BY: Nathanael Ballew
DATE: Sunday 9 June 2024
‘BIBLE PASSAGES: Read online
Daniel 6:10-16 (Daniel 4 & 5)
EXCERPT:
What are you like under pressure? Do you thrive on the adrenaline, or do you buckle under the weight? Each of us is different in times of real pressure, for a whole variety of reasons. But one thing is sure – if you know the outcome, it changes how you see the situation. Daniel faced a choice. He could have acted to avoid the pressure. But instead, he chose the path of immense pressure, all because he knew who was fighting with him. That changes everything
“Faith is refusal to panic” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
BIBLE STUDY QUESTIONS
Each week there are TWO different sets of questions for you to use, whether you are exploring the Bible within your Connect Group, in other group settings, or simply using them on your own.
A | DISCUSSION STARTERS
These are simple questions to provoke discussion together out of the talk (ideal if you are watching our Sunday Service online with others in your group):
1 | Was there anything that particularly helped you during the talk?
2 | Was there anything that you didn’t necessarily agree with, or found difficult to understand in the talk?
3 | As a result of the talk, what:
3a. Changes do you want to see?
3b. Truths do you need to remember?
3c. Actions do you need to take?
B | QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE
These are questions that are based on the talk and the surrounding themes:
Read Daniel 6:10-16
- What are you like under pressure? Do you thrive on the adrenaline, or do you buckle under the weight?
- How did Daniel’s behaviour change after Darius’ decree?
- Read Daniel 6:13 again. How did the men twist the truth?
- Why was the king so distressed?
- How many parallels can you think of between this story and the Easter story?
- Which sounds more dangerous? Missing our prayer time or being thrown into a lions den?
- In his talk on Sunday, Nathanael quoted Roland Wallace, ‘There is no doubt that what kept Daniel when his trial came was this rigid uninterrupted habit. He had disciplined himself to it day by day for years, and at the hour of crisis the very momentum of the custom itself would have been enough to keep him faithful to it, even if there had been at that moment no living inspirational incentive.’ What do you make of this?
- Can you share the story of a current day or recent Christian who showed an incredible response to pressure?
- Pray that God shows us which habits we can institute now, that will help us when the pressures of life come.
As you explore these questions, pray for one another to deepen and develop your relationship with Jesus.
