Tag: prayer

Over the last two weeks we’ve been examining Daniel’s courageous devotion in Daniel 6:10.  In this verse, although Daniel knew the consequences, he continued to pray to God as was his normal habit.

That verse reports:

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.

We’ve observed so far that (1) Daniel did this knowingly (“when Daniel knew…”), (2) Daniel did this obediently (“toward Jerusalem), and (3) Daniel did this habitually (“as he had done previously”).

Fourth, Daniel prayed humbly before God.  Daniel fell to his knees.  Again, verse 10 says “He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.”  There are many biblical postures for prayer: including standing, lifting hands, sitting, kneeling, bowing, and lying prostrate.  While no specific posture is mandated, these physical positions often reflect the heart’s attitude towards God and are thus chosen to reflect that attitude. That he “kept on kneeling” (a participle in Aramaic), of course, provided his antagonistic observers with an unmistakable indication of what he was doing. 

This must have been Daniel’s normal practice.  If he had stood to pray, maybe his enemies would not have been able to tell he was praying.

But why did Daniel kneel?  Well, kneeling, in particular, indicates humility, recognizing that we are in the presence of greatness that should be feared and revered.  It also indicates submission to that authority.  And it also expresses neediness and dependence upon the generosity of that king.  We are in the presence of a King who may or may not choose to grant our petition.  Whether he does may depend upon our humble attitude.

Eugene Peterson writes: “The physical act of bowing “my knees before the Father” (Eph. 3:14) is an act of reverence.  It is also an act of voluntary defenselessness.  While on my knees I cannot run away.  I cannot assert myself.  I place myself in a position of willed submission, vulnerable to the will of the person before whom I am bowing…I become less so that I can be aware of more” (Experiencing Resurrection, p. 154).  This “more,” of course, is the moreness, the greatness of the One to whom we are directing our prayers, who can do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,” according to Paul in Ephesians 3:20.

Do you view Him as a great and all-powerful and fearsome Potentate, One who with one word could extinguish your life or grant your petition?  Or do you perceive Him as a doting grandfather bound to give us whatever we ask?  When we see the elders in heaven worshipping God in Revelation, we read, “the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever,” after casting their crowns before him they cry out.

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they existed and were created.”

We shouldn’t rush into God’s presence and spout out our wishes as if he were a vending machine, but humbly bow before him in honor and reverence as the King of kings and Lord of lords, as the blessed and only Potentate, the Creator of heaven and earth, the majestic, glorious God of heaven.

“Our culture does not help us to smash our graven image of the casual god.  Our culture proclaims that God must be the essence of tolerance; He is chummy rather than holy; the ‘man upstairs’ rather than my Father for Jesus’ sake.  So long as our novelty license plates declare that “God is my co-pilot’ we can be sure that we have not yet seen the King, Yahweh of hosts” (Dale Ralph David, 1 Samuel, pp. 67-68).

Daniel’s kneeling posture, reminiscent of Solomon’s at the temple dedication, indicated his absolute dependence on Yahweh as a supplicant.  Normally the Jews stood when they prayed (cf. 1 Chron. 23:30; Neh. 9; Matt. 6:5; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11, 13), but they kneeled—and sometimes prayed with their faces on the ground—when they felt a more urgent need for Yahweh’s help (cf. 1 Kings 8:54; Ezra 9:5; Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60; 9:40; 20:36; 21:5).

Although Scripture records prayers offered in a variety of positions, the condition of the heart should always be that of humility (Luke 18:13) and it is the condition of the heart that is of utmost importance.  Quoting Isaiah 29:13 Jesus said of the religious leaders of his day “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt. 15:8).  We see the difference between the proud Pharisee and the penitent tax-collector in Luke 18:9-14.

We see in the next verse that Daniel is “asking God for help” (v. 11).  Likely, he is turning to God for aid because he anticipates trouble from the decree.  He knew that violating it could mean that his life was in danger.  Whether he asked for deliverance or for the strength to withstand death or to understand God’s ways, he was crying out to God for “help.”

Fifth, Daniel prayed thankfully.  Daniel mixed prayers for “help” (v. 11), with giving “thanks” (v. 10) and the form of the word means he “kept on praising.”  He not only kept on asking God for His intervention (cf. Matt. 7:7-8), but kept on thanking him for answering his prayers.  All this while being served as Cat Chow to some hungry lions!    He has the confidence that God would answer his prayers for deliverance, or if not, to usher him into glory.  No matter what, he was grateful to God for His presence and help.

