Daniel is one of my favorite books in the Bible.  Throughout the book we see Daniel and from time to time his three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego standing as fence posts established and sustained by God in a hostile land.  Understand that these four young men had just seen the strength of their homeland crushed by Babylon.  Because of who they were and the potential that they had, they were given the chance of a lifetime.  They were offered the opportunity to serve as officials to the great Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.  Power, wealth, women and every diversion that a young man could imagine would be within their reach if they would only play their cards right.  However, these particular young men had been with the Lord.  In verse eight of chapter one we are told that Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself.  Young men, we must make up our minds now not to defile ourselves. Later, in chapter ten we see Daniel praying and fasting and then being shown a vision.  Daniel was so shaken by the vision that he fell into a deep sleep with his face on the ground.  An angel caused Daniel to stand up and went on to speak some of my favorite verses to him.  Verses 10 and 11 of chapter 10 read:  "And he said to me, 'O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.'  And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.  Then he said to me, 'Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words."  From the first day that he set his heart on understanding and on humbling himself before God, his words were heard and an answer was given!  Don't miss that.  Daniel's life is one cohesive story of a man who set his heart on the Lord and made up his mind to follow Him.  Because of Daniel's obedience to God, both Nebuchadnezzar and Darius at the very least acknowledged Daniel's God as the one true God.

Daniel stood as God's man in Babylon for seventy plus years and looked the fury of kings in the face on a regular basis.  Look at Daniel's prayers and the prayers of his three friends.  First of all they were always praying.  Daniel confessed his own sin and interceded for other people.  Daniel and his friends looked to God to save their lives.  Daniel sought understanding and the fulfillment of promises from God.  Notice that Daniel does not just ask God to keep His Word to the Hebrews and end their captivity.  Instead, He acknowledges the reason for the captivity and asks forgiveness so that the peoples' hearts will be fertile ground for the promised blessing of deliverance.  Notice also that Daniel does not sit around with his friends talking about how hard it is to spend time praying and reading their Bibles (a subject that the modern American Christian seems to be very fond of discussing).  Even at a young age Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abe-nego were men.  Our world is dying for lack of men who have set their hearts on the Lord.  2 Chronicles 16:9 teaches us that the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.