Would you turn with me in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6? While you're finding your place, I'll say a few words by way of introduction. If you're like me, you know what it's like to endure seasons of prayerlessness. Seasons in your life where you find yourself going from senses of self-sufficiency to a sense of hopelessness, but all the while never going to the Lord in prayer. And tonight, in light of that, I want to ask, why is it that we don't pray? And the second question, when we don't pray, what is it that we substitute for prayer? In whom or in what do we trust? Are there particular circumstances that keep us from prayer? Ultimately, I suspect that the answer can be reduced to two circumstances. We think too highly of ourselves, or perhaps others, and we think too little of God. And yet, what we find as we turn to Daniel chapter 6 is that, as this passage shows us, there can be no substitute for God, and there can be no substitute for prayer to Him. For He alone is the living God, who hears and answers His people's prayers. And so we'll find in this passage that we have great reason, as we observe the example of Daniel, to pray to God in any and every circumstance. So if you found your place, would you follow along with me as I read, beginning in verse 1. I'll read at the end of the chapter. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom, and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps would give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. Then these men said, we shall not find any ground for complaint against Daniel, unless we find it in connection with the law of his God. Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, O king Darius, live forever. All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any God or man for 30 days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O King, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked." Therefore, King Darius signed the document and injunction. When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. Then they came near and said before the king concerning the injunction, O king, did you not sign an injunction that anyone who makes petition to any God or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing stands fast according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked. Then they answered and said before the king, Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed, and set his mind to deliver Daniel, and he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. Then these men came by agreement to the king, and said to the king, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed. Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you. And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lord's, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then at break of day the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish, The king declared to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? Then Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever. My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him and also before you, O king. I have done no harm. Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions, they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth. Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. Father in heaven, we come to you tonight and ask that you would work in our hearts and our minds to receive your word. We ask that you would open our minds to understand it, and that you would use your word to conform us more and more to the image of your son, that we might be people who are characterized by prayer and trust in you in spite of all circumstances. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if we consider the context briefly of Daniel chapter 6, you may be familiar with the stories that come before this. At least many of them are familiar from, if not recent reading, from your time as a child. Even many unbelievers are familiar with the story of Daniel and the lion's den and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who endured the fiery furnace and yet were unharmed. And throughout the book of Daniel, we see in these stories and in other stories, as Tremper Longman puts it, this great theme that despite all outward appearances, God is in control. You see, Daniel and his friends have been carried off into exile in Babylon, where they've been forced to serve in the court of pagan kings. And yet, through it all, God is preserving them, God is caring for them. And he's demonstrating his power over these pagan kings in incredible ways, humbling them, humiliating them in amazing ways. Ultimately, he brings about the downfall of the Babylonian Empire in a night, after a prophecy, after a vision, where the king saw a hand writing on the wall. And Daniel interpreted it in that very night, in accordance with what was written on the wall. Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, was killed and his kingdom was handed over to Darius. So at the end of chapter 5 we read that Darius received the kingdom. And we come into chapter 6 and we see that he takes steps to consolidate his power. We see examples of his great authority. He's able to establish a government so that he might suffer no loss. A government that has 120 administrators under him, with three high officials over them, all reporting to him. We see that he has the authority to execute laws. He has the authority even to sentence a person to death. In human terms, this is a man with much power. And yet, what we see throughout this narrative is a contrast between Darius and God. Because though he's a man with great power, though he's the king of Medo-Persia, nevertheless, he's shown as powerless, incapable of accomplishing the things that he wills. First, we see that at the very beginning. He plans to make Daniel the number two in his kingdom. He plans to do this. But there's no indication that he actually accomplishes it because all of the other administrators conspire to stop him. All these other people that he appointed and granted authority are using their authority to manipulate him and to stop him from achieving his ends. Then they come to him and they propose this law. On the one hand, here's a king who can put law into place. On the other hand, It's really the administrators who are giving him the law, who are feeding it to him, who are manipulating and deceiving him to do a foolish and naive thing like this. He's all too willing an accomplice, thinking that this will show how great I am, this will show how powerful I am, and so he enacts this law that all people for 30 days should pray only to him. That's the meaning of the law. No one is to make any petition, no one is to make any plea to any god or any man, only to Darius for 30 days. He exalts himself into the place of God. And yet, he's not even the one who's designing this thing. He's manipulated the entire time. And the irony is that once the law is in place, the one who put it in place can't revoke it. He can't do anything about it. Over and over and over again, we see that he's powerless to accomplish the things he desires, despite the fact that he commands the people to pray to him alone. And so finally, when Daniel is accused, and Daniel is brought before him, he spends an entire night, sleepless, laboring, seeking to rescue Daniel, the text tells us, and he could not find a way to do it. So the satraps and the high officials come to him again and say, remember, you can't overrule the law of the Persians and the Medes. You may be king, but your law must stand fast. So Darius ultimately comes to the point of recognition that he cannot do the thing which he commands the people to seek. He can't answer their prayers. Though he wants to, he's completely powerless. But it is in his impotence God demonstrates his omnipotence. We see it even before God delivers Daniel from the lion's mouths. You see, Darius didn't take the kingdom for himself. Darius didn't acquire the kingdom for himself. At the end of chapter 5 it says, he received the kingdom. And if we think about what is recorded in chapter 5, it's clear that it is God who's bringing about the downfall of the Babylonian Empire, and it's God who's raising up the Medo-Persians. The visions earlier in the book of Daniel that prophesy of the coming kingdoms of the earth that will be ultimately followed by an eternal kingdom that cannot be destroyed. Those visions also point to the fact that it is God who is working these things out according to his good will. In Daniel's own life, we see God's hand. It's not Daniel who raises himself up by his own strength and by his own goodness either. In the very first chapter, we read when Daniel's a young man, that in verse 17, as for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Later, when Nebuchadnezzar has a disturbing dream, and nobody can interpret it, Daniel requests time. He goes to his friends and he asks them to pray and to seek for God to reveal the dream and its interpretation. And God does just that. Daniel is then elevated to a high rank in the Babylonian Empire, and he'll be elevated again to a high rank in the Medo-Persian Empire. But all along the way, Daniel recognizes the truth that Darius fails to see. That it's God who's raised him up. that is God who's working out his will in Daniel's life, in the life of his friends, and in the life of these pagan kings. And so it's not really surprising then that we find that Daniel was delivered from the lion's den. That's not actually the most shocking thing in this passage. It's almost to be expected. When Darius asks that question, Has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions, from the power of the lions? Of course. Of course he is able. Daniel knew well all the things that God had done to this point. And so there's not really a surprise. We know it as the readers. There's no surprise that Daniel is delivered from the mouths of the lions. Daniel calls out, O King, live forever. My God has sent his angel to shut the lion's mouths, and the king is relieved and thankful. And so, in perhaps the most stunning action, not the shutting of the lion's mouths, but the opening of a pagan king's mouth, Darius declares the truth that he did not see from the beginning. I make a decree, he says, that in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions. God opened the mouth of this pagan king to declare the truth that he reigns, that he rules, he is eternal and living. He alone can answer prayer. So it's in this truth and in this contrast that we then can look to Daniel and understand his faith and find an answer to the question with which we began. Why don't we pray and how, if we might add, can we learn like Daniel to live prayerful lives. How can we seek God through prayer regularly? Just as Daniel lived in that way. So I want to look then at verse 10 and focus then on the passage that records Daniel's prayer. When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees there He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had done previously. You see, what we see in this passage is not Daniel thumbing his nose at King Darius as if to say, I don't care about your rules, I'm not going to keep them. Of course, Daniel clearly disobeys the rule and the law that Darius has enacted. But it's not a sense of thumbing his nose at him, but rather What Daniel is doing here is responding to the predicament he is in. When he learns the documents have been signed, when they've been made law, then he goes to pray. And we think about our situation. If we were