There is always something to be thankful for.  Tom Felton, in Our Daily Bread, November 30, 2024, writes:

Raw fish and rainwater.  An Australian sailor named Timothy survived on only those provisions for three months.  Marooned on his storm-damaged catamaran, he was losing hope—bobbing 1,200 miles from land in the Pacific Ocean.  But then the crew of a Mexican tuna boat spotted his ailing boat and rescued him.  Later, the thin and weather-beaten man declared, “To the captain and fishing company that saved my life, I’m just so grateful!”

Here’s another illustration:

Ravensbruck was known as one of the worst German concentration camps during World War II.  When Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie found themselves imprisoned there, they were disgusted to discover that their barracks were infested with fleas.

When Corrie began to complain, Betsie insisted that they instead give thanks, quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  With some persuasion, Corrie finally joined her sister in thanking God for the fleas.  By the way, it was because of the fleas that the sisters and their inmates were able to have a Bible study and prayer time uninterrupted by German guards.

As the apostle Paul wrote, may God help us “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  We love to give thanks when God gives, not so much when He takes away.  We need to learn to do both.

Now understand, we don’t give God thanks for all things.  Not everything that happens to us or our loved ones is good.  But we can still give thanks in all things, in the midst of going through even the bad times.  Why?  Because we know that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  Again, not all things are good, but all things—both good and bad—God works together for our good and for His glory.

Maybe Daniel praised the God of heaven for his many years of service, for the visions God had given him of the future, and even for preserving his soul even if his body were to be eaten up by lions.  He recognized that not all of God’s answers to prayer arrive in this life, to preserve our physical well-being.  There are even greater answers to come!

Perhaps he thanked God, that being a eunuch, he didn’t have a wife and six kids to leave widowed and orphaned.  I’m pretty sure he thanked God he didn’t have to face the lions alone.  One of the most common things believers say to me at times of bereavement or great trial is, “I don’t know how anyone could face this without the Lord.”  Daniel didn’t have to. 

Spurgeon wisely says, “Prayer and praise should always go up to heaven arm in arm, like twin angels walking up Jacob’s ladder, or like kindred aspirations soaring up to the Most High.”

We must remember that God doesn’t always promise to keep us out of trials, but often to walk with us through the trials (cf. Isa. 43:2).  While Daniel could have prayed for his enemies eyes to be blinded from his practice of prayer, the way God was answering was something even better—being preserved through the trial of being served as cat food.

We know that offering our prayers up to God with thanksgiving is a key factor in helping us overcome the anxieties of our hearts (Phil. 4:6-7).

Daniel certainly had a copy of Jeremiah’s prophecies (cf. Dan. 9:1-2) and he was gladly thanking God for fulfilling His promise to return His people from exile.  Jeremiah had written that God had promised to hear such prayers—if they were sincere and wholehearted—to restore the fortunes of the Jews, and to re-gather them to the Promised Land (Jer. 29:10-14).

Cyrus issued his decree allowing the Jews to return from exile in 538 B.C. (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4).  The events of Daniel 6 must have happened just before or shortly after this great turning point in Israel’s history.  The events recorded in this chapter may even have played some part in Cyrus’ decision to favor the Jews.

Sixth, Daniel prayed “three times a day,” knowing that though a little prayer is good, much prayer is far better.  Praying three times a day was evidently the practice of godly Jews dating back to David, if not before then (cf. Ps. 55:16-17).  Morning and evening prayers may now have been considered an expedient substitute for morning and evening sacrifice—no longer possible while the temple stood in ruins.

Charles Spurgeon clarifies, “That does not tell you how often he prayed, but how often he was in the posture of prayer.  Doubtless he prayed 300 times a day if necessary – his heart was always having commerce with the skies; but thrice a day he prayed formally.”

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse positive homage to the image of the world power (ch. 3); Daniel will not yield it even a negative homage, by omitting for a time the worship of God (ch. 6)” (Jamieson, Robert; A. R. Fausset; and David Brown. Commentary Practical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, p. 738).  It is much easier for us to refuse to bow down to this world’s idols than it is to positively engage in the worship of God consistently.  It is easier to say “No” to the negative on an infrequent basis than “Yes” to the positive as a daily practice.  It is easier to deny ourselves once than to engage ourselves over and over again in the same positive practice.

