Bible Study

Let’s say the SuperVerse together. Psalm 17:6:

I am praying to You because I know You will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.

We know that Daniel and his three friends prayed in a very stressful time. God answered their prayers in a vision showing Daniel the king’s dream and its meaning. Daniel was a man of prayer. He didn’t just come to God in emergencies. He talked with God every day! In this activity, we are going to read and discuss some other prayers Daniel prayed.

Give each child a Bible. Have children look up the verses and take turns reading one verse at a time. Then lead a discussion with the information below.

1. Daniel 6:10–12

¹⁰ But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, 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. ¹¹ Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. ¹² So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?” “Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”

• This story happened many years later. Some of the king’s officers were jealous of Daniel and how the king favoredhim. The officers tricked King Darius into signing a law about prayer that Daniel would not obey. If someone prayed to anyone other than the king, they would be thrown into a den of lions. According to verse 10, was Daniel afraid and did he hide in a closet when he prayed so no one would find out and arrest him? No, he went home and prayed with his windows open as always.
• According to verse 10, how many times a day did Daniel pray? Three times a day.
• Verses 10 and 11 tell us two things that were included in Daniel’s prayers; what were they? Giving thanks to God and asking for His help.
• According to verse 12, do you think Daniel believed he was safe because he could talk the king into changing the law? No, Daniel was an officer of the king, so he would know that a law could not be revoked or changed once it was signed by the king.
• Do you think it is important to have a regular time to pray like Daniel? Why or why not?Yes, it can help us not to forget and to look forward to our time with God. Sometimes we may not feel like praying, yet those may be the times that we most need to pray. Praying regularly shows we value our relationship with God above anything or anyone else.

2. Daniel 9:1–6

¹ It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. ² During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years. ³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes. ⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “O Lord, You are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill Your covenant and keep Your promises of unfailing love to those who love You and obey Your commands. ⁵ But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against You and scorned Your commands and regulations. ⁶ We have refused to listen to Your servants the prophets, who spoke on Your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.”

• According to verse 2, how was truth revealed to Daniel? By reading God’s Word.
• When Daniel learned the truth revealed to the prophet Jeremiah, what was his response in verse 3? To plead with God in prayer and fasting.
• In Bible times, people would put on rough burlap or sackcloth and sprinkle themselves with ashes when they were in mourning because someone died or to humble themselves in repentance before God. How did Daniel humbly view God in verse 4? A great and awesome God who faithfully keeps His promises and has unfailing love for His people who obey Him.
• According to verse 5, how did Daniel see himself and others? As sinners who rebelled and disobeyed God’s commandments and laws.
• In verse 6, who did the people refuse to listen to? God’s prophets who spoke by His authority.
• Why is it important to humble ourselves when we seek God in prayer? So we see ourselves as we truly are: helpless without Him; needing His mercy, compassion, and love; dependent on Him. Acknowledging His Lordship and greatness and our inability to please Him except through Christ.
• In verse 4, Daniel praised God for who He is; why should we also do this when we pray? It builds our faithin who God is and what He can do, it pleases God when we worship and praise Him. God inhabits the praise of His people. (See Psalm 22:3 kjv.)We give Him the praise that is due only Him.

3. Daniel 9:20–23

²⁰ I went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God for Jerusalem, His holy mountain. ²¹ As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice. ²² He explained to me, “Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding. ²³ The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God. Listen carefully so that you can understand the meaning of your vision.”

• According to verse 20, was Daniel only praying for himself? No, he was pleading on behalf of God’s people and God’s city, Jerusalem.
• What happened in verse 21 as Daniel prayed? God’s angel Gabriel came to him.
• According to verse 22, why was he sent to Daniel? To give him insight and understanding.
• According to verse 23, how much time passed before God heard Daniel’s prayer? The moment Daniel began to pray, God sent Gabriel with the answer.
• How did God describe Daniel? Daniel was precious to Him.
• What news did Gabriel bring to Daniel? The meaning of his vision.
• Does this encourage you to pray, and why? Yes, to know God loves us and values us and hears immediately when we speak and will answer.

Conclusion: God may not answer immediately as He did with Daniel; yet, He always listens and will reveal things in His time, to give us insight and understanding when we ask! We are precious to God and He wants to spend time with us every day!