Download Daniel 6

Daniel 6
A Thankful and Praying Man
Scripture: Daniel 6
Memory Verse: “in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for
you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Lesson Focus: God is in charge of every circumstance and He wants us to be a thankful
people.
Activities and Crafts: Coloring Paper, Word Search and
1st & 2nd Grade: Indian Corn Door Hanger (a Thanksgiving craft) example will be in the
room for you.
Game: “Hot Lion” Play a game with the a picture of a lion like you would play “Hot
Potatoe.” Divide the kids into several groups of 10-12. Have a lion that they could pass
around the circle. Play some music and the kids must pass around the lion until the music
stops. When the music stops the child with the lion is out of the game. Play the game for
about 5 minutes.
Say to the kids,
√ Why didn’t any one want to get stuck with the lion?
√ Why do we hate to not be included in the game and have to sit on the side lines?
Today we will be talking about someone who made a choice to not be included and to
stand up for what he believed.
Introduction:
The book of Daniel is an Old Testament book explaining the time in history when
the Jewish people were taken as slaves into a country called Babylon. The book
of Daniel focuses on the lives of four young men, and specifically Daniel. We see
in the beginning of the book that the King at that time selects several young men
from the Jewish people to be trained to be leaders;
“The king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the
children of Israel and some the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young
men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom,
possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the
king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the
Chaldeans.” Daniel 1:3-4
When we come to chapter 6 of Daniel we will see an older Daniel who is a leader
for the King.
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Bible Lesson:
Daniel 6:1-2: The Setting
√ Who is the King? (Darius)
√ What does the King do? (set’s up his leaders – 120 satraps who would be over
his entire kingdom.)
√ What specific role did the king give to Daniel? (Daniel was one of 3
governors)
Daniel 6:3 The Character of Daniel
√ What did Daniel do? (distinguished himself)
√ What does that mean? (Daniel stood out – he was not like everybody else – he
did a better job.)
√ How does this verse describe Daniel’s character? (an excellent spirit was in
him.)
√ What do you think an “excellent spirit” is?
√ What did the king want to do with Daniel? (Make him the leader over
everyone.)
Daniel 6:4 The Problem
√ What do the other leaders do?
They try to find some charge that they can bring against Daniel
√ Why do you think that they wanted to get Daniel in trouble? (they were
jealous)
√ What was their problem? (they couldn’t find any thing Daniel was doing
wrong.)\
√ Once again, how is Daniel’s character described?
(faithful, no fault)
1. To be faithful, means that you do what you say you will do. People
can trust you. Your words and actions match up.
2. To find no fault, meant that Daniel did not do anything wrong. He did
the right thing. That means that he did not cheat. He did not try to
look important and make himself get noticed. He just did things the
right way.
Daniel 6:5-9 The Plan
√ What did the leaders decide they could use against Daniel? (they knew that he
would not go against God so that would be their trap.)
The Plan in Action:
1. They go before the king
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2. They praise the king
3. They build a statue of the kin
4. They say that a law should be signed and put in place that everyone
must bow down to the statue of the king
5. If they do not bow down to the king, they will be thrown into the lions
den and be put to death.
√ What does the king do? (he signs it)
Daniel 6:10 Daniel Reaction
√ Did Daniel know that this law had been signed and put into practice?
√ What did Daniel do?
1. He went home
2. With his windows open
3. Prayed and gave thanks 3 x’s that day as he had been doing since he
was young.
√ Do you think that Daniel knew that he was disobeying that law?
√ Do you think that Daniel knew what would happen to him if he was
found out?
√ Why did Daniel do this in such an open way? Why didn’t he shut his
window?
Daniel went on with his life as he had been doing. Remember that the leaders
could find no fault in Daniel. Remember that we said that Daniel’s actions
matched what he said and who he was. What Daniel does in this verse gives us a
clear picture of who Daniel was. He wasn’t afraid of what man could do to him.
He lived for God and every day he prayed and gave thanks to God with his
window open so that he was not hiding anything.
√ Why do you think the Bible mentions that Daniel prayed and gave
thanks? Are they both important to God?
1. Prayer is communication with God. It helps us realize that we are
dependent on God for everything.
2. Being thankful is an important attribute to have in our lives. God
tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 that it is the will of God for us to be
thankful in everything. It is important to God that we have a
thankful heart. That we do not take things for granted. Daniel
was thankful to God, even though he knew that he could be in
trouble and probably die real soon.
Daniel 6:11- 17 The Trap
 The leaders catch Daniel praying to God
 They go to the king and tattle on Daniel
 They remind the king that he signed a law and that he cannot break the law
√ What does the king try to do? (tries to figure out a way to save Daniel)
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√ Does the king find a way to save Daniel?
√ What does the King say to Daniel? (Your God, who you serve continually, He
will deliver you.) Was Daniel’s life a witness for God?
Daniel is thrown in the lions den
√ How is the lions den sealed?
Daniel 6:18 A Sleepless Night
√ How did the king sleep that night?
Daniel 6:19-23 The Victory
√ What did the king do in the morning? (went very early and ran to the den)
√ What did the king yell out? (“Servant of the living God, has your God, whom
you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”)
√ What answer did the King get back from Daniel?
1. God sent an angel to close the mouth of the lions
2. I was found innocent before God
3. I was found innocent before the King
√ When they removed Daniel from the lion’s den was he hurt?
√ Why does it say that God saved him? (because he believed in his God)
Daniels faith saved him. He knew that God was able.
Daniel 6:24 A Back-fired Plan
√ What happens to those men that tried to get Daniel killed?
Daniel 6:25-27 The Result
The king makes a decree or statement:
Everyone must fear the God of Daniel
Who is a living God
Who is forever
Who’s Kingdom is forever
Who delivers and rescues
Daniel prospers during the reign of Darius!
Conclusion:
So what does this chapter mean for us?
1. Our life need to match our words. If we say we are a Christian then we need
to live it out in every way in our life. Today your parents are studying with
Pastor Eric from Isaiah 58. That chapter in the Bible tells us that we are to
live out our lives for God by meeting the needs in others. Our actions need to
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match our words. Daniels’ actions matched what he said. Do ours? What
could we do to meet the needs of others around us?
2. We need to be a people of prayer and of thanksgiving. This is the month of
thanksgiving, and it is not all about the turkey! If we follow Jesus we need to
have a daily time of prayer with God. This need to be a time where we
honestly talk with God and not just ask Him for things that we want or need.
We also need to have a thankful heart and we need to express that to God.
3. We do not need to be afraid of people not liking us because of what we
believe. To stand up for God and for what the Bible says is going to get
harder in the future. We need to believe and not be afraid of what man can do
to us.
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