Pray for insight, then read Daniel 2:13-18. Who was Arioch?
“He was the commander of the king’s guard.”
How does verse 14 describe Daniel’s approach to Arioch?
“He spoke with wisdom and tact.”
How does Daniel’s approach to Arioch show tact?
“Daniel somehow manages to get him to talk before acting, and they have a calm, reasonable discourse.”
I’ve been told by waiters that people coming into restaurants for Sunday lunch after church are some of the rudest and worst tipping customers they have. Why in the world would we risk the reputation of Christ that way? 
Let’s be really candid. When was the last time you wanted to respond to someone with rudeness?
“I think it was while driving. I rarely get really angry, but I am guilty of breaking Jesus’ name-calling rule – to myself, not to their faces.”
Leaving a bad taste for Christianity in their mouths is deadly. 
Based on the definition ‘to taste, to form an opinion of something based on its flavor,’ how does Colossians 4:6 perfectly describe Daniel’s tact?
“Words with the right amount of tact are like food seasoned with the right amount of salt.”
Take a look at verse 18. What were they spent doing?
“in prayer, pleading with God for divine help”
What does the deliberate repetition of plead say to us if we want to become like Daniel?
“Pleading is an acceptable and encouraged part of prayer.”
No, picture of the prayer meeting between Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Take a moment and describe how you imagine it.
“I imagine it was intense; after all, their lives and others’ lives, depended on it. They probably began full of stress, with their stress evident in every fervent word. They poured out their hearts in their pleas. Then as they closed, they felt exhausted, but also reassured, comforted and secure in God’s hands.”
Beloved, do you have a Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah with whom to pray at your most urgent moments?
“This year they are Patty, Jenny, and Evee, and now Tracy and Suzanne.”
What was the occasion of your most urgent prayer with them?
“Probably today as I anxiously prepare to go to Macomb tomorrow to present my memories.”
Dearest Rachel –
I realize it’s been twelve or thirteen years since you wrote these answers down, but I confess to not recognizing any of the names of your prayer partners at this time now. Then again, people do come and go within the church (including yourself, however involuntarily), so these ladies may not even be around anymore, for one reason or another. Still, I would have expected that, if they were as close to you as Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were to Daniel, they would have been familiar to me at the time, and the names are just not ringing any bells.
On the other hand, I do recall your mission to Macomb. Then again, if this was your initial presentation of your testimony to your folks, I may not recall this specific trip; you would visit your folks faithfully for a week every month for those last five to ten years, and you persisted with your attempts to bring them to a confession of faith (which they seemed resistant to do; you would think that an actual believer would not hesitate to affirm their belief, and only be offended – or embarrassed – by the fact that their own daughter didn’t see the evidence of Christ in their lives), so I may have forgotten when your first trip down there to do this happened, allowing them all to blend together. And indeed, any one of them would have merited prayer, given what you were hoping to accomplish (or at least confirm) with your folks. Pity you never managed to do so personally, though; while it’s true that the convicting work is done through the Holy Spirit, it would have been nice to have been there to see it happen.
There’s not much more for me to add to this particular installment, honey. The topic of your folks’ salvation has been addressed so many times in the past, and with them gone before you, it is past altering at this point – and you know how it ended up one way or another better than I do. As for the others you wanted to see where you are, well… I’m not pushing any of them like I used to, as I know I could give offense. There’s no point in trying to change hearts when they’re clearly too hard to hear for the moment; whether they will soften in the future remains to be seen.
With that being said, though, perhaps you ought to keep an eye on those people more than myself for the time being, honey. I won’t say to “wish them luck,” however – they might need something else to get their attention, though. Maybe you would know what it is that they need – certainly better than I – and you could ask it be bestowed upon them with more tact than I, as well.
Letters to Rachel 