Just As He Had Always Done...

So, I can’t get this verse out of my head…Sharing!

I think the story of Daniel and the lion’s den is a familiar one to many people, it’s in chapter 6 of Daniel, if ya want to refresh the details. In verse 10, tho’, just before Daniel is thrown in with the lions, this verse describes his response to the decree that was made…    

When Daniel learned that the order had been signed, he went home. In an upstairs room of his house there were windows that faced toward Jerusalem. There, just as he had always done, he knelt down at the open windows and prayed to God three times a day.

Daniel 6:10

Did you catch that? …He went home and prayed, “just as he had always done.” Daniel’s regular day consisted of prayer and he did not change that because a circumstance had changed or become difficult.

What a lesson this “space” thing is! (see previous post) How often does life throw us a curve and we dash off to “fix it”? Consistency in prayer, conversation with God is our only “fix”. A phrase comes to mind that we often use, or hear ~ “If God has allowed”  ~ this verse from Daniel gives me another perspective on that. How about, “if God planned” this or that to happen?

We seem to think our determining of good or bad situations is correct, but God has already determined

and said…

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.

Romans 8:28 ← Something Daniel already obviously knew. His habit, his regular routine was to pray, to talk to God three times a day. Set times, a set place “just as he had always done.”

I think Daniel’s example teaches us so many things….a few?

~ Life will happen and God has it all planned out. Our best pattern in life is to talk to God regularly, everyday!

~ And then, to trust God with every moment ←That’s not just a phrase, it is the practical application/response to communion with God.

~ Because, unless we are trusting, what is the point of prayer?

What I see in Daniel is a peace, an unwavering confidence in God to take care of every situation. In our days, American perspective, we tend to define good outcomes with financial success or our creature comforts, if those are satisfied, all is good…

But what about the lions?

Because they are there.

We stand among them everyday.

Circumstances, people, choices, so many things that could eat us alive and take us off the path God intends for our lives.

 
 Others are watching, just as King Darius was watching Daniel…Do they see us praising and pointing to God in all things, so they too, like the king, may come to know who God is?

That tis why we are here after all! To live as Christ did, to walk with our Lord and live in a way that others see the difference HE is in our days. Just as the king looking in the lion’s den, others should look at us and see our salvation story.

It is what prayer does, when we lean in and listen, trusting our Saviour’s promises, His Peace stands us among the lions in life, in order to point others to Christ…because life is not about the lions. They are just a muzzled prop to bring even kings to Christ. Our strength, our passions are found in prayer like Daniel’s

…just as he had always done, he knelt down at the open windows and prayed to God three times a day.

Daniel 6:10