Fear is a Liar2 Chronicles 7:14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.A Believers Guide to Persecution1.Expect it (Jesus got it we will too)2.Discomfort isn’t persecution (Pray for the persecuted church)3.Pray for your enemies. Daniel is often in trouble for trying to live a holy life. Salvation is free but not cheap. Jesus paid for it with his lifeWe accept salvation that’s freeBut we have to give up everything. Whatever feels right.Wherever your heart will take you. (Good people do horrible things)Daniel’s Life Summarized1.Exiled slave becomes ruler2.Miracles are done, dreams interpreted, friends escape execution, serves 3 kings and sees the writing of the hand of God. What the angel tells Daniel.How do we apply Daniel1.Replace Fear with Faith.a.Its not enough to get rid of fear. (Providence)b.God rules over everything he directs the path of history and future. 2.Be Humble (Give God credit)3.Have Courage to tell Hard Truths4.Ask forgiveness for your people/ nation Daniel 9:1-19 5.Respectful Defiance for the Truth of God6.Pray Hard and Consistently 9 It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians.[a] 2 During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.[b] 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:“O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. 5 But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. 6 We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our Presidents and Leaders and ancestors and to all the people of the land.7 “Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Hamilton County and Indiana all of the United States divided near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you. 8 O Lord, we and our Presidents, Leaders, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. 10 We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 Our country has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice.“So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin. 12 You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth.14 Therefore, the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him.15 “O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness. 16 In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock us and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.17 “O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.18 “O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.19 “O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name.”