We Have To Reach A Place Of Trust, Reliance, Dependence, And Faith In God Where Our Circumstances Don’t Alter Our Praise! We Need Our Situations, Trials And Struggles To See That We Walk By Faith, Even When That Walk Takes Us Through The Valley

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We Need to Allow Our Praise to Be the Evidence That We Trust God’s Outcome, Before We Even Come Out. Daniel Is Our Example Of Celebrating God For Victory Before The Battle Is Even Over!

Daniel 2:19, “…and then Daniel praised the God of heaven…” (TLB)

It’s easy to think of struggles as nuisances that get in the way of our paths, but what if they are the path. God has invested too much in you to let His plans for your life be destroyed.  I’m so glad how I feel about God at any given moment doesn’t change God a bit. Prayer is not getting God in heaven to do your will here on earth; prayer is getting you ready on earth to do the will of God in heaven. Prayer is not seeking to get your way, but submitting your will to God’s way. In spite of what you face as a struggle, it’s important that you learn how to put your praise in place so your problem doesn’t knock you out of position.

But before we get to Daniel, let's face it; we all have some days when we feel like we're stuck in the basement, right? The view isn't very inspiring and neither is the situation we're in. We’re low in funds, low in joy, low in peace, low in confidence, low in health, low in marriage, low in single-hood, and low in dealing with the battles of raising children, low in dealing with coworkers and even low while sitting in the pew next to our brothers and sisters in Christ! There are simply some moments in life when we’ve crashed in the basement, instead of breaking through the ceiling! Can we be real about it?

Well, the good news is that there is no basement so deep or so gloomy that you have to stay there, because there’s an elevator just waiting to take you up!

In essence, it's the spiritual elevator many of God's leaders in the Bible knew about - like Daniel, for example. He's a top advisor to the most powerful man in the world, King Nebuchadnezzar. All of the king's pagan advisors have been unable to meet his demand, and they tell him they don't know what his disturbing dream meant. Of course, he'd also asked them to tell him what the dream was. But nobody could do that either. So he sentences them to death - a sentence that applies even to Daniel! So Daniel is literally staring at being executed for no reason at all! Talk about a dark basement!

However, he doesn’t become weary, he doesn’t panic, he doesn’t freak-out, and he doesn’t start crying. So what does he do? Well, as any wise man would, he recruits his spiritual brothers!

Daniel 2:16-17, “So Daniel went in to see the king. “Give me a little time,” he said, “and I will tell you the dream and what it means.” Then he went home and told Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions” (TLB).

First things first, he lets the king know; oh it won’t end like this, at least not for me! And sometimes you need to speak to the very person, place or thing that is attempting to snuff out your life, that it won’t go down like that, not today, and not for me! I know what I’m facing is tough, but I refuse to just lie down and die! Just give me a little time, I’m about to put a strategy in place that can’t fail! This is designed to take me down, but I’m coming up and out!

Listen: Don’t you dare just accept situations or attacks for their face value. Hit it head on! Don’t cower, don’t run, don’t give up, don’t get depressed…strategize! That’s what Daniel did!

This means we really need to be careful when going into spiritual battle (even battles we face in the natural) in making sure that we call for the right troops. We need to make sure that when we call in reinforcements, we call the right people! Know that everybody who says they’re praying for you, are not! Not everyone asking about your situation cares that you get out of it, some just want to make sure you’re still in it! That’s why discernment and wisdom are necessities, not options!

Listen: You only need to take those IN, who can help bring you OUT!

But how do you know you’ve selected the right people? Let’s continue reading:

“They asked the God of heaven to show them His mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not die with the others. And that night in a vision God told Daniel what the king had dreamed.” (Vss. 18-19)

Daniel didn’t just call any group of men; he called the ones he knew would immediately intercede! Are those the first people you call? If it’s not, you need to change your strategy if you plan to win! Notice, they don’t hold a long conversation with Daniel, they don’t offer him options or their opinions. They don’t find some other brothers to talk about the mess involving Daniel and the king. No, they go straight into intercession, talking to no one but God! They don’t ask Daniel how he feels about it; they don’t question him at all. He called for them; they came to him, and then went to God! If you don’t have reinforcements like this, find them, today!

Something else to note, the 3 men asked God to show “Them” His mercy by telling “Them” the secret. But the answer to what they asked goes like this: “…And that night in a vision God Told Daniel what the king had dreamed…” They asked for God to show “Them” but God told “Daniel”. Note: You need intercessors that can intercede without jealousy or competition! After all, they could have responded, “God WE came to you in intercession so you would reveal it to US”… but they were just fine with Daniel receiving the answer…ALONE.

People of God, surround yourself with people who will not be so busy competing with you that they can’t help you win. It didn’t matter if it was revealed to Daniel alone, as long as the revelation came! And when it did, listen to Daniel’s response:

“…Then Daniel praised the God of heaven…”

See, the problem with us is that we let fear supersede our faith! But even in the midst of having his life at risk, Daniel stops to praise God first! He has a problem, God provides the solution, but before Daniel applies the solution, he praises God first! If that’s not how you’ve handled it in the past, handle it like that in the present and future!

Truth is we have to reach a place of trust, reliance, dependence, and faith in God where our circumstances don’t alter our praise! We need our situations, trials and struggles to see that we walk by faith, even when that walk takes us through the valleys of the shadows of death!

Daniel steps into the spiritual elevator that takes him from the basement of his circumstances to the penthouse of his awesome God! That elevator is called "Praise!" Now, you would think that finally receiving a solution to his problem would make him run to the king, but he had to praise his King first! And so do you!

In Daniel 2, beginning with verse 19, the Bible declares, "Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: "Praise is to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power is His. He changes the times and seasons and sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise...He reveals deep and hidden things...and light dwells with Him..."

See, Daniel rises from the basement of a dangerous and impossible situation to the penthouse view from the Throne Room of the Highest God! And everything looks different from there! Please know that as you rise higher on an elevator, what seemed so close and so big and so overwhelming (when you were on the same level as it), starts to shrink in size the higher you go up! The higher you go up, the smaller it gets, the higher you go up the further away from you it gets! This is why it’s so vital that you learn how to rise from low places! You realize that the size of the situation and the size of the need don't change the size of your God at all!

That is the power of praise - the elevator that takes you from the "basement" of earth-stuff to the "penthouse" of your awesome God! Daniel and his reinforcements, go from having their lives in danger to governing and administrating in the royal headquarters!

In the midst of danger, Daniel still paused to take a praise and thanks break! And so should you! Daniel could have complained, started to stress out, flip out and worry. Or do like many of us do, and try to design back-up plans just in case God doesn’t show up on our timetable! But no! His very life is in danger, and yet he doesn’t panic, he simply presses pause so he can give God praise!

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.org