David Jeremiah says that the key to Daniel’s life is contained in one verse that is profound in its simplicity.  It is the last verse of Daniel 1 in the King James Version and simply says, “And Daniel continued…”  No matter what his age, from teenager to senior citizen, Daniel continued constantly.  He made certain things a disciplined habit in his life, such as prayer and the study of the Hebrew Scriptures.  You and I would do well to imitate his consistency in spiritual disciplines.

“While Daniel’s consistency of life and testimony has been evident throughout the book of Daniel, here we learn the inner secret.  In spite of the pressures of being a busy executive with many demands upon his time, Daniel had retired to his house three times a day to offer his prayers for the peace of Jerusalem as well as for his personal needs.  This was not the act of a person courting martyrdom but the continuation of a faithful ministry in prayer which had characterized his long life” (John Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, p. 138)

Spending time in God’s Word and prayer, although it requires you to take away time from other busy pursuits, is your lifeline.  When you encounter personal attacks or trials and tribulation in life, if you have not strengthened your spirit through regular interaction with God’s life-giving Word and interaction with your Father in prayer, you will fail or quit.

I would not be the pastor of Grace Bible Church today if I had not regularly read God’s Word and prayed with and been prayed for by a group of people from Grace Bible Church.  I would surely have quit, not being willing to continue under the stress and pressure of conflict in the ministry.

“It is a common observation that those who have no regular habits of prayer very seldom do much praying.  It is well for God’s people purposefully and deliberately to set aside and faithfully adhere to a definite prayer schedule.  Prayer is thus recognized as a [sic] important part of the Christian life and given the place which it deserves” (D. Edmond Hiebert, Working with God: Scriptural Studies in Intercession, p. 110).

There was never a better time not to “pray three times a day” or to pray silently and privately.  While we may have been tempted to adjust our routine to adapt to this new decree, Daniel did not.

After all, a person can pray anywhere, right?  A person can pray with his eyes open.  A person can pray with the door shut (or the window shut).  Daniel could have simply gone to bed and shut his eyes and prayed silently before sleeping.  He could have reserved all his prayers for the dark of nighttime.  Surely I can skip a few days, right?  Just think of all the excuses which we would probably opt for…but Daniel did not.

Even if no one else could observe his compromise, he would know.  And, of course, God would know.  Daniel understood that pragmatism and flexibility are often effective tools of temptation employed by the devil and empowered by our own rationalizations.  To his credit, Daniel chose principle over pragmatism.

James 4:17 reminds us, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Any alteration in Daniel’s known habitual practice in the worship of God would have testified of his willingness to please men rather than God, fearing the censure of men over fearing the disapproval of God.

Finally, notice that Daniel is alone here.  Previously, in chapters 1 and 2, he had the camaraderie of his three friends.  While he was definitely the leader, they had been supportive friends and had been there for him.  Now, likely because they had passed away earlier, they were no longer with Daniel.

It is harder to stand alone.  Isn’t it?  We gain strength from having friends around us, as Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12…

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Oh how precious are friends in the faith who will stand with us when we face the lions.  This makes me appreciate Daniel even more, because he didn’t benefit from that supportive network of friends and depended upon God alone in this situation.

And God promises that He will be there, even if no one else stands with us.  “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” he say (Heb. 13:5).  So the writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Paul reflected upon his own (near) loneliness (Luke was with him) in 2 Timothy 4.  So he says “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!  But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me…” (2 Tim 4:16-17a).

The statement “One man with God is always in the majority…” is attributed to the Scots religious reformer John Knox.   The idea is that in the face of insurmountable odds, even if you only have God on your side, you will prevail.  Danel believed that.

Conclusion:

“The most important part of a believer’s life is the part that only God sees, our daily private time of meditation and prayer.  ‘You pray as your face is set,’ said British theologian P. T. Forsythe, ‘towards Jerusalem or Babylon.’  Most of the world begins the day looking toward the world and hoping to get something from it, but the Christian believer looks to the Lord and His promises and enters each new day by faith.  Outlook determines outcome, and when we look to the Lord for His guidance and help each day, we know that the outcome is in His hands and we have nothing to fear.  ‘Real true faith is man’s weakness leaning on God’s strength,’ said D. L. Moody, and we might add, man’s weakness transformed into God’s strength (Heb. 11:34), (Warren Wiersbe, Weirsbe Bible Commentary: OT Volume, p. 1366).

