“…Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, …he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before His God, as he did previously.” Daniel 6:10
Dear Ones:
In the story of Daniel and the lion’s den, we see Daniel as an older man, who had been through many trials and difficulties in his life. Along the way, he learned something that was imperative, which was an essential reason for which “…he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.” (6:4) Here is a man who had been taken from the land of Israel, made to serve in the court of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It is evident that Daniel was a man of faith, even at the beginning of his arrival in Babylon, as he made up his mind that he would “…not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.” (1:9) He did this at his own peril, as he defied the kings orders in this regard. The Lord met him, delivered him, and brought him into favor, not only with the “prince of the eunuchs,” who had the responsibility for him, but also, with the king himself, who found him, and others like him, to be far superior to those who had not taken such a position. Daniel faithfully served God in the courts of the kings which he served, until he came, in his later years to serve Darius the Mede. It is at this time that opposition to Daniel, from others in the court in which he served, arose to the point of having him thrown into a den of lions. Facing such a fate, and having been wrongly accused with regard to his loyalty to the king, his “enemies” deceived the king to sign an edict declaring that anyone “…asking a petition of any God or man for thirty days,” other than of the king, should be thrown into the den of lions. Upon hearing of this edict, and the fact that the king signed it, Daniel went to his house, and with windows open towards Jerusalem, he would kneel upon his knees, and pray three times a day, giving thanks before his God. (6:10) Why? Why would Daniel risk death in order to pray, and this, three times a day?
The first thing we see in answer to these questions, is that Daniel chose to live for the eternal, specifically, God, rather than time, and the approval of men. He made this choice very early in his life. The worth, or value, of such an endeavor and pursuit, outweighed life itself. To KNOW God, and consequently, to serve Him, was of supreme importance to him.
Secondly, we discover that he learned that in order to consistently LIVE and SERVE in a “foreign” land, and court, as a servant to different kings, he would of necessity need to meet God, or rather, be met BY God daily. We find that Daniel was not only a student of the Scriptures, as he studied the writings of Jeremiah,(9:2) but he became a man of prayer, regular, disciplined prayer. He learned that in order to know God, wherever one may be, regardless of circumstances or times, consistent prayer was essential to faith. In Luke’s gospel, we read of the same truth: “…men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (18:1) Daniel is solidly steady, and unmoved, by the wave of opposition to him and his faithfulness, because God meets him in answer to prayer. He will not live a life without prayer, depriving him of the blessing of the revelation of God to his heart.
There is a third reason for which Daniel would be faithful, and disciplined to pray. It had to do with his testimony of faith in His God, his consequent faithfulness to the king, and above all, God’s faithfulness to him. The whole nation, indeed the whole earth, would hear of this testimony by the written declaration of King Darius.
Dear Father, You who have given us this Spirit of discipline of the Lord Jesus, strengthen us to pray and to pray well. Then we shall see Your work, intervention, for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad