Prayer As a Self-Discipline

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
Daniel 6 (click the link)


KEY VERSES:
3 Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom. 4 Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.”

6 Then these commissioners and satraps came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: “King Darius, live forever! 7 All the commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the high officials and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall be cast into the lions’ den. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it may not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document, that is, the injunction.

10 Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. 11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God. (Daniel 6:3-11, NASB)


THE MAIN IDEA:
For those of you who don’t stop and read this entire passage before reading these devotionals (yea, I do that too sometimes!), the scene here is that Daniel has become a big-wig in King Darius’ court.  God had blessed him in his captivity by giving him visions and wisdom, and the other big-wigs (aka: commissioners and satraps) were jealous of him because the king was planning to appoint him “head-big-wig” over the entire kingdom.  So these guys tried to find something to frame him with or some evidence of corruption, but couldn’t find any negligence or corruption with which to accuse him.  So they got the king to issue an edict that anyone praying to any god or man besides the king for the next 30 days would be thrown into the lions’ den.  But as we see in verse10 printed out above (you DID read that didn’t you?) Daniel went home and continued praying three times a day… “AS HE HAD BEEN DOING PREVIOUSLY.”


REFLECTIONS:
I know many times that I’ve prayed a lot when the circumstances of life get “troubling,” however perhaps not so much when things are going well.  But what is it that makes Daniel such a “hero of the faith” that he get listed in the Book of Hebrews (11:33)?  It’s that he doesn’t pray when persecution or some other type of stress comes to him; he prays just as he has always done!!!  What a lesson to learn from this!!!  If we are accustomed to praying, accustomed to putting our faith in God’s provisions and protection, accustomed to knowing that God loves us and acknowledging this in regular prayer and thanksgiving, then when trials come we don’t have to freak-out; we just do what we “had been doing previously”… just like one of the heroes of the faith.


POINT OF ACTION:
Do you want to know how to handle adversity?  Daniel is a pretty good example of this and I think we can learn a lot from him.  First, we establish a habit of prayer and thanksgiving.  We establish a habit of trusting in God’s provisions and protection.  We establish a habit of acknowledging God as being in control of our lives.  THEN, when adversity comes, we just continue doing what we’ve made a habit of doing.  Then when things REALLY go wrong (Daniel DID get thrown into the lions’ den), we just keep doing what we’ve made a habit of doing; praying, believing, and trusting.  Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it?  Simple though it sounds, it’s God way of getting us through our own “lions’ den.”


WHO AM I?
I’m Alan Wassel. This is Jennifer and me outside of a castle in Germany a few years ago.  Like I said in a previous Companions in Christ devotional, I’m running out of pictures so this is the best I could find for now!