Daniel’s contemporary, Ezekiel, places Daniel in the same circle as Noah and Job, great intercessors (Ezekiel 14:14, 20).  We will get to hear another of Daniel’s prayers in chapter 9.

Daniel found himself in the position many Christians have faced throughout history: having to distinguish between sin and crime.  The culture had now legalized sin and criminalized righteous behavior.  They were calling good evil and evil good (Isa. 5:20).

Bob Deffinbaugh comments:  A friend of mine once remarked, “A lot of crimes are not sins, and a lot of sins are not crimes.”  Our text indicates he was absolutely right.  In the sixth chapter of Daniel, this righteous man is convicted of a crime which is not a sin. Daniel purposefully committed this crime because he did not wish to commit a sin, which was not a crime. (Deffinbaugh, Daniel: Relating Prophecy to Piety).

Today abortion is not a crime, but protesting at an abortion clinic is.  However, abortion is a sin, and protesting is a righteous, life-affirming action.

Daniel rightly understood this as an issue of faithfulness to God’s higher law and chose to walk the difficult path of civil disobedience.

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 19^th 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.

Daniel has proven himself to be completely faithful in his public life.  We’ve seen that in the first four verses of Daniel 6.  Those who sought to destroy Daniel’s credibility could find nothing in his work life to accuse him.  He was completely faithful.  There was neither corruption nor negligence.  He didn’t do things which cost his king nor did he fail to do those things which would bring kingdom success.

This must have really frustrated these political leaders.  Daniel, a foreigner, a Jew, had been promoted above them.  They couldn’t stand him, so they plotted against him.  But they couldn’t find any “dirt” on him.  There were no skeletons in his closet.  He was “clean as a whistle.”

The conclusion of those who sought to destroy Daniel was “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless…unless we find it in connection with the law of his God” (Dan. 6:5).  So they finagle their way to get Daniel in trouble by encouraging King Darius to make a law that no one should pray to anyone other than Darius himself for the next 30 days (Dan. 6:6-9).

If we cannot find anything in Daniel’s public work life to bring him down, we will use his private religious convictions against him.

6 Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement[a] to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction.

That law then became public knowledge.  And, of course, Daniel knew about it as well.  His response is detailed in this next verses.  Although he could possibly lose his life, he boldly stood up for his convictions.  Knowing that the edict meant he should not be praying to anyone except for Darius, knowing that this edict was irrevocable, and knowing that it could cost him his life, he continued to pray to his God.

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.

What a wonderful passage of Scripture!  What a daring response of faith by Daniel!

Of course, we know the rest of the story: Daniel will keep praying and be thrown into the lion’s den, BUT God will rescue him.

But Daniel doesn’t know that yet.  With no guarantee of a miraculous deliverance from God’s mouth, Daniel just does what he knows to do…keep obeying God.

Here we see Daniel’s bravery and faithfulness to God.  That Daniel was a praying man, we’ve seen throughout the book of Daniel (Dan. 2:17-18; 6:10; 9:3ff; 10:12).  So, he didn’t allow even the possibility of being thrown to the lions to keep him from his normal practice of praying three times a day.  David wrote of praying three times a day as well (Ps. 55:17-18). Of course, this isn’t a rule. The psalmist also says that he prays “seven times” a day (Ps. 119:164).

It does, however, make us examine our own prayer lives.  We know that we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).  Yet how often do we find ourselves going through most of the day without even uttering a single prayer to God?  Most of us are very conscious that our prayer lives languish and are lacking in both frequency and fervor.  There is much that we can learn from Daniel here.

What does it take to keep us from praying?  Certainly no edict from man is required to lessen our prayer lives.  Instead, our own business, opportunities for company or leisure or hobbies are enough to occupy our time and attention.

Unlike Daniel, we don’t need to fear that our lives might be in danger because we continue praying to God.  In fact, an article in the Journal of Religious Health, July 29, 2023 found that among those with chronic illnesses those who prayed on a daily basis or more were significantly more likely to survive over 6 years compared with those who prayed less often.  Just imagine how healthy we would be if we prayed three times a day, or “without ceasing”?

