Sermon Conversation Questions
Living as Exiles: Daniel 6 07/02/23
STARTER: Growing up, what prayers do you remember saying? Who taught you to pray?
SCRIPTURE: Daniel 6:1-28 (ESV)
Due to the length of this passage, please consult your print Bible or Bible app.
DISCUSSION:
1) In vv. 1-5, what stirs up the jealousy of Daniel’s colleagues? Where is this special investigative unit forced to turn?
- Has your private life ever created an issue for you in your workplace or another public forum?
2) The proposed edict of v. 7 may have seemed like good policy at a time of establishing a new regime, but it also is an appeal to ego. Why are appeals to vanity so powerful? As a Christian, what have you found to be effective ways to subdue tendencies toward vanity?
3) In v. 10 Daniel does not stop his routine of prayer but prayed “as he had done previously.” What regular practices are part of your spiritual habits? What practices do you wish could become habits?
4) If you were Daniel, how would you have responded to King Darius’ decree?
- Prayed aloud at home with windows wide open
- Prayed aloud at home with windows closed and doors locked
- Prayed silently
- Obeyed the decree and taken a 30 day break from praying
- Organized a protest
What do you think of the idea that Daniel’s faithfulness to pray on is no less a miracle than God shutting the mouths of the lions?
5) In vv. 14-20 the author gives lots of attention to the king’s anguish over Daniel, while Daniel gets only one quotation, and there is no description of what he was experiencing. Why might the author be taking this approach – what’s a possible message in that?
6) How do you reconcile what Daniel did with Romans 13:1 (Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.)? How does Daniel’s example (both his government service and his defiance) speak to the Church today regarding compliance with governmental decrees?
7) If you have ever experienced judgement or rescue as a result of a faith-based decision you have made, share that with the group.
- What have you found helpful in being able to stand up for what’s right? (e.g. supportive family/friends, church engagement, prayer, Bible study, etc.)
8) In what ways do the parallels between Daniel and Jesus help your faith, if at all? For example, set up/betrayal, a blameless one condemned, a stone over the “tomb”, morning release, coming through alive.
9) What else from the sermon or the passage above would you like to comment on or ask about?
10) Reflecting on the Scripture, what will you do to move forward in obedience to it? What is your next practical step? Can this group help you in some way?