Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, hey, friends, welcome back to another edition of the weekday podcast. If you missed yesterday's episode, I want to encourage you to catch up on it to get sort of the context that we're going to be hanging out this week. But today's passage comes from Daniel, chapter 2, verses 17 and 18. It says then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends about this matter so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery.
[00:00:22] Now, I've got a confession, and I'm of the age that maybe this doesn't surprise you, but I don't like asking for directions.
[00:00:29] I'll drive the wrong way for 10 minutes, fully confident, before I'll admit I should have checked the map. And I'm guessing I'm not the only one that's in that boat. There's a version of faith that works exactly the same way. We carry around access to the God of the universe. He's available. He knows the answer, he's not withholding anything. And instead of going to him first, we wander around for a while, confident in our own sense of direction. Phone first, Google first, friend first.
[00:00:54] Beverage first. Work first. Anything first. Before God is first.
[00:01:00] Well, on yesterday's episode, I told you about Daniel. He was a young man who wakes up with an execution order attached to his name for crisis that he didn't create. And King Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream. He demanded his wise men interpret it without telling them what it was. And when they couldn't, he ordered every wise man in Babylon killed. Daniel got caught in that decree simply for being in the building.
[00:01:21] Now, here's what he does next, and it's easy to read right past it. Scripture says Daniel went to his house and he informed his friends about the matter so that they might. Here's the phrase, request compassion from the God of heaven. That's it. That's the whole move. He didn't go to the strategy whiteboard. He didn't pull ideas with the other wise men. He didn't spiral in his room trying to outthink an impossible problem. Instead, he went to his friends and they prayed. The word for what they asked for. Compassion or mercy, carries this idea of this deep gut level tenderness. Daniel wasn't performing a religious ritual. He was saying, God, I am completely dependent on you and meaning it. So here's the question worth sitting with today. When something hard hits you, what's your actual first move? Not what would you like it to be? What is it actually?
[00:02:13] And I want to suggest something that might change how you carry this week. Decide now, decide ahead of time where you'll go first when the hard thing comes. Because in the actual moment when you're spinning, that's not the time to figure out your spiritual game plan. You need to have it already decided. And if part of what's held you back is not knowing how to pray, like, you need the right words or you need a certain posture, I want to take that off the table. Prayer can be simple as these three things. God, here's what's going on to God, here's where I need help.
[00:02:47] God, would you please step in?
[00:02:50] One honest prayer is a complete prayer. Daniel's friends didn't pray a polished prayer. They just asked for mercy. And God moved. You don't need better words. You just need a first move. You don't need better words to pray. You need a first move, and it's God, not the backup plan. Give that a try today and we'll see you back here tomorrow.
