Praying For God To Intervene

Daniel 2: 17-18

‘Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.’

When crisis hits, what is your response? Do you panic, do you problem solve, do you just sit in a corner and cry? Quite often for me I go into problem solving mode, trying to figure out the best solution. Then I quickly go on to the practical and start fixing things. Sometimes this doesn’t work and I end up in more of a pickle and certainly more stressed out. I am very good at trying to deal with a problem myself, doing it in my own strength. But what we are reminded of in these verses is that when problems come, we need to stop and pray.

King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and asked all the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers in Babylon to interpret it. The problem was that he wasn’t telling anyone his dream. As none of these men could fulfil this impossible task, he commanded that all ‘wise men’ throughout Babylon be put to death. This included Daniel and his friends. Daniel hears about what has been decreed and persuades the King to give him a little bit of time to interpret the dream.

Daniel’s life is on the line. He is in a crisis and what does he do? He doesn’t try to problem solve, he doesn’t panic or cry in the corner. No - he realises he needs God to intervene in the situation. He prays, but he also calls his friends to pray. He knows and trusts God can provide.

He and his friends engage with God in prayer and this is what we are called to do too. When crisis hits, we need, first, to reach out to God ourselves and, second, ask others to stand with us in prayer.

Reflect – When in a crisis what do you do? Do you have people who can stand with you in prayer in your time of need? If you don’t, pray God will provide those people in your life.