in the same situation as Daniel, what might we do? We might rationalize and say, well, it's only 30 days. It's not like the situation with my three friends. They were commanded to worship an idol. But I'm just commanded to refrain from something. I don't actually have to pray to Darius. So he might rationalize it and say, well, for 30 days I'll just not pray. Or I'll just pray in my inner room so nobody will see me for 30 days. But that won't really work. It won't ever satisfy his jealous rivals. They'll seek another opportunity to accuse him, to use his commitment to God's law against him, and it would be unfaithful. It's not actually going to solve his problem. What's amazing is that Daniel knows that the only thing that's going to solve his problem is by doing the thing that's forbidden. By going to God in prayer in the midst of his predicament. Again, in his commentary, Tremper Longman notes another reason why we can conclude that Daniel is praying specifically about the situation Besides the fact that verse 10 begins when Daniel knew that the document had been signed, in verse 11 it says, "...then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God." The very words indicate that he's asking God for help, and suggest that he's asking Him for help in this specific situation, recognizing that the command has put him in peril. So what does he do? He violates the command. and puts his trust in God. And the second thing that we see in Daniel's prayer is that it was his regular habit. There's another reason why it's not just Daniel thumbing his nose in an act of rebellion, but he did this daily, three times a day was what he did on a regular basis. And so he's going to the Lord in prayer, just as he has always done. It's not as if he said, well, here's an opportunity for me to show that I'm not really under the thumb of Darius. No, I'm going to continue to do what I've done all the time, every day since I've been here in Babylon. And the third thing that we see about the way that Daniel prays is that he goes to the upper chamber, to the window that's open toward Jerusalem. And to understand what Daniel is doing, it's helpful to turn back to 1 Kings chapter 8. In 1 Kings chapter 8, we recall Solomon has just completed the building of a temple, and he's praying at the temple dedication. It's a long prayer, but at the very end of the prayer, Solomon says this, beginning in verse 46 of 1 Kings chapter 8, If they sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin, and you are angry with them, and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, Yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned, and have acted perversely and wickedly. If they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, Then hear in heaven your dwelling place, their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them." See what Solomon is saying. What he's looking forward to is a time when Israel and its rebellion is carried off into exile, exactly the time in which Daniel lives. And he looks forward to that time and asks that God in that time would hear their prayers when they look back to their land and they look for God to forgive them and to restore them to the land that he had promised. In other words, the reason why Daniel prays at the window toward Jerusalem is not to make a show of what he's doing, But because he's looking for salvation from God, his hope is not in Babylon or its riches. His hope is in the promise of God and the forgiveness that comes from Him. And so he prays. Well, we look at Daniel's circumstances and his situation, and there are ways in which we think, well, this is so distant and so foreign to us. But I would suggest that there are many ways in which we look at a situation and we can say, it's very similar to our own. We don't live under a king who commands our prayers. We don't live in a world where we're told that we are not allowed to pray, that we're not allowed to worship God. And yet, our world constantly calls us to look for substitutes, to look for someone or something other than God and put our trust in it. Think of the cliches that we're so familiar with. God helps those who help themselves. A lie which we hear again and again and again. Or think of the politicians who implore us to look to them as our savior. As the one who can deliver us from whatever the political situation it is that we hate. Or all the celebrities out there, each one with his or her own program that will change your life. that's guaranteed to solve all your problems. This diet, this exercise regime, meditation, mindfulness, whatever it might be, we're given all kinds of substitutes and told, trust in this. This is the thing that will save you. This is the thing that will make your life better. And we're tempted to believe those things. When we find ourselves in periods of Ease. Periods of calm. We don't pray. We're asked if we have any prayer requests, and we don't really have any needs. Can't really think of anything. Things seem to be going pretty well, and whatever problems we face are kind of small, and so we say to ourselves, it's nothing that I can't handle. It's nothing that I can't resolve on my own. Or, on the other hand, we find ourselves in periods of despair. In seasons of hopelessness. Still, we don't pray. Because we think, if I can't see a solution to this problem, then there's nothing that can be done. Or maybe we just think, well, time will heal all wounds, and we wait for the thing to go away. It's our habit, so often, not to pray, but to look to other things, even to ourselves, to solve our problems. And yet, what we see in Daniel, in his life, is that his habit, whether he was elevated or whether he was brought low, whether he was threatened or he was at ease, nevertheless, he was constantly praying, constantly