“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.” – Daniel 6:7
For some reason, I’ve never noticed before that the prayer ban was only for thirty days. It was temporary! This puts Daniel’s actions in a whole new light. Have you ever gone thirty days without praying? I’m sure I have at many points in my life.
In fact, think of all the things Daniel could have done to avoid death. He could have closed his windows so no one could know he was still praying. He could have decreased the frequency of his prayers. He could have prayed silently to himself and not out loud. And of course, he could have just taken a thirty-day break, before going back to praying like he had before. But Daniel was so committed to his spiritual routine that he was willing to die for it.
There were other complex things at play here too of course—but the point is, what does it take to upset my spiritual routine? A lot less than a death threat. Fatigue, travel, torpor, an alluring or entertaining distraction. How much do I value talking to God on a daily basis? To Daniel, doing that was worth his life. And so he acted just “as he had done previously.” That phrase is significant. His spiritual routine eased the way for him to continue living out his faith even during a time of crisis and attack. And at the same time, the crisis and attack revealed just how much that routine and that prayer meant to him.
Do you have a spiritual routine? Would someone be able to say about you, “I know what time of day I can catch her praying”? If you feel caught up in a moment of crisis or unprecedented circumstances, are you continuing those routines? More than ever, we need right now to be spending time with God in prayer.
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