1
|
|
A
Life or Death Thankful Prayer
|
2
|
|
<Daniel
6:10>
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.
|
3
|
|
Today is the Feast of
Harvest.
God ordered to celebrate three festivals.
The Feast of Harvest is one of those three festivals.
|
4
|
|
The Feast of Harvest
has two other names.
They are called the Feast of Weeks and Pentecost.
|
5
|
|
When the day of
Pentecost comes, the Israelites prepared a
huge thankful service to God for allowing them to harvest. The Israelites
thanked God for His grace and for restoring their own faith throughout each
day.
|
6
|
|
A long time ago, the
ancestors raised barley. At that time they offered thanksgiving offerings to
God for making their barley farming go well. But now, we offer thanksgiving
services with thinking about the grace of God providing for us for the past 6
months.
|
7
|
|
The
reason why we are keeping the Feast of Harvest is to offer a thanksgiving
service to God for providing His grace of giving us good health, protection
and care for us not to encounter hardships.
|
8
|
|
In
the Bible one man is introduced and he thanked God even in front of death.
That person is Daniel who went to Babylon as a captured slave.
|
9
|
|
By
the great grace of God, Daniel became a great politician. King Darius sat
Daniel on the highest position which is to be the Prime Minister. But there
were people who were not content with Daniel becoming the best Prime
Minister.
|
10
|
|
They
made a terrible conspiracy to terminate Daniel. They went to King Darius and
said, "O King, for one month, let the people become one by praying only
to you and not allowing them to pray to other gods. To make all the people
follow your order, if someone prays to another god, put that person into the
den of lions."
|
11
|
|
King
Darius thought that they were trying to do a thing which would lift him very
high but he did not know that it was actually a conspiracy to terminate the
Prime Minister Daniel. So King Darius issued the decree and put it in writing
so that it could not be altered.
|
12
|
|
Why
did they make such a weird decree? It is because they knew that Prime
Minister Daniel was kneeling down and offering thanksgiving prayers to God
three times a day without skipping a single day. They used this fact to
terminate Daniel.
|
13
|
|
Daniel
knew that the King issued the decree. Daniel also knew that he would be put
into the lion's den if he kept praying to God like he always did. However,
what do you think Daniel did then?
|
14
|
|
Even
that day, Daniel knelt down and offered thanksgiving prayers to God three
times a day as if nothing had happened. Daniel was so thankful to God for
protecting him in that foreign country and God even made him a Prime Minister
yet even knowing the danger, Daniel was not able to live without thanking
God.
|
15
|
|
Because
of offering thanksgiving prayers, Daniel was put into the lion's den.
But God did not let Daniel, who prayed to God everyday, be the lions' prey.
Like a miracle, God protected Daniel when he was put into the lion's den.
|
16
|
|
Just
like how Daniel did, people who live thanking God for the grace that He
provides, God will protect those people until the end. Just like Daniel's
life, to live a great life accompanied by God, we should not forget to offer
thanksgiving prayers for His grace.
|
17
|
|
As
we keep this Feast of Harvest, we should remember the grace that God provides
for us everyday and we should promise ourselves to become people like Daniel,
kneeling down and offering thanksgiving prayers to God. Just like how God
lifted up and protected Daniel, God will also give the same great grace to
you.
|