Daniel and the Lions
Daniel never stops praying to God. Even where the lions are, God stays right beside him.
Daniel Who Prayed Every Day
Daniel was a very wise and honest man. The king of the land he lived in trusted him so much that he put him in charge of the most important work. Every day, three times a day, Daniel would kneel by his window, pray to God and thank Him. This was his favorite time of day. He would open his window as if turning toward God, and morning, noon and evening he would stop and pour out his heart: sometimes he gave thanks, sometimes he asked for help, and sometimes he simply waited quietly. Everyone knew that Daniel was very hard-working and very honest; he always did his work in the best way, never tricked anyone, and never treated anyone unfairly. Perhaps that is why the king trusted him so much. But these good qualities of Daniel's troubled some people who were jealous of him.
A Jealous Plan
But there were some men in the palace who were jealous of Daniel. They made a plan to get him into trouble. They tricked the king into making a new rule: “From now on, everyone must pray only to the king.” They did this because they knew Daniel would never stop praying to God.
Daniel heard about the rule. Even so, he went to his window as always, knelt down, and prayed to God with love. For Daniel, talking with God was as important as breathing.
Among the Lions
When the jealous men saw this, they ran straight to the king. The king was very sad, because he loved Daniel; but he could not take back the rule. So Daniel was placed where the lions were. The king could not sleep all night and thought, “I hope Daniel's God keeps him safe.”
Good News in the Morning
When morning came, the king came running and called out: “Daniel, are you all right?” From inside came Daniel's cheerful voice: “Yes! God sent an angel and closed the mouths of the lions. No harm came to me at all.” The lions had stayed calm and quiet all night long.
The king was overjoyed and brought Daniel out right away. He told everyone how great Daniel's God was.
Daniel's story shows us this: doing the right thing sometimes takes courage. Even when others think differently, we can choose to stay good and honest. And even in the places that look most frightening, God stays beside us; we are never alone.
Talk about the story
Daniel kept praying even in a hard moment. When did you choose to be brave?