Daniel was known for his prayer life (Daniel 6:4-11). The first thing Daniel did when faced with a problem was pray. That’s what we will need to do to if we are to dare to be a Daniel. Fourth, to dare to be a Daniel means to respond to problems with prayer – Daniel 2:14-19a. Daniel was confronted with an impossible task. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that perplexed and frightened him. He needed an interpretation. But being the Trumpian leader of his day, he demanded the magicians and wisemen of his court that he had been paying so well, to earn their money. He demanded they tell him what the dream was rather than merely respond to the King’s description of the dream. If they couldn’t do so, they would be executed. Impossible? Seemed so. But when Daniel found out about it he responded to the problem with prayer. And being a truth agent is a big part of what it means to be conformed t the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29), follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21) and walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). When Jesus was being grilled by Pontius Pilate and asked Who He was, His answer was something we sometimes forget. We readily understand that Jesus came to serve and seek and save the lost (Mark 10:45; Luke 19:10). But Jesus’ response to Pontius Pilate spoke of declaring God’s truth as being central to His purpose:

Daniel was a prophet during a time when God’s people were living in captivity. He served under two world empires, The Babylonian and Medo-Persian. His life is a testimony about how to live in enemy territory or territory that is contrary to God.

PSALM 100: 1-2

Fifth, to dare to be a Daniel means to praise God for answered prayer; to have a thankful heart – Daniel 2:19b – 23. Daniel did not get so caught in God’s answer or the victory that he forgot to praise and thank God. Daniel was not like nine lepers who were healed by Jesus and then forgot to give God thanks. Daniel was like the one healed leper who returned to thank Jesus for his healing (Luke 17:11-19). Daniel praised God for answer to his prayer: Then, the temptation seemed the road to honor. To consent to eat of the king’s meat and to drink of the king’s wine, seemed to be the way to get on in Babylon. They would say to Daniel, “Surely, if you begin by objecting to what the monarch sends you from his table, you will never get on at court. People with a conscience should not go to court.” I do not say that, today, but I do think that they ought not to be members of Parliament! It must be amazingly difficult for a man with a conscience to go in and out there! But for Daniel to begin with a conscience like this, so particularly tender that it was offended by a glass of the king’s wine, or a morsel of the king’s meat, why, any good old fatherly man would have said, “My boy, you will never get on–your religion will always stand in your way. I am sure you will never come to be much.” That would have been a great mistake, however, for Daniel became a great ruler and he prospered in the world through that very conscientiousness which it was thought would spoil all his prospects! Daniel 10:10–14 (NKJV) – 10 Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. 11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. 12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”

The majority of Jewish exiles probably reasoned this way. The majority usually does reason like that. Using their misguided "common sense," they rationalized themselves right out of the will of God (Daniel 1:4-7). Daniel was never intimidated by earthly position. He was not a respecter of people or their positions. Daniel was not disrespectful to people, but his highest respect was reserved for God. alone. When you dare to be a Daniel you are not swayed by peer pressure of pander to people, you serve the Living God; you serve the Lord Jesus (e.g. Galatians 1:10). John 17:15–17 (NKJV) – 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. Life isn’t about having it together when everything is rosy – but how you deal with it when things aren’t working right -- when we’re in foreign territory.

Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" He gave God credit and did not take credit for what God did through him. Daniel was humble and therefore useable to God. Daniel served Almighty God and therefore, when he shared God with others that Almighty nature of God came through. I could continue long at this point; but I have given you the general principle, which you can work out for yourselves. Christians have meat to eat of which the world knoweth not. We have our re-creation; that is the way to pronounce recreation, re-creation; we go to our Creator, and he makes us anew. We have our nights of holy mirth; we have our days of delight. There is a King, a portion of whose meat we rejoice to eat, and of whose wine we delight to drink; but as to questionable things, things of the world, and all that tendeth towards departure from the living God, we say that, by his grace, we determine not to defile ourselves therewith. Dan 6:10 when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Daniel’s legacy of prophecy lives on even to our day! (Daniel 12). When you dare to be a Daniel you will receive spiritual insight that others aren’t privy to. When you dare to be a Daniel, when you step out in faith to serve and obey God no matter what, God honors that. God gives insight, understanding, and blesses with a lasting legacy when you dare to be a Daniel.Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem." The next thing, dear Friends, is that we must prove that the old faith produces much love of our fellow men. You know that, nowadays, the watchword is, “the enthusiasm of humanity.” It is a curious thing that those churches that have such a wonderful “enthusiasm of humanity” speak of us as if we were always talking of God and forgetting men. Well, well, which of these new-fangled churches has an orphanage? It is very fine to talk about Christian socialism and what you are going to do for the poor–but what have you done? Much of it is just chatter, chatter and nothing else! But the godly, who feel that God is All, are, after all, those who care most for men. And those who believe most firmly that the unbelieving sinner will be lost are the men who are most anxious to have him saved! Those who believe that there is no salvation but by the precious blood are determined that Christ shall see of the travail of His soul. Those who believe that salvation is all of Grace, from first to last, are moved to preach it with heart and soul wherever they have the opportunity. And, when God makes up His last account, it shall be found, I trust, that the best lovers of men have been those who were first of all the best lovers of God! By your help, by your kindness, by your benevolence, prove it, so that when they come to look at you who have eaten nothing but vegetables and who have drunk water, they may find that, after all, you appear fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children who ate the portion of the king’s meat and drank his wine. Let our labor for the conversion of souls be incessant! Let us abound and superabound in it! The whole Bible—from start to finish—is about Jesus (v. 44). In particular, it is about His suffering, death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins (vv. 46-47). That means that the whole Bible is about the gospel, the good news that God saves sinners in Christ Jesus. Unless we come to terms with what Jesus is saying in this passage, what we say about human examples of faithfulness in the Bible will turn into mere moralism. What it means to be a believer will be answered with nothing more than "Be brave like Daniel,""Be valiant like David," etc. How should we do this? Thankfully the New Testament shows us how, and it shows us that an exemplary approach to the Bible is gospel-centered too. Seventh, to dare to be a Daniel means to share with others what God reveals to you – Daniel 2:29. Daniel did not shy away from sharing God’s message with someone who was in a powerful position.