In our study of Daniel 6 we are now looking at Daniel’s prayer life. Even though it is just one verse in our text it is packed full of information. That verse is Daniel 6:10.
10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
Last week we noted that Daniel prayed “when [he] knew that the document had been signed.” Daniel was not caught unawares, but knew the score. He realized that this was a test of his loyalty to God, his faith in God and his obedience to God. He knew that his life might be in danger.
Second, Daniel “went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.” We cannot be certain when the lions’ den episode occurred relative to Daniel’s intercession for Israel and Gabriel’s answer of the seventy sevens, in the first year of Darius (Dan. 9). But that information from Gabriel and Jeremiah’s prophecy may have influenced Daniel’s prayer “toward Jerusalem.” It is likely that this was his regular practice.
The direction of his prayer demonstrated his faith in God’s word, “declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish my purpose” (Isa. 46:10). Daniel believed that God’s prophecies would be fulfilled, that God was able to do what He had promised (Rom. 4:21).
Windows facing Jerusalem were a symbol of hope for return from exile. It was also the place of sacrifice even though there were sacrifices no longer being conducted. It represented Daniel’s hope in God’s promises, that they were about to be fulfilled.
Psalm 137 speaks of the heart-felt ties that the Jews felt towards Jerusalem:
1 By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
Faithful Jews in Babylon, although they had not been in Jerusalem for decades, “remembered Zion” (v. 1) and valued it as their “highest joy” (v. 6). Being separated from Zion made them “weep” (v. 1).
Although Jesus Christ would later emphasize that the place of worship is not nearly as important as truly spiritual worship (John 4:20-24), the inner worship of the heart, at this time Jerusalem was the center of God’s activity and worship.
Solomon had prayed at the dedication of the temple that if God’s people were ever exiled and then repented “with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and [prayed] to you toward their land” (1 Kings 8:48), then God would hear from heaven and forgive them and grant them compassion (vv. 49-50).
When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. (1 Kings 8:35-36)
Daniel knew the curse of exile was temporary. Moreover, he knew that since Babylon had now been conquered, the return was imminent. Daniel prayed, believing that God would keep His promises to Israel. Excitement rose within his heart!
Jerusalem was the place where God promised to place His name (1 Kings 8:29; 11:36; 2 Kings 23:27; 2 Chron. 33:4, 7; cf. Dan. 9:19), where His shekinah glory dwelt between the cherubim, over the mercy seat of the ark situated within the Holy of Holies in the temple. Praying toward the place where God had chosen to place his name (the temple in Jerusalem) is emphasized by repetition in Solomon’s prayer of dedication: 1 Kings 8:33, 38, 42, 44, 48; 2 Chron. 6:38. Later, Daniel begins his magnificent prayer of repentance in chapter 9, “Then I set my face toward the Lord God” (Dan. 9:3)—possibly another reference to praying in the direction of Jerusalem.
Even though this shekinah cloud had forsaken the temple prior to the Fall of Jerusalem in 587 (Ezek. 11:23), Daniel knew that the Lord had promised to return there (cf. Ezek. 43:2) and to restore Jerusalem (Jere. 29:10, 14). “The exiled Jews no longer had the temple and the priesthood, but God was still on the throne and would hear their cries for help” (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: OT Volume, p. 1365).
Smith summarizes the centrality of Jerusalem to Scripture and history:
“To no city on earth have such titles of glory and honor been divinely given; to no city has been such guilt attached as to it—this city which crucified our Lord. Of no city are such prophecies of tragedy and tribulation uttered; toward this city will the armies of the earth march in hatred of God’s peace. Toward that same city will nations move, seeking the law of the Lord; from that city will flow blessings to the whole earth. Satan hates this city. Christ wept over it. The Holy Spirit descended upon its believers [there]. The nations will be irresistibly drawn to it for war. Christ will there reign. And Heaven will bring to a glorious and eternal fulfillment all the promises relating to it” (Wilbur M. Smith, Israeli/Arab Conflict and the Bible, p. 163)
I think that Daniel knew that prayers make a difference. God is sovereign, but He has so designed that His sovereign will would be carried out (normally) by intermediate means—like prayer, preaching, witnessing, etc. Prayer really does make a difference.
In 1940 Vincent and Margaret Crossett were missionaries in Mainland China. They struggled against poverty and paganism in a remote village in order to tell others about Jesus. The work was very slow and difficult, but after much sacrifice a small church was established. The church was no larger than a small Bible study group. Right on the threshold of this small triumph for the kingdom of God, Satan began his work. The Communist takeover of China during the Cultural Revolution forced all missionaries to leave China.
The Crossetts hated to leave. Their fledgling flock of believers hardly seemed ready to withstand the coming onslaught. An atheistic, dictatorial government dedicated to wiping out all Christian influence was beginning its rule with ruthless power. How could the little church survive? From the world’s perspective there was nothing anyone could do. The church seemed destined to die. But Vincent and Margaret did not see through the world’s eyes. They saw through the eyes of faith that their God was faithful to those who honor him. The Crossetts…continued to do their duty. Though the missionaries were chased out, their prayers were not. For nearly forty years the Crosetts daily kept their prayer window opened toward China. They dutifully prayed in faith that God would one day triumph over Communism. The Crosetts heard nothing of their Chinese friends for forty years, but still they faithfully prayed for God to be victorious in the church they had left behind.
Finally the walls of China came down. As the political climate changed, the nation was opened to western visitors. The Crossetts returned to the village where they had left the tiny, straggling group of believers. There was no small church in the village anymore! Instead, from that Bible study had grown a church of four thousand people! This body of believers had planted dozens of other churches as well, each with a membership of at least a thousand. All the Crossetts did was pray with their prayer window open to the focus of their prayer — China. The God of Daniel is alive and well. (Rodney Storz, Daniel: The Triumph of God’s Kingdom).
