When the Lions Roar, Live Out Loud!

I'd planned to get into 1 Corinthians 13 today, better known as "The Love Chapter..." but the Lord led me somewhere else this morning, so I'll get back to that tomorrow.

Full disclosure: I was just telling a friend of mine the other day that the enemy is attacking me on four fronts: Church, school, job, and family: Four places where I am most vulnerable. And how am I going to weather the storm?

I have turned to 2 Chronicles 20:12 more often in the last few months than I've ever before done in the 41 years of my life. In this passage, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, is under attack from two nations: Moab and Ammon. Jehoshaphat, a theocratic king who actually, you know, reveres the Lord, prays.

He prays.

How many times have I heard the phrase: Well... the only thing I can do now is pray.

Like it's a last resort. Like it's a fall-back. Like we've exhausted our arsenal, and when those possibilities fall through, the only thing we've got left is the option to mutter some words heavenward in hopes that something will stick.

Y'all, prayer isn't all we've got; it's what we've got! It's the first thing we've got! Remember in 2 Kings 6:15-17 when Elisha and his servant wake up one morning to find themselves stuck in a city that's surrounded by an enemy army? In those days, this usually meant either a.) a long siege and likely death by starvation, or surrender, whichever came first, or b.) death by the sword when the enemy breached the gates. No wonder Elisha's servant had his stomach sort of drop at the sight that met his gaze when he looked out over the army encamped around him.

"When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. 'Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?' the servant asked.

"'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, 'Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.' Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."

Psalm 34:7 says: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them."

When the servant saw the tents of the enemy encamped around him, Elisha prayed that the servant would see the much greater, much more powerful army encamped around them.

Prayer isn't all we've got; it's what we've got! It's the first thing we've got!

So back to Jehoshaphat as he's facing down the armies of Ammon and Moab. He doesn't try to marshal his forces first.

The very first thing he does as soon as he gets the news, is this: "Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek Him. Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in front of the new courtyard, and..." 

What did he do?

He prayed.

He prayed and prayed and prayed, and then he ended his prayer with this petition that slices right to my core, because it's exactly the cry of my own heart: "For we have no power to face his vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You." 

Lord... I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on You.

I listened to a message yesterday that Priscilla Shirer had given back in 2018 at a Passion conference concerning spiritual warfare, holiness, and integrity, and y'all... if you want to hear an anointed word from the Lord, listen to this one. Listen to it right up to the end. The Holy Spirit drove right through her words and stripped away all the defensive layers I'd placed around my heart. It was so, so powerful.

When I think of integrity, walking with holiness, my mind goes right to Daniel. We used to sing a song back in Sunday School when I was a kid: Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known.

It struck me this morning as I was reading back through some of Daniel's story a few significant facts about him. 

Daniel lived in Babylon for most of his life. He arrived there as a young man, likely a teenager, and he lived a full life there. During his time in Babylon, he worked in positions fairly close to whomever happened to be king. Why? He was valued for his wisdom ("To these four young men [Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael] God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds." Please note: this ability was not his ability, but the Lord gave him the interpretation, as Daniel makes clear in 2:27-28).

Because of the Lord's work through Daniel's integrity and wisdom: Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king, praised the one true God! Nebuchadnezzar writes: "Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him Who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:34-35).

Years later, another king of Babylon, Darius, writes to all his people throughout the land: "I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom, people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel, 'for He is the Living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end. He rescues and He saves; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions'" (Daniel 6:26-27).

Daniel's witness as a servant of God who lived with faithfulness and integrity in a kingdom and beneath kings who did not serve God was incredibly powerful! And what really appeals to me is this: He lived for God... in the middle of the enemy's encampment.

"Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom" (Daniel 6:3). Which made the administrators and satraps jealous, 'cause they weren't getting similarly distinguished, so "they tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so" (Daniel 6:4a).

Do we ever find anyone involved in government affairs who does not get a thorough rifling through their past for skeletons in their closet? Daniel... had no skeletons. His integrity kept them nonexistent.

"They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent" (Daniel 6:4b).

So they go back to their scheming, and here's where their game ramps up: "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of His God" (Daniel 6:5).

Daniel was so well known for a.) serving the king with excellence and b.) following the law of His God that the enemy realized they could not crack through his defenses unless they attacked his faith.

So they set it all up. They went to the king, played on his pride by asking him to issue an edict that everyone had to pray only to Darius over the next 30 days, and if anyone prayed to anyone else... they'd be tossed into a lion's den, which was apparently a common form of punishment, since it was right ready to go.

Let me just say: God hates pride. When Nebuchadnezzar said the words: "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty" (Daniel 4:30), "the words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven..." and Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind. Literally. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. He became almost unrecognizable as his hair grew and got matted and gross, and his fingernails got super long like talons. Seven years of insanity... because of his abominable pride.

Here in Daniel 6, Darius proudly decrees that no one can pray to anyone else... except himself. And it backfires. His pet wise-man, his good friend Daniel, gets caught in the crosshairs.

Why? Because Daniel didn't back down. The new law went against the law of his God, and he chose to follow the law of his God over the law of men.

"Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day, he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before" (Daniel 6:10). 

Nothing changed his walk with God. No satraps, no new laws, no threat of a lions' den. Just as he had done before.

"Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help" (Daniel 6:11).

So it followed that the king had to do what he'd said. Oh, how quickly Darius realized where his pride had led him, and how deep was his regret. But actions bring consequences, and even Darius couldn't change the unchangeable law he'd put into place. "So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion's den. The king said to Daniel, 'May your God, Whom you serve continually, rescue you!" (Daniel 6:16).

And Daniel spent the night surrounded by hungry lions, who didn't dare to break through "the horses and chariots of fire" around the Lord's servant. How do I know? Look back up at 2 Kings 6:15-17. Look back up at Psalm 34:7.

Daniel had made a deep, deep impression on Darius, because: "At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, 'Daniel, servant of the living God (pagan king recognizes true God), has your God, whom you serve continually (repeated phrase from yesterday; he's been thinking about this allllll night), been able to rescue you from the lions?" (Daniel 6:20).

And Daniel's voice emerged from the den. "Oh king, live forever! My God sent His angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in His sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, oh king" (Daniel 6:22).

Integrity. 

"No wound was found on him, because he had trusted in His God" (Daniel 6:23).

Paul says in Ephesians 4:1: "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life WORTHY OF THE CALLING YOU HAVE RECEIVED." That's NIV. The NRSV says: "I beg you..." The NASB says: "I implore you..." The KJV says: "I beseech you..." 

Do you think we are supposed to live our lives with integrity?!

Daniel lived his faith out loud! He was known for living with holiness. He was known for the One Whom he served!

How can I live my faith out loud? When you see the enemy encamped around you, open your eyes and see the hills full of the horses and chariots of fire of heaven. When you see the enemy coming, approaching the Father in prayer isn't all you've got, it's what you've got; it's the first thing you've got. 

When it feels like the world is closing in around you, when all your satrap buddies are coming for you, when you hear the lions roaring, when "you don't know what to do..." get your eyes on the Father. Fling open your windows and get on your knees, "just as you have done before," and

LIVE. OUT. LOUD.