Daniel did not lessen his practice, nor did he hide his practice, but, as usual, opened up his windows to the west, towards Jerusalem, and thus anyone could see him.  However, windows in ancient Near Eastern cities were normally small, high, and had a lattice covering, so Daniel was probably not praying with his window open in order to be seen by others (Joyce G. Baldwin, Daniel, An Introduction and Commentary, p. 129).  Jesus reminds us not to practice our righteousness in order to be seen in Matthew 6:1-18).  If we do that, Jesus says, we will be paid in full by the recognition and praise of men.  Whereas, if we pray in secret, we receive God’s reward.

“As I see it, Daniel had three choices: (1) cease to pray, (2) close the window and pray in secret; or (3) pray as usual.

Each choice had a tremendous price tag.  Ceasing to pray would have cost him his fellowship with God—the one Person who could deliver him.  Praying in secret or silence would have cost him his ability to influence those around him.  Whatever his motives, everyone else would have thought he had sacrificed his relationship with God in order to save his hide.  The third option, praying as usual, would cost him his life if the conspirators had their way.  Taking the lesser of the three sacrifices, he chose to put his life on the altar of security.  Daniel prayed ‘just as he had done before’” (William Peel, Living in the Lion’s Den Without Being Eaten, p. 151).

Like his three friends who, when the music had been played, had defiantly remained vertical while everyone else in the kingdom was horizontal, Daniel refused to put safety over courage, fear over faith, or self over God, and he bow down horizontal instead of standing to hide his religious convictions.  In other words, Daniel’s friends were standing when everyone else was kneeling and Daniel was kneeling when everyone else was standing.  For both of them, as for us, it is less about body posture than about the posture of their hearts—they were wholly devoted to God and trusting in God.

During the fiery furnace incident which befell his three companions, no mention was made of Daniel.  Now the three companions go unmentioned.  Perhaps, by this time, they were no longer living.  But this also points out that for the first time in the book of Daniel, Daniel stood alone.  Solitary obedience is much harder than obeying God with even a few friends.

The heroes of our faith, men like Noah, Joseph, Elijah and John the Baptist all had to stand alone.  When William Carey, known as the father of the modern missionary movement, felt called by God to take the Gospel to India, few others encouraged him.  Even his wife was reluctant to go.  There were no parades for him on his way out of town, but his long and lonely obedience ultimately changed a nation and the history of missions.

Many of us are not spiritually strong enough to stand alone.  We need to help and support and prayers and encouragement of others to help us to stand strong.  Wise Solomon reminds us that it is better not to have to do it alone.  In Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 he writes:

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

The contrast between Daniel 3 and Daniel 6 from a negatively worded command (Daniel 3: do not worship other gods) to a positively worded one in Daniel 6: do worship the true God. . . . this account supplements the message of Daniel 3 by reminding readers that not only is it imperative to avoid idolatry even in the face of persecution, but believers also cannot compromise the one true faith by neglecting the regular worship of the true God, even when that worship exposes believers to persecution and death.  Neglecting to worship God is as much a denial of the true God as bowing down to idols.

Some might think, “Well, Daniel was an old man on the last leg of his life, he really didn’t have much to lose.”  But the fear of being torn apart by wild animals has no age limit.  “Chances are, whether you are 18 or 80 being thrown into a lions’ den ranks right up with being pushed into a piranha pond on the list of ways you don’t want to leave this life” (Amir Tsarfati, Discovering Daniel, p. 120).

Let’s take a closer look at Daniel’s courageous stand, at his faithful devotion to the God of Israel.

First, Daniel “knew that the document had been signed.”  He heard of it, read it and knew that it carried the seal and authority of the king.  He knew that it was an irrevocable law.  He knew the penalty for disobeying it.  So Daniel was immediately faced with a difficult decision.

Either the king spoke directly to his leaders about it—since probably not all 120 satraps had been present for the meeting with Darius in verses 6–9—or Daniel found out indirectly from a royal representative.  But he clearly “knew” about the document, and he knew that the law of the Medes and Persians was inviolable.  It could not be repealed.

Daniel wasn’t caught unaware.  He wasn’t “trapped” unknowingly in his exercise of spiritual disciplines.  He continued to pray, knowing the document had been signed, knowing the price he would have to pay.

Daniel was confronted with a test of loyalties.  He was normally a loyal subject of his king, yet he knew that the King of Kings always deserved an even higher loyalty, the utmost loyalty.  As the apostles conclude in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.”  When there is a clear command of the Lord to be obeyed, nothing man can demand should keep us from our duty.  Daniel thus refused to give to the government the measure of obedience that belongs to God alone.

