TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. (Daniel 2:20 ESV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Yesterday, we talked about having a spirit of awe and amazement for God. As I shared, I’ve been praying about all of this a lot lately. It concerns me how easily I fall into the all-about-me mindset when I pray. It’s easy to get caught up in all that God does for us, but sometimes, we get off track. We have the priorities out of order… God isn’t here to serve us. We are here to serve Him.
Starting with a humble recognition of His bigness is part of remembering our true priorities. But I was reading Daniel today, and I want to share his prayer. But let me set the stage first.
Daniel 2 opens up with a troubled king. King Nebuchadnezzar had a very bad dream, and he wanted it interpreted. So, he gathered all his “magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers” to explain it to him. Obviously, the first question these guys asked was, “What was the dream?” But the king wouldn’t tell them. He wanted them to not only explain the dream but guess what it was… In verse 5, it says, “The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, ‘The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins.’”
No pressure, right?
After having a hissy fit that no one could read his mind, the kind ordered executions for everyone—including all the wise men in the kingdom, and that included Daniel (who wasn’t even in the room when all this transpired.) But Daniel, being a man of faith and as he demonstrated on more than one occasion, a man with cool reason and common sense, asked for a little time. He prayed for God to reveal the answer… and in verse 19, Daniel got the answer.
After God answered Daniel’s prayer, Daniel didn’t rush through a quick, “Thanks, God” in order to hurry up and get to the throne room. He took some time to pray a prayer of gratitude that is laced with acknowledgment of who God is… how mighty He is… Daniel’s prayer is an example of how we are designed to praise God in all things… the good and the bad. Daniel had the good in the form of an answer, but he still had a death sentence on his head by an erratic king. But he didn’t focus on that. Instead, he prayed:
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter”(Daniel 2:20-23).
Isn’t that prayer beautiful? Taking the unparalleled eloquence off the table, do you pray this way? Do you come to God in good times and in bad and lift up His holy name, acknowledging who He is?
Daniel’s prayer was a personal prayer, yes. It was a prayer he had a vested interest in personally. But he didn’t make the prayer me-centric. He made it He-centric. And that’s what I’m working on these days… I want to pray prayers that acknowledge God above all else.
Today, as you pray, thank God for His answered prayers and His blessings. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you remember the true priorities… that though God delights in helping us, our first priority is to serve Him.
SHARING ••• My Grace-Full Life is written by Denise Heidel. You are welcome to share anything I write, but please credit my writing and graphics accordingly. Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. Subscribe through my website to have My Grace-Full Life delivered to your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the ESV translation.
