What Really Matters by Clinton A. Macomber

• Title Page
• Introduction
• General Overview
• Daniel 1:1-6
• Daniel 1:7-21
• Daniel 2
• Daniel 3
• Daniel 4
• Daniel 5
• Daniel 6
  • The Importance of Prayer
  • Biblical Prayer
  • Quotes
  • Did You Know?
  • Devotions
  • Word Search Puzzle
• Daniel 7
• Daniel 8
• Daniel 9
• Daniel 10
• Daniel 11
• Daniel 12

One of the things that made Daniel such a valuable employee to the king was the number of hours he spent daily in prayer. God answers prayer. We have not, because we ask not, or ask amiss. Because Daniel took the decisions and problems in prayer before God, God honored Daniel. He answered Daniel’s prayer. Daniel was a real asset to the king.

Prayer Instills Faithfulness

Daniel 6:4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

Another characteristic of prayer is the ability to discern trouble. It helps one to keep from making mistakes. Unfortunately the trade off comes when you are working with ungodly people. When I began working at an hourly wage in high school, the other men tried all kinds of things to get me to slow down. They did not like a youngster outworking them. They were actually afraid I would get their jobs.

When we are aware of God’s presence and reliant on Him for help, He does warn us of pitfalls and possible areas of trouble from His Word. Here Daniel had 120 men trying to find something that he did wrong—120 of the world’s best were scrutinizing everything Daniel did. None of them could come up with one thing with which to blame Daniel. This is an amazing record.

Prayer Demonstrates Loyalty to God

Daniel 6:5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

Daniel was a spiritual man. Everything he did was bathed in prayer to God. Everywhere he went, he was breathing prayers. The conclusion of this investigation was that Daniel could only be accused over his religious affiliation.

Society cries that there must be a separation of government and religion until they find there is no way to control religion. Then the cry changes when the government begins making religious laws. Socialism takes root and communism is soon to follow.