Radical Faith in Challenging Times—Lesson 6
Integrity & Priorities—Daniel 6
FOCUS: Daniel goes about his business, allowing his faith in God to dictate his actions, even while others
around him have their own agenda, which results in a powerful witness to God and His ways
FUNCTION: We will evaluate the type of lifestyle we are living and how it affects our witness; and then
we will look for ways to invite people to take a bible study thru WBS
I.GIVE BLESSING
A.The Lord bless you and keep you
B.The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you
C.The Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you peace
II.Intro: There is a power in going about your business, whatever the circumstances, in your faith walk
A.This is what spoke to me to attract me to the LORD—Grief I gave Glenn, but his consistency!
1.STORY from Insanity of God—Page293-295
2.Being faithful in the day to day living with courage & discipline—Useful to the Kingdom
B.The story of Daniel in the lion’s den is one of these stories
1.Go thru story quickly
a.Daniel in new regime & is chosen to provide leadership (120 satraps—3 commissioners)
b.He distinguishes himself so well that the king plans to appoint him over the kingdom
c.Jealousy, perhaps racism, lead to a plot to remove Daniel; but his character is impeccable
d.Clever ploy to emphasize unity & loyalty to the king—30 days of only praying to the king
2.When you think about what Daniel did, it shows great courage!
a.He knew the law was passed & continues his prayers anyway (Daniel 6:10)
b.An act that carries a death sentence—But he had a job to do!
i.Daniel is a faithful servant of the king (V. 22)—He committed no crime!
ii.Even more important, he is faithful to THE KING
iii.His loyalty is with a kingdom far beyond Babylon or Persia
iv.A prayer life made up of petition & supplication (V. 11)
v.What are these petitions & supplications about? (See 9:1)
vi.Do you think it is a coincidence that Daniel won’t stop praying, and . . . (Ezra 1:1-2)
vii.HE IS DOING HIS JOB!
C.Radical faith in challenging times! This story certainly fits that description
1.However, the emphasis is on living consistently—The way we should all be doing!
a.Look at how the story is written—Emphasis on the King’s actions & feelings; not Daniel’s!
b.No great statement of faith like Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego make
c.The author has the king pronounce trust in Daniel’s God to protect him (V. 16)
d.It is the king’s anguish that is portrayed—not Daniel’s (V. 14; then V. 18-20)
2.Why is this written this way? To emphasize the common, everyday walk of faith by Daniel
a.The pagan king is stressed—the man of God is prayerful & takes things as they come
III.DANIEL HAS A JOB TO DO!!!
A.Life has dealt him some challenging circumstances—He has risen up above them each time!
1.Taken from homeland—don’t know what happened to his family
2.Indoctrinated into Babylonian culture
B.Daniel makes decisions before encountering the storms of life that help him be ready to face them
1.Chose to not defile himself with king’s food—live differently!
2.Chose to live with integrity (V. 3-4)
a.V. 3—He had “an extraordinary spirit” means no one was like him
b.V. 4—No corruption found in him
c.This is seen earlier when he interprets dreams—Others cannot perhaps out of fear
i.Nebuchadnezzar was not a nice guy—danger if you made him mad!
ii.Daniel shares the truth of the dreams even though the messages are not always good
3.Chose to be a man of prayer (V. 10)—3 times a day! Beginning, middle & end of day
C.What affect did this have?
1.Dariuswent from proclaiming a law honoring himself to a different proclamation (V.25-26)
2.He wants EVERYONE to know (V. 25) about this God who delivers & rescues (V. 27)
D.We have a job to do also!
1.Can God use our daily lives & our proclamations to attract others to Him?
2.Radical faith is not necessarily flashy, but it is consistent!
IV.INVITATION
Discussion Questions
1.What kinds of things distract you, or even cause you to stop living for God the way you know you ought to? How many of your fears never wind up being the way you feared they would be?
2.Daniel is described as having “an extraordinary spirit” in 6:3. With all the compromise and temptations in the world around you, how much difficulty do you have living with an “extraordinary spirit” in your daily living? What could your LifeGroup do to bless you and help you with this endeavor?
3.Daniel does not allow changing,and even hostile conditions, to alter his actions. How much difficulty do you have with this in your own walk with the LORD?
4.Where do you suppose Daniel got the courage to continue his spiritual practices even when it was against the law? Would it have been OK for Daniel to shut the doors and windows to continue his prayers, or wait 30 days to resume them? Why did he not do this?
5.What type of fiery furnace and lion’s den experiences have you had to deal with? What have these done to your faith?
6.Daniel’s prayer life and courageresulted in a powerful influence on Darius (Cyrus), who was ready to proclaim to the world his belief in God. How will you pass on the WBS cards you received?