Prayer mattered to Daniel. We’re going to take a look at some reasons why this morning and allow Daniel to show us why prayer was such an important part of his life. I’m guessing that if I were to ask folks here this morning if prayer mattered to you I would find it hard to believe that someone would say it doesn’t. No one wants to be the guy who admits in church that prayer isn’t important. But I would like to ask you to think for a moment how important prayer is to you really. If the government made prayer illegal or even worse made it a law that you could only pray to the government would you break that law? In this hypothetical would prayer be important to you? Obviously it’s a hypothetical, maybe you don’t even know for sure, but this scenario actually happened to Daniel. The king made prayer to any god other than to him illegal. But Daniel 6 shares with us that, “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 6:10
Soren Kierkegaard, one of the most intellectual Christian philosophers of the modern era once said, “If I could prescribe one remedy for all the ills of the modern world, I would prescribe silence. For even if the Word of God were proclaimed in the modern world, no one would hear it;
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When none of his closest advisors could tell him the meaning of a dream he became angry and issued a decree to have all the wise men killed. When the captain of the guard found Daniel and his friends to carry out the Kings wishes, Daniel asks and receives an audience with the King. He asks for more time to decipher the dream. Daniel tells his friends that unless they can interpret the dream they will die with the other advisors and wise men. So what do you think Daniel and his friends
Odysseus on the other hand was a different story, he did not pray or just did not mention praying during his time of trouble. Why would he not pray?
There is much strength associated with both speech and silence. One can use either to their advantage in a power struggle. In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Randle Patrick McMurphy and Nurse Ratched employ the power of speech and Chief Bromden uses the power of silence until the end of the novel when he gains the power of speech. These cases prove that the greatest power is not held in speech or silence alone, but in the effective combination of the two.
The novel Silence has provoked much discussion on Loyola's campus this semester. As a predominantly Christian community, we find that the themes and dilemmas central to its plot land much closer to home for us than they would for many other schools: to non-Christians, the question of whether to deny (the Christian) God--for any reason--may not necessarily be such a personal one. Jesus' commandments to love God above all and one's neighbor as oneself do not find a parallel in all religions or cultures, nor does the seriousness with which Christians--specifically Catholics, and more specifically, Jesuits--have traditionally treated it.
Often of times, many of us speak without giving thought to how our words and the manner in which we speak will affect ourselves or another person. Regardless of how insignificant and harmless a few words and the tone we emphasize may seem, both hold power. In a moment, they have the power to either build up and give life or tear down and give death. In a moment, they have the power to shape and characterize the behaviors and values of both societies and individuals alike. In a single moment, they have the power to span beyond the individual who spoke it and cause, whether good or bad, repercussions that will affect a multitude of generations ahead.
Suzanne Collins, the writer of the famous Hunger Games, said “The bravest form of disagreement is silence. Which says we do not agree and we do not accept. This is all wrong.” To many it's a line in a book. But with further examination this quote tells the story of our world today. To further explain the quote I will put it into my own words first. “The only thing they could do to disagree was the bravest thing they could do to. Disagree in silence, a moment of silence which explains that we don’t agree, accept, or approve. This is part of life is flawed.”
The Book of Daniel is the only full-blown apocalyptic book in the Protestant recognized version of the Canon. A literary device divides the book into two halves. Chapters 1-6 are a collection of stories that introduces the reader to Daniel and three other Israelites as unwilling guests of the Babylonia Empire ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. The second half, Chapters 7-12 consists of apocalyptic imagery of deformed beasts and the heavenly court. The focus of this paper will be on chapter 7, which serves as a bridge of the two halves. Chapter 7 is the earliest of the visions as it identifies with the genre of 8-12 while through language and content it reverts to Daniel chapter 2. The linguistic break down is not as neat as the literary divide in that Dan. 2:4b-7:28 was written in Aramaic while other portions of the book is written in Hebrew.
Usually, our first response is to be speechless (p.s. Christians will remember the reactions of Moses with the burning bush, Mary(mother of Jesus) when visited by the Angel). We realize here that religious speechlessness is quite different from lacking courage to speak in public or when faced with an attacker, etc. Religious silence is more geared inwardly. However, Pieper says “Both noise and total silence destroys all possibility of mutual understanding, because they destroy both speaking and hearing” (Pieper, 55). Pieper may be right in these words because when we deal with people, sometimes, being quiet bars effective communication. But then again, silence speaks volumes. To me, silence brings peace of
The Book of Daniel is the account of the activities and visions of Daniel, which elaborates through journeys and lesson on him. The Book of Daniel is found in the Ketuvim section of the Tanakh (Matthews). The word Daniel means “God is my Judge”. The genre of the book of Daniel is a Narrative History (Cohn). In both the Hebrew and Greek canons the book is titled after its main character, Daniel. The book is made up of six court tales and four apocalyptic visions set in the time of the Babylonian captivity (Bergan). The Babylonian captivity was a time when Jews were captives in Babylon (Wallace). Daniel connects the Old and New Testaments through Daniel. God revealed the exact date month and year of Messiah death and events leading to his return. Daniel demonstrates God’s complete control and comprehension over time and nations by giving detailed prophecies about the succession of kingdoms and rulers. Daniel tells the ahead of eventual establishment of Messiah’s kingdom, which will overthrow the kingdoms of this world (Wallace). For the reason, Daniel is often the most attacked book in the Bible because of the controversial accusations and words he proclaims. The Book of Revelation completes the plan started in the Book of Daniel. There are twelve chapters in the Book of Daniel. Those are 1: Induction into Babylon, 2: Nebuchadnezzar's dream of an image, 3: The fiery furnace, 4: The madness of Nebuchadnezzar, 5: Belshazzar's feast, 6: Daniel in the lions' den, 7: Daniel's first vision, 8: Vision of the ram and goat, 9: Prophecy of Seventy Weeks, 10: Vision of a man, 11: Kings of the North and South, and 12: Epilogue. Key people of of this book include Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Belshazzar, and Darius. Alth...
The first school of thought, Positive Toleration, was championed by Roger Williams. His philosophy is centered on the idea that the government has a duty to create an environment where religion is not inhibited by the government. Williams argued that the church needed t...
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kirk W. Elifson; C. Kirk, H. (n.d). Prayer in Public Schools: When Church and State Collide. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 49(3), Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
...distractions. Taking time to observe and analyze the silence can bring something to the surface that could never be confronted in any other way. We need to embrace silence presented throughout life, for we will come out with more definitive, powerful voices.
Book Review of The Path of Prayer: Four Sermons on Prayer by St. Theophan the Recluse
Most of the contemporary problems bedeviling our society are because of lack of proper spiritual anchorage. Civil and technological differentiations embodied in the media have aggravated the situation. Technological differentiation has undermined religion by taking the place of spirituality in adherents’ lives.
“Words can poison, words can heal. Words start and fight wars, but words make peace. Words lead [people] to the pinnacles of good and words can plunge [people] to the depth of evil.” - Marguerite Schumann