Praying Circles Around Your Walls – 17
Subject: Praying Faithfully, Praying Fervently, Praying Forward
by Rick Welborne
Joshua 6:5 (NKJV)
5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him."
5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him."
Daniel 6:3-12 (NLT)
3 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.
4 Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.
5 So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”
6 So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius!
7 We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions.
8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”
9 So King Darius signed the law.
10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
11 Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help.
12 So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law…
3 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.
4 Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.
5 So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”
6 So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius!
7 We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions.
8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”
9 So King Darius signed the law.
10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
11 Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help.
12 So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law…
--Last week God spoke to so many of us about our prayer and how we are to pray with the generations coming after us in mind. Don’t pray with seven days in mind but pray with 70 years in mind. Review:
1. Praying is planting.
--In fact, our prayers bear fruit forever. Even when we die, our prayers don’t. Prayer is the inheritance we receive and the legacy we leave.
--Think about how exciting this is…when we pray our prayers have no expiration date on them. We never know when those prayers are going to re-enter the atmosphere and bless future generations.
2. We have to be patient in planting and in praying.
--I don’t want to disappoint anyone today but when it comes to God’s promises and miracles they are mostly understood in agricultural terms. We want the speed of light but we get the speed of the seed.
--How great for your family to be looking on Ancestry and find out that their faith started with you and they give thanks to God for your faith from a hundred years ago. Kelly – Family were Methodist circuit riders.
3. We must think long and in terms of eternity.
--Today we want to look at the life of Daniel…how he prayed faithfully, fervently, and he broke the prayer barrier.
1. Daniel prayed faithfully.
--Please understand Daniel and his friends were in captivity…any wrong move and their lives could be taken immediately. Interesting that all of them were from the tribe of Judah.
--We see that Daniel, even in adverse circumstances, continued to be a faithful man of prayer. He was away from family and away from the city he loved (Jerusalem). He had opportunity for depression…compromise.
--So many bad choices are made when people are isolated by force or by choice. The point here is this…have a habit of praying before the isolation or adversity comes.
Proverbs 18:1 (NKJV)
1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.
1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.
--Daniel was a persistent man of prayer which is evidenced by his habit, his custom, his willingness to stop, drop, and pray three times a day. Daniel knew how to pray before the trouble came.
Nissan Mindel - Jewish Law makes it our duty to pray three times daily: in the morning, in the afternoon and at nightfall. These prayers are called morning prayer (shacharit), afternoon prayer (minchah) and evening prayer (arvith or maariv ).
--God used his prayers to sustain he and his friends in Babylon, his prayers gave him the interpretation to Nebuchadnessar’s dreams, and now his prayers will sustain him as he faces opposition.
--Daniel ranks as one of the most brilliant minds the ancient world has ever known. He had the aptitude for both philosophy and science. He was a problem solver. No one could dream or interpret dreams like him.
--The thing that set him apart from all the others was not his IQ but it was his PQ…his prayer quotient. Daniel prayed circles around the greatest superpower on earth.
--Because he knew how to stop, drop, and pray, he brought kings and kingdoms to their knees. Daniel is facing opposition from jealous politicians who are setting him up to fail…so what did he do?
Daniel 6:10 (NLT)
10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
--He didn’t just pray when he had a bad day; he prayed every day. He didn’t just pray 911 prayers when he was facing the lion’s den, prayer was a vital part of the rhythm and routine of his life.
--Prayer was his life and his life was prayer. What about us? Are we just crisis Christians who only pray when opposition comes our way or do we pray today “just as we have always done”?
--I would be very unfair to leave out here that Daniel knew there was the potential for him to die if he continued to pray during this 30-day period. Remember what the three Hebrew young men said:
Daniel 3:16-18 (NKJV)
16 … "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
16 … "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
--Persistent prayer gets us ready to live and to keep serving if that is what God wills but it also prepares us for death if that is what is required to be faithful to God.
