Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went
into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled
upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God,
as he did aforetime. Daniel 6:10
Since we have been
focusing on prayer this week, we are going to wrap up the week with a great
example from one of the most amazing characters in the Bible we can learn from,
Daniel.
In
this brief excerpt from the life of Daniel, we see the essential ingredients of
a strong prayer life. If you want to
build an effective prayer life, you need to follow the practices of Daniel.
When Daniel heard the
decree of the king, the Scriptures say that he went to pray "as he did aforetime." Daniel's prayer life was not just an
emergency measure. It was not something
that he did when problems greater than he could handle arose. Prayer was a long-established habit of his
life. He was simply doing what he had
been doing all along. Prayer was his way
of dealing with life.
A crucial question
for every believer is this: How will I
handle life and its problems? Our
life is not to be lived at the mercy of moods, pressures, or crises. It is to be lived in complete dependence upon
God. So we too should make prayer the
habit of our lives. The Christian's
motto ought to be: "Life is precious; handle it with prayer."
Our first inclination ought to be to
pray.
You cannot
overestimate the importance of good spiritual habits in your life. We are all creatures of habit, so we need to
establish some good ones. When we think
about habits, we usually think of bad ones that we need to break. However, there are some good habits that we
need to establish.
Every great servant
of God including Jesus has had good spiritual habits. The Scriptures say
concerning Jesus, "And, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the
Sabbath day" (Luke 4:16). Going to worship was a habit
in the life of Jesus as well as discussing the Word of God. Prayer was certainly a habit in lives of the
prophets and apostles. What are the
spiritual habits of your life? Do you
know what it is to have a time and a place of prayer like Daniel?
- Martin Luther said, "Prayer is a powerful
thing, for God has linked himself thereto."
- Alfred Lord Tennyson said, "More things are
wrought by prayer than this world dreams of."
You can do more than
pray after you have prayed, but you can't do more than pray until after you
have prayed. If prayer is not a regular
habit in your life, then I urge you to begin now. It is a key to spiritual growth.
Please pray for our
Breaking Free Youth Choir today as they are performing a concert and
participating in service at Noonday Ministries Shelter in Albuquerque, NM. They will be traveling home this evening and
tomorrow so pray for safe travels as well.
Scripture to Claim:
Evening and morning and at noon, I will
complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice.
He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, for
they are many who strive with me. Psalms
55:17-18
