I purchased a new guitar on Monday which I consider both a graduation present to myself and a ministry donation to CCF as we do not have an acoustic-electric guitar for summer worship. My old acoustic guitar I gave away in Peru, and after being blessed with a new guitar right before going to Costa Rica I also gave that one away. Hopefully I will keep this new one for a while! I will get the opportunity to play it tonight for CCF's Thursday night bible study. Here is a picture:
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| New Guitar |
So now onto Daniel chapter two!
We find Daniel living in Babylon working for the king, being faithful to God, and finding favor in those around him. King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that troubles him greatly and sends for all the magicians and astrologers to not only interpret the dream but give the details as well. The wise men see this as an impossible task and are greatly distressed when the king ordered them all to be executed. When Daniel hears of this decree, he makes a decision to intercede for the other wise men.
Let us think about the idea of intercession.
First of all, when is intercession necessary?
Intercession is one of those words that has a lot of different connotations to different people, some people may say that it is intense prayer, others may say it is an act of sacrifice. I do not like to get caught up in definitions, I prefer to look at functionality. I believe intercession is necessary whenever there is a specific need that no natural means will fulfill. This happens all the time in our lives. All the time. A family member becomes terminally ill, someone you know gets laid off, or maybe we are just going through a slump and cannot seem to find joy in anything we do. I will make one discrepancy between prayer and intercession. While prayer is ubiquitous for all needs, in my mind intercession involves the needs of others. Going back to Daniel, it was not just him who was going to be executed if the dream was not interpreted. He was standing in the gap between the king and the other wise men of Babylon.
Next, how do we intercede for the needs of others?
For this question, let us go by what the bible says. I will summarize the steps of intercession in three points:
1. Identification
When Daniel heard that the king was to kill all the wise men of Babylon, he returned to his friends and "urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven, so that he and his friends might not be executed..." It was very easy for Daniel to identify with the needs of the wise men, for he shared that need. But this is not always the case. Many times we will have friends who have a need in their life in which we do not understand. Even if this is the case we can always identify with man's inherent fallibility, and this is the key to intercession. When Nebuchadnezzar asks Daniel whether or not he could interpret the dream, he identifies with the sorcerers', magicians', and wise mens' inability to retell the dream and gives God the opportunity to claim the victory.
2. Thanksgiving
I have always seen thanksgiving as the biggest part of having faith. If we remain in the attitude of a beggar, waiting and pleading for God to act, we are not acting in faith. As soon as we know God has heard us we should give thanks knowing that He will act in the best way possible. As soon as God tells Daniel the dream and interpretation, he begins praising God and giving thanks for hearing his plea, even though the need is not yet fulfilled. Faith is in what God is going to do, not what He has done.
3. Action
Part of being in a healthy relationship is it not being one-sided. Growing up I loved helping my mom cook. Sometimes I would ask her to prepare a specific dish for me that I loved very much. She would provide all the ingredients, set up the instruments, and give me instructions, but in the end she always left me to execute the cooking. Even though she was right there watching me it was often terrifying, my greatest fear was messing up. But if she had made it for me I would have never had the opportunity to learn and to grow. The same is true with God. It would have been easy for God to strike down the king and prevent the executions himself, but that would not help establish His relationship with man. God is always setting up opportunities for us to grow closer to Him, if we are willing to act. By standing before the king and believing in the preparation God had given him Daniel partners with God to save the lives of many people. We have that same privilege each and every day, to partner with God and to grow closer to Him.
So that is the big idea. When we see a need, we must identify with those in need, give thanks knowing that God is the fulfillment of that need, and be willing to act in whatever way is necessary. Intercession!
That is all for today, stay blessed and highly favored!
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