Daniel 2 & one-on-ones

On Sunday (1/20/08) we looked at Daniel 2 with the high school group. Once again, we are continuing with the theme that obedience to God will favor His sovereignty over your life. In this chapter, Daniel and his buddies, are given the impossible task of dream interpretation. Not only that, but they must tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream. It first starts with his "experts" and they can't do it. In fact, they say it's impossible! Then it falls on Daniel. He takes it back to his buddies- Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They pray fervently to God for mercy to reveal this impossible task, and He grants it to them. The next day, Daniel is able to stand before King Nebuchadnezzar and tell him his dream, as well as its interpretation.

That's the basic narrative of what happened. First and foremost, the main point is that Daniel was close to God and obedient to Him. When it says that they prayed "fervently" to God, I don't think it meant a nice little prayer you would typically say before taking a geometry test, or something like that. I think it meant deep, heartfelt, seeking the presence of God type of prayer. And after God revealed the mystery to Daniel, he worshipped Him right there.

Not only did he glorify God, he also gave credit to his friends. They all prayed throughout the night for God to grant them mercy. He told King Nebuchadnezzar "we" will interpret the dream in verse 36. At the end of the chapter, Daniel requested his friends be promoted as well.


During the jr. high class I had the chance to sit one-on-one with each of the students. It was time to find out what they learned, what they enjoyed, and what their understanding was of being a Christian. I found it just about universal that the Whatever It Takes game was enjoyed by all. I also found that a lot of the youth have a basic understanding and faith in Jesus Christ, but just want to learn how to live that out on a day-to-day basis. That's very encouraging to me.