The Perfect Prayer?

Let’s conclude our summer Putting Green look at prayer with a 3-part study of what I call the perfect prayer: Daniel Chapter 3. I call it the perfect prayer because it contains all the elements of a perfect prayer: 

Respond in faith not react in fear 

Abandon the outcome to God 

Facts 1st -Faith 2nd -Feelings a distant 3rd  

“Thank you now, Lord, before I see how you are going to work this out, because I know I will be thanking you later.” 

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are faced with an impossible situation when King Nebuchadnezzar sets up an image of gold, and commands everyone in his kingdom to bow down and worship it. The three refuse to do so, and the king angrily threatens them: 

Furious with rage … Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?  

15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (Daniel 3:13-15 Bold added) 

I love the taunt with which Nebuchadnezzar ended his threat: 

“Then what god will be able to rescue you from …  my hand?” 

Can’t you just see the egotistical snarl in the king’s face? 

But the three men are undaunted in the face of this scary and brutal threat. With reckless abandonment – abandoning the outcome to “the God we serve” – they respond in faith, not react in fear, with, don’t miss this, the facts: 

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your hand, O king.  

18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18) 

Every time I read this, I want to sit down for a moment and gather myself. They know Nebuchadnezzar can and will throw them in the blazing fire. They know it will be a horrible, burned-alive death. Yet, there is no panic in their voice and absolutely no fear. Their response begs a deeper dive. 

Why is this the perfect prayer?  

The way Jesus concludes his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is taught as the model for all our prayer endings. After he expresses hope for a different outcome, he concludes with, 

“But not my will, but yours.” 

Isn’t this what our three heroes are saying? Their faith-based-on-facts response demonstrates their confidence in God’s sovereignty: “He is able” – God’s perfect will: “He will” – and God’s perfect way: “But even if he doesn’t.” 

I can hear them saying, “Thank you now, Lord, before I see how you are going to work this out, because I know I will be thanking you later.” 

Next Week: Prayer in a God-Saturated World