When we are faced with challenges, our prayers often become more about God removing the fire from us rather than getting us through the fire. It might sound like semantics, but there is a very real difference.
In the book of Daniel, we are presented with three very young men who refused to bow down to the ungodly laws and customs of the culture around them. Instead they entrusted themselves to God knowing full well it could mean death, and death by a fiery furnace. When that threat of death became a reality, they didn't try to negotiate or barter for their lives. They doubled down on their faith and declared that they would still serve God. They believed that He would deliver them, but it was what they said to the king that sets their faith apart. They told the king that even if God didn't save them from death, they would still continue to serve the one true God.
As it turns out, God did not save them from the flames, at least, not right away. Instead, God saved them through the flames, and the three young men walked out unharmed and with a remarkable, powerful, culture-changing testimony of the power of God in the face of an ungodly kingdom.