--Whenever there is a death or a tragedy in our church among our membership, or heartbreaking news comes to our people…it is not hard to figure out who has a deep abiding prayer life and who doesn’t.
--Pastor, I am so glad no one in the 21st Century has to worry about this kind of persecution or the threat of death for those opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Really? The Voice of the Martyrs this week: Nigeria.
Voice of the Martyrs - “We’ve got a big infidel!” the Boko Haram fighter suddenly shouted from inside Juliana’s house. Juliana’s heart sank as she watched them drag her husband outside. “Do you renounce Christ?” they asked him. “Will you follow us?” Juliana’s husband remained silent. “Jesus!” she cried out. The Boko Haram fighters slapped Juliana, then ordered her husband to lie down on the ground. They shot him four times, repeatedly chanting “Allahu Akbar!” as they circled his body before moving on to the next Christian house in the village. Juliana knelt beside her husband, pulling his head onto her lap. He was still faintly breathing, and she wanted to hold him one last time.
2. Daniel prayed fervently.
--When Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
--If we are going to be world changers, we have to make the upper room a priority…Daniel made it to his upper room three times a day. Daniel impacted his world by making it to the upper room.
--The twelve disciples changed the world by making it to the upper room and being there on the day of Pentecost. Holy Spirit fell and they turned their world upside down for Jesus. Elijah saw resurrection power:
1 Kings 17:19&23 (NKJV)
19 And he said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!"
19 And he said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!"
--Maybe the reason we are not seeing revival or seeing the healings we want to see is because we are not making it to the upper room enough. The upper room is where we experience Holy Spirit power!
--Tabitha had died but the good news was they had taken her to the upper room and Peter showed up. He had already experienced upper room power:
Acts 9:39-40 (NKJV)
39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping,
39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping,
40 But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
--Listen to me today…if you want Holy Spirit power, you don’t need people pulling on you or pushing on you or spitting on you or telling you to hang on or turn lose…get to the upper room…Jesus will fill you!
--Daniel’s upper room experience was just a foreshadowing of Holy Spirit power coming to the church. The dead are raised, the sick are healed, and the mouths of lions are shut…Get to the upper room!
--Meanwhile back to Daniel… he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
--Daniel had an open heaven because he was obedient to God. Dan. 6:3 He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. He was a godly man of integrity…he knew he had an open heaven.
Malachi 3:10 (NKJV)
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
--We need to live right and we need to pray for an open heaven…the Jews were taught not to pray in a room that didn’t have a window in it. Pray toward Jerusalem…I will bless those who bless you!
--Daniel has just been given a death sentence and what does the man do…. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. I will bless the Lord at all times!
3. Daniel broke the prayer barrier.
--Man dreamed of breaking the sound barrier…dozens of pilots lost their lives trying to break through…The British eventually put their program on hold when the Swallow disintegrated at Mach .94.
--A young American by the name of Chuck Yeager would not give up…Oct. 14, 1947, a four engine B-29 took off from Muroc Field high up in the California dessert. On its belly…Bell X-1…climbs to 25,000 feet.
--The rocket engine fires and the plane climbs to 42,000 feet. As the plane approached Mach 1 it began to shake violently…Yeager was having trouble controlling the plane…He had two broken ribs…riding horses.
--At Mach .995 his vision blurred and he got sick to his stomach. Then, as it seemed the plane would disintegrate there was a loud sonic boom…and then eerie silence. 761 miles an hour the pressure shifted.
--Yeager reached Mach 1.07 before cutting the engines desending back down to earth. He broke the unbreakable barrier. Someone today needs to break the faith barrier…the prayer barrier.
--I believe Daniel broke that barrier…all of his prayers had accumulated before God and all the barriers were removed…You know the rest of the story…He was thrown in the lion’s den but they didn’t eat him…Kosher?
--Daniel is rescued from the lion’s den and his enemies are torn apart by the lions who would not eat him. Because Daniel broke the prayer barrier, God’s higher purpose was accomplished.
Daniel 6:25-27 (NKJV)
25 Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.
26 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
25 Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you.
26 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
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