in prayer. So what we can learn from Daniel then, to put it two ways, is if we want to foster a life of prayer, we begin first by putting our hope where Daniel put his hope. That is to say, prayer flows from a heart that hopes in God and His promises, not in the things that are promised in this world. Daniel had all that a person could want in worldly perspective, living in Babylon, living in Persia. He was the second in all the land. People looked up to him as wise, as an advisor to the kings. He was like a person who might be chief of staff to a Democratic president, and then when a new administration rolls in, somehow, miraculously, is still chief of staff under a Republican president. We can't imagine it. And yet there's Daniel, still at the top, one below the king. From a worldly perspective, he had all that a person could want. He could have looked back to his life as a child in Judah and said, you know what? This is a lot better. But he didn't. He looked back to those times and thought about the promises of God, and he hoped in that. Not just so that they could reconstitute Judah in the way that it was, under kings who were rebellious. Just rebuild a temple, just so that they could have a building. No, but Daniel looked forward to an unshakable kingdom. A kingdom that would be founded by God, that would endure forever. And that's where his hope was. And because that's where his hope was, he prayed. If our hope is similarly in Christ, in the kingdom that He calls us to, in the kingdom that He commissioned, when He said that the kingdom of God is at hand, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent and believe the gospel, then how can we not pray? How can we not pray, come Lord Jesus? How can we not pray for God to fulfill His promises in our lives? Prayer flows from a heart that trusts in the promises of God. And secondly, prayer flows from a heart that believes that God is able to do all things, that believes in the power of God to save. Darius put himself forward as a savior, and Darius quickly found that he could save no one. Daniel never put his trust in Darius. Daniel never appealed to the king. He never went to the king and said, Think about this for a minute. Before you sign this document, these guys are manipulating you. These guys are really just trying to get me. You don't want to do this. He doesn't go out and protest. He doesn't say, well, I'll wait 30 days and then I'll explain the situation to Darius and maybe I'll ask him to grant me a waiver or an exception. He doesn't do any of those things. The first thing and the only thing that Daniel does when he's threatened in this situation is go to God in prayer. The very thing that's forbidden. And so too for us, prayer flows from a heart of faith. A heart that believes that God can do all things. A heart that believes that God hears our prayers. A heart that believes and recognizes that only God can save. I don't want to say a type here, but there's an analogy that's worth exploring. Because in the life of Christ, we see a similar attitude. We see the same attitude of prayerfulness. Throughout his life, the gospel writers testify that Jesus was a man characterized by prayer. This may amaze us, because in the same breath that he's a man, he's fully God. And yet he prays consistently to the Father, relying on Him throughout his life on earth. We see this when he's pressured and overwhelmed by the crowds, he withdraws to pray. Before he walks on water, he spends the night in prayer. He doesn't go to the Mount of Transfiguration so that he can put on a display. He goes there to pray. And before he goes to the cross, he spends a night agonizing in prayer. The author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews chapter 5, verse 7, You see, Jesus lived a life of prayer, trusting in the one who could save him from death. And the author of Hebrews tells us that he was heard. In scripture, this is a way of saying that God answered his prayer. And yet someone might say, but he wasn't saved from death. He went to the cross. And yet what we see is the most marvelous answer to his prayer, that the God who saved Daniel from the mouths of lions is the God who raises dead men from the grave. So from the grave God raised Christ and exalted him to his right hand. So that at his name every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord for the glory of God the Father. His prayer was heard and it was heard and answered with a promise. For he was not raised as the last one to be raised but as the first. And so we ought to think of this truth and this reality that the reason why we pray is because our God is the God who shuts the mouths of lions and the God who raises men and women from the grave. He's the God who's promised that if we trust Him, we too will be raised to life. And so we pray, as Daniel prayed, as our Lord prayed. Father in heaven, we come to you tonight and thank you as Daniel thanked you. Even in the midst of various trials which we're all facing, some known, some unknown, we thank you, Lord, that you are with us and you promise to be with us all the days of our lives and into eternity. We know that we may endure sufferings of various kinds. We know that we may have our jobs taken from us. We may be even put to death for claiming your name. And yet we know that that is not the end, because you have promised us life forever with you. So Lord, we pray that you would increase our trust in you and in your promises, that we might be people who pray, not once a week on Sunday night, not only when we gather, but in the morning when we rise, in the day when we're at work or in the home. in the evening before we go to bed, that our lives might be characterized by prayerful trust in you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.