WARNING – BIBLICAL LITERACY ALERT!!!
I was reading in Daniel last night and I have some questions/oberservations.
First – why is it that we afford Daniel the priviledge of his Hebrew name but when it comes to his friends – Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, we refer to them primarily with their Babylonian names – Shadrach, Mishach, and Abednego? Both sets of names are used in the book. Daniel’s Babylonian name was Belteshazzar but in my life I don’t think I’ve ever heard of him refered to that way by anyone (although the title of the book is Daniel which probably contributes to this).
Another observation: I love Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah’s response to the king when they are commanded to bow down to a golden statue:
"King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If the God we serve is able to deliver us, then he will deliver us from the blazing furnace and from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:16-18
Can you imagine if we were to pray this way for someone? Imagine praying "God, if you are able, please heal this person, but even if you do not we pray that you would find them faithful."
For those who do not like the TNIV’s translation of this section of Daniel a prayer modelled after translations such as NIV, NASB, KJV would still be: "God, you are able (or if you are willing), please heal this person, but even if you do not…"
Somehow we often treat our prayers like incantations and are worried that if we don’t get the wording exactly correct they will fail in some way; as though God were in our control in some way. The other fear is that people might think we lack faith if we use the world "if".
Ultimately Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah’s response to the king is not about their hope for God to save them so much as it is about their humble obedience to Him (and perhaps the awareness that He has already saved them).
Harnessing Chaos 
Funny, but that is how I tend to pray–with \’ifs\’ intact. I\’m willing to concede that my will might not be the Lord\’s will. It\’s all about trust. Do you trust God enough to believe in Him even if the whole world crumbles to pieces around you? (The lesson of Job!)
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I\’m with you on this! However I notice an unspoken peer pressure to avoid the \’ifs\’ as though that might cause doubt in the other. It is probably not real peer pressure but rather something manufactured in my self.
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Do you call her Esther or Hadassah? :op ;o) Jerub-Baal, Gideon. There are a few examples out there. The writers didn\’t seem to mind using the names interchangably. I think Belteshazzar would probably get easily confused with "Belshazzar," too.
The "if" thing in prayer also reminds me of Jesus\’s repeated prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane (i.e. Matthew 26:39-44).
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I think the \’if\’ in prayer is our humility before God. Gethsemane is a great example.
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