But I don’t believe Daniel was only praying for his own people and their return to Jerusalem. Following Jeremiah’s encouragement, he would be praying for his king and the kingdom in which he was now living, in Babylon under the Medo-Persian king. Jeremiah had specifically said, “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jere. 29:7).
Likewise, we are to pray for our own country and its leaders. Paul tells Timothy, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, (1 Tim. 2:1-3).
Also, Daniel wasn’t trying to be conspicuous by praying with his windows open. Remember that these windows were situated up high and were small. Daniel wasn’t trying to show off his spirituality, even for the sake of being a good witness. He wasn’t doing his righteousness to be seen by men (Matt. 6:1-18). He was just doing what he normally did (and these men likely knew this because they had seen him do it before).
They must have situated themselves at a vantage point to be able to see Daniel at his window praying to God.
Third, facing Jerusalem in his upper room, Daniel “got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.” During one of those previous times, Daniel had received the revelation of the seventy weeks (Dan. 9:1-3, 20-27), a revelation that would have strengthened his resolve during exile. While his own life may be in danger, he knew that succeeding generations would be able to return to the land.
“As he had done previously” or “as was his custom,” shows that Daniel did not alter his behavior after finding out about the royal injunction. This was his habitual practice. He is not flaunting his rebellion in the face of the king’s orders; it is just his business as usual, his standard operating procedure, his habitual practice of the discipline of prayer. He didn’t just start praying at this time to show off to others or to exhibit his rebellion. That was not his intention. He didn’t start praying because now his life was in danger. That was not his fear.
Daniel habitually prayed three times a day. There are not many of us who pray every day, let alone three times a day. But Daniel did not interrupt that pattern just because his life may be in jeopardy.
It is vital for us to establish a daily time for prayer and to be serious about it. Paul encourages us to “pray without ceasing,” which must mean that we carry a spirit of prayer with us throughout our daily activities. But few will do that who do not start by making prayer an intentional practice at some regular time several days a week if not every day of the week.
You may wonder how to pray. There are a variety of prayer acronyms that help, such as ACTS. The A stand for adoration, worshiping God by proclaiming that “there is none like You” or expanding on his attributes (grace, goodness, holiness, majesty, etc.) The C stand for confession of our sins, just admitting the things we have done—ether by commission or omission—that have broken God’s laws, in our actions, words, thoughts, desires or motivations. The T stands for thanksgiving, remembering to thank God for answered prayers, for the spiritual blessings we have in Christ and for all the blessings He has so richly bestowed upon us. The S stands for supplication, asking God for His supply, His strength, His grace, His forgiveness, just anything that we need.
If you need help learning how to pray, the best help you can get is from the prayer book of Israel, the book of Psalms. There you can learn language for expressing your desires towards God, even expressing your doubts, fears and anxieties.
The words to “kneel,” “pray” and “give thanks” in verse 10 are all participles, indicating continuous action. “Even his visit in the den of lions would not have interrupted the practice, because he was there for only one night; and he probably prayed then even more than ordinary” (Leon Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, p. 163). I think we would have!
“Observe, it is not said that he opened his windows; it is quite the contrary, ‘His windows being open;’—to shut them now would be cowardice; whereas to have opened them, if he had previously been in the habit of keeping them closed, would have been to court persecution,—a foolhardy thing, which the child of God is never called upon to do” (Harry Ironside, Lectures on the Prophet Daniel, p. 102).
Others perhaps considered it risky for Daniel to pray as was his custom. But Daniel knew that the safest thing he could do was radically obey God.
David Guzik reminds us: “It isn’t hard to see why people are men-pleasers; it seems as if people have the power to hire or fire us, to break our hearts, to slander us, to make our lives generally miserable. The power to obey God and stand for Him comes from a settled understanding that God is really in control.”
We don’t know how long Daniel had been practicing such prayerful devotion, but it is reasonable to assume he had maintained such a practice throughout his decades in Babylon. No matter what ruler he served, no matter what empire was in power, no matter what rank he held, no matter how many friends or enemies he made, no matter how acceptable or risky his devotion, Daniel was a man of prayer and he would continue praying. Prayer was his lifeline. It was one of the factors that kept him faithful to God even in exile.
Daniel could have given himself some excuses to stop praying for the time being. He could have gotten busy in his schedule, or “needed” some extra sleep. He could have prayed only twice that day. After all, he was an old man!
There was once a sign over the desk of a retirement center chaplain that read, “If you are too busy to pray, then you are too busy.”
It is so important to be faithful in prayer, especially as leaders of a church to pray for the church. We dare not be lax in praying, for Satan is not lazy in his attacks! And it is important for the people of the church to be praying to its leaders. Leaders who are not prayed for will be preyed upon!
Charles Spurgeon, the 19th century English preacher, was known as the “Prince of Preachers.” It is not at exaggeration to say that thousands came to Christ through His preaching. A group of young ministers came one day to visit his church. After showing them the massive sanctuary, Spurgeon offered to show them his “boiler room.” The guests were not interested at all because boiler rooms were not pleasant places to visit. They were hot and dirty; usually located down in the basement. In Spurgeon’s time, steam was the power source of the day; boiler rooms were the powerhouses, the driving forces of everything. Spurgeon led the young ministers down to the basement where they found about one hundred people in prayer. “This,” Spurgeon said with a smile, “is my boiler room.” Whenever Spurgeon was asked the secret of his ministry he always replied, “My people pray for me.”
“Prayer is the greatest of all forces, because it honours God and brings Him into active aid” says E. M. Bounds. Daniel looked at the promises of God and asked God to act on those promises. You and I can do the same today.
Grace Still Amazes 