In some cases, the believer is required to abstain from government-mandated behavior (as in the refusal of Daniel’s companions to bow before the idol in chapter 3). In other cases, as here, the believer must continue behavior declared unlawful by the government (continue in prayer and worship of God).

It was not only a test of loyalty, but also a matter of obedience.  To pray to man was to treat him as a god, thus was idolatry.  Daniel knew that praying to the king would violate the law of God (Exod. 20:3).  God alone was to be worshiped and prayed to.  The other nations worshiped and prayed to their gods.  At times, even the king was considered to be a “god.”

Wilson sums up available evidence under this head by saying: “The kings of Egypt were worshipped as such from immemorial times.”  Such attitudes naturally passed from one nation to another.  He adds: “That kings should be called gods is witnessed by Pharaohs, Ptolemies, Seleucids, Herods, and Cæsars.”  What did the ancients mean when they raised what seems to us to be so entirely impossible a claim?  In the first place, they had a rather inferior conception of what a god was.  Consequently they could conceive of mortals as being sons of the deity, for according to old legends in many a case a god, or at least a demigod appearing as a mortal, had been about on the earth, consorting with the daughters of men. (H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Daniel).  Think of the Greek and Roman gods consorting with men and women.

It is the characteristic feature of every one of these world empires.  Nebuchadnezzar and Darius took the lead.  In the one which followed, the Graeco-Macedonian, we find Antiochus Epiphanes, who took the same place.  In the Roman Empire we have emperors and others, like Herodes, claiming divine honors; in papal Rome the popes claim infallibility.  And in apostate Protestantism the deification of man appears likewise.  (Arno Clemens Gaebelein, The Prophet Daniel: A Key to the Visions and Prophecies of Daniel, pp. 65-66). 

The state’s intrusion of the place of divinity is an attribute of the kingdom of man characterizing numerous periods of history.  It is prevalent in systems of government promoting atheism (e.g., humanism and secular materialism—as in our own country today) and secularism.  “Man is the measure of all things” is a famous statement attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Protogoras.  That was reinforced by Alexander Pope’s Essay on Man.

But Daniel wasn’t about to pray to a man.  He understood the bankruptcy of that practice.

Alexander Maclaren warns us: “Unless you are prepared to be in the minority, and now and then to be called ‘narrow,’ ‘fanatic,’ and to be laughed at by men because you will not do what they do, but abstain and resist, then there is little chance of your ever making much of your Christian profession.”  Daniel stands out because he would not back down.

This passage shows that we always have a choice.  We are never in a place where we have no option except to give in to temptation.  God will always provide a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13).  The pressures may be great, the choice may be difficult, but we can still choose to obey God.  Early in life Daniel had chosen to be obedient and here we see him doing the same.

Before he was a teenager standing up against a powerful king and his demands.  Now he is an old man.  Can’t he just rest on his laurels and coast?  Can’t he give in and go along?  Most people his age would just want to live out the rest of their days in peace.

We see here how important it was for Daniel to establish a pattern of obedience early in his life.  He probably had been a child in Judah learning the Torah and practicing Judaism faithfully under his parent’s guidance even before he was taken to Babylon.  Once in Babylon, as a young man (Dan. 1), he was tempted to cut corners to win the king’s favor.  At that point, what was at stake was likely that he would become a slave rather than a celebrated advisor to the king if he failed the test.

Now Daniel is faced with another test with higher stakes.  Now he could lose his life if he disobeyed the king’s edict.  But because Daniel had early on practiced obedience to God when the stakes were lesser, he had the courage now to stand for God when the stakes were higher.

What about you, have you established a pattern of obedience to God in your life?  Blessed are those who learn that habit early in life.  How important it is for us as parents to emphasize to our children the importance of obedience, both to God as the ultimately authority and to other human authorities as well, including obedience to parents.

So, wherever Daniel was and however he happened to hear of the decree, he went to his house at noon and knelt down and prayed, just like he always did.

If Daniel should now change his practice, either not praying or praying with the windows closed, “those knowing him and his habits, including especially his hostile colleagues, would think that he had ceased, and this would spoil his testimony before them.  He had been an open witness before, both in word and life practice; he must continue now lest all that he had done before to influence others to faith in the true God should be for naught.  The existence of a continued testimony was more important [to Daniel] than the existence of his life!” (Leon Wood, A Commentary on Daniel, p. 163).