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TEXT: Daniel 6:1-28
DANIEL was in trouble. Yes, he was, but he did not know it.
Some men did not like Daniel. They wanted to do the work the king told Daniel to do. These men were going to find some way to get Daniel into trouble so the king would not like him anymore.
Daniel loved God. He did not forget to pray and talk to God three times every day. Even when Daniel was just as big as you are he loved God.
One day, when Daniel was not very old, soldiers came to his city and took some of the people away, far away from their homes into another country. They took Daniel, too.
Daniel had to leave his home and many friends. He did not want to go but the soldiers made him go. Daniel probably felt bad leaving his home like that, but he knew that God was with him all the time. No matter where those soldiers put him — God was there with him.
The people in the new land did not love God. They prayed to idols. Idols are make-believe things. There was no Temple Church in this new place where Daniel could go and pray; but Daniel never forgot about God. Daniel would not pray to a make-believe idol. Oh, my no!
Daniel knew which way the Temple Church was from this new land. So, when he would pray he would always turn his face so he would be looking that way, to where the Temple Church was. Maybe he felt like he was in church when he did that.
These bad men saw Daniel pray three times every day. They saw him look the way the Temple Church was. Now they knew what they would do to be mean to Daniel.
Hurry, hurry, these men went to the king and asked him to fix it so that no one in the kingdom could pray to any god for thirty days but to the king. If they would not pray to the king they would be put in the den with the lions.
The king put his name on their paper which made this a law. The king did not know these bad men wanted to hurt his good helper, Daniel.
Did Daniel quit praying to God? No, he did not! He knew it was a sin to pray to anyone but God. Daniel knelt and prayed three times every day just as he always did. He opened his window that looked toward the Temple Church, too.
Tip-toe, tip-toe, sh-sh, these men watched to see what Daniel would do about his praying. They saw Daniel kneel and pray to God. Away they ran to tell the king about Daniel, that Daniel was not minding him. Daniel prayed to his God, and he would have to be put in with the lions.
Oh, the king did not want to do that! He really loved Daniel. Daniel was the best helper he had. The king knew Daniel had a good, clean heart. But because the king had signed that paper he had to have Daniel put into the lion’s den.
That night, Daniel was put into the lion’s den-cage. A big stone was put by the door to the den. There he was, in with the hungry lions. Was he alone? No, God was there with him.
The king felt so sad! He could not sleep. He thought about Daniel and what the lions might do to him.
When morning came the king ran over to the lions’ den-cage. “Daniel, Daniel,” he called. He wanted to know if God kept Daniel safe from the hungry lions. Can’t you hear him say, “Are you all right, Daniel?”
Listen, here comes Daniel’s voice, big and strong. “Oh, king . . . my God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me.”
How happy the king was to hear Daniel. Now the king knew, too, that Daniel’s God was the true and living God. The king sent out word to all the people that Daniel’s God was the right God and they must all pray to Him.
When you pray to God, you are praying to the same God Daniel did. God will always take care of you, too, just as He did Daniel.
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