'm doing.

I'm unashamed of my God, I'm unashamed, I'm unafraid of the King's commandment and I am going to continue communing with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and he prays three times a day. We know as believers in Christ Jesus, we are not limited as some religions to time and place. We can pray to God in any place, at any time. But it is good to have this term, the holy habit, to have times that we dedicate for prayer, times when we come alone to be with the Lord and to commune with Him and to unburden our hearts before Him. If you love somebody, you want to talk to them. Daniel loved God. God loved Daniel. and they spoke and communicated with each other.

What does his prayer consist of? He prayed three times a day and he gave thanks before his God. He prayed. The word prayer means really to ask or to beg. The Scriptures tell us in the New Testament, by prayer and supplication, that your requests be made known unto God. Daniel prayed, he asked for things. We read already that he asked for the Lord to forgive the sins of his people. We read in Jeremiah that he was to pray for the peace of that city of Babylon.

And no doubt there were other things that he asked the Lord, that he was concerned about, that he prayed and he asked, but also he gave thanks. He gave thanks unto God. Thanks for the things that he had received. thanks for the Lord and his mercy that endures for ever and ever.

And so our prayers also should not just be consisted of things that we want all the time, going to the Lord, I want this and help me with this and help me with that, help me with that, but we're to consider what the Lord has already done as well and we're to give thanks to him for what he has done.

If this command went out now to us, that we were not to ask anything of any man or any God for a whole month, would it affect our prayer life? Would it affect our prayer life? How often do we go without praying? Daniel, he prayed, he had three times a day that he set aside specifically for prayer. And so this law was to try and disrupt that commitment to the Lord, yet he remained faithful. He continued on as he had always done. Or would this suit us quite well? don't pray anyway so it doesn't really matter to me.

You say that you love God, you say that you love the Lord Jesus Christ, then why is it that you don't want to speak to him? Why is it that you have no desire to commune with him? Why is it that you don't want to petition him? Why is it that you don't want to give him any thanks?

Would it affect Our prayer life is the only time that we pray, the time when we sit around the food table and say grace or say and give thanks. What do we do when things get difficult? When we get some difficult news, what is the first response that we have?

Daniel, when Daniel knew the writing was signed, immediately, He continued on in his prayer, in his holy habit of prayer. Remember King Hezekiah, when he got the letter, he took the letter and he spread it out before the Lord and he prayed to the Lord. In chapter 10 of Daniel, when we read of King Cyrus, and as we look at Ezra and Nehemiah and the difficulties that the Jews had when they began to build the temple and build the walls, I doubt that news filtered back to Daniel as he was still there in Babylon.

But what did he do? He set his face to the Lord. He was mourning. for three weeks. He fasted for three weeks. He ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine to my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. Three weeks dedicated to prayer. Why?

Because he heard what was going on in Jerusalem. He knew, he heard the enemies were bringing disruption. Hezekiah took his complaint to the Lord, his concerns to the Lord. He came to the throne of grace. And the Lord heard his prayer. The Lord heard the prayer of Daniel.

In Psalm 191 we have there the psalm that speaks of the angels of the Lord Verse 11, and he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot upon a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder. The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under thy feet because he has set his love upon me. Therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. It says, for he shall give his angels charge over thee.

Daniel, when he knew that the writing has been signed, he continued praying to his God, asking Him, no doubt, for help in that present situation. What does he say as he's thrown into the lion's den, he stays there all night, my God, has sent his angel to and has shut the lion's mouths and they have not hurt me for as much as before him innocency was found in me and also before thee, O king, I have done no hurt. And so the Lord heard the prayer of Daniel and the Lord protected him in that very dangerous situation.

The same God is still on the throne today. The same God is still at the end of a call, if you like, at the throne of grace. can still come to him through his beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's still surrounded by innumerable multitudes of angels and those angels are the messengers of God. As we see the Lord Jesus Christ, the ladder set upon the earth and the top of it reached into heaven and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it, bringing the messages of the Lord to the Lord's people. Cool. And so this same God reigns. Daniel was unafraid by the law. He didn't change. He would not compromise his whole life. And he continued with his holy habit, even knowing that it was going to get him into trouble.

And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, his windows being opened in his chamber towards Jerusalem, and he kneeled down upon his knees three times a day. and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did. for time.

Well may the Lord help us then to be those who take up that holy habit and to use the privilege of prayer to commune with our Lord through the Lord Jesus Christ and then we will witness those great answers to our prayers as the saints have done throughout the ages.

May the Lord add his blessing. Amen. May the Lord help us as we sing our final hymn in Gatsby's 968 to the tune 494-968. Hark my soul, it is the Lord, tis thy Saviour, hear his word. Jesus speaks and speaks to thee, save for sinner, loves thou me. 968. Jesus speaks and speaks to me. And when would they heal my wound? Soon the morning set me right, and I died. be. Heads were low and heads were high. He brought the dead with him, free and grateful, so has done.

Thou shalt see my glory too, when the world Oh, it is my chief complaint That my love is cold and faint And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with you now and for evermore. Amen.

Unashamed Prayer

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