“…the prayer of faith will save the sick, and THE LORD WILL RAISE HIM UP. The EFFECTIVE, FERVENT prayer (energeō: put forth power, be mighty in) of a righteous man AVAILS (ischuō: to have power, to be a force) much.” (James 5:14-16) Daniel was a true prayer warrior, he prayed THREE TIMES A DAY with powerful results.
King Darius, “…placed three leaders over his kingdom. One of the leaders was Daniel. The royal rulers were accountable to these three leaders. Daniel did a better job than the other two leaders or any of the royal rulers. He WAS AN UNUSUALLY GOOD AND ABLE MAN. So, the king planned to put him in charge of the whole kingdom.” (Daniel 6:2-3) The other two leaders were extremely jealous of Daniel, “They decided to go to the king and say, “King Darius, live forever! We presidents, have unanimously decided that you should make a law, irrevocable under any circumstance, that for THE NEXT THIRTY DAYS anyone who asks a favor of God or man—except from you, Your Majesty—shall be THROWN TO THE LIONS.” (Daniel 6:6-7)
This pleased the ego of Darius, so he put the law into effect, The bad leaders stood outside Daniel’s window, and when, as his custom was, he prayer they brought him to the king. Darius realized he had been tricked, “So at last the king gave the order for Daniel’s arrest, and he was taken to the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you worship continually, DELIVER YOU.” And then they threw him in.” (Daniel 6:16) The king didn’t sleep that night, but Daniel had a great night’s sleep with a lot of living lion fur as a blanket, the king, “…called out in anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the Living God, was your God, able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel said, “Your Majesty, My God has sent His angel, to shut the lions’ mouths for I am innocent before God…” (Daniel 6:20-22) Darius gathered the other leaders and their families and threw them in the lion’s den and declared, “I order people in every part of my kingdom to RESPECT AND HONOR DANIEL’S GOD.” (Daniel 6:26)
THE EFFECTIVE, FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN ALWAYS AVAILS MUCH.
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham