Gospel Reading Plan: Luke 13-14
The Habit of Prayer
Read: Daniel 6
Daniel grew up in the foreign land of Babylon, away from the temple of
God and deprived of a worshipping community.
Yet he was an example of a young man who was determined to stay pure in
unfavorable surroundings. In fact,
Daniel lived such a righteous life that the administrators who were jealous of
him could not find any fault with him so they came to the conclusion that they
could only trap Daniel using something that had to do with the law of his
God. They encouraged the king to make an
edict outlawing prayer in order to trap Daniel.
What an amazing example for us to see this godly man serving a pagan
king in a pagan land but living in such a way as to only be caught guilty of
praying! When ordered by the king not to
pray or petition God for thirty days, the penalty being cast into a lion’s den,
Daniel paid no attention to the edict.
Scripture records that “he went
home to his upstairs room…three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed…just
as he had done before”. Prayer was
the regular habit of this man of God, it was something that he did every
day. This was the secret to the success
in his life, it was what enabled him to live a holy and godly life. Prayer is not something to just run to when a
crisis comes; it is something to be familiar with. The habit of prayer is what grows your trust
and faith in God so that when the crisis hits, you automatically run to
Him. David was not concerned with the
consequence of the lion’s den for he knew God deeply and had the faith to obey,
even if it cost him his life. Let us be
found as a people who also make a habit out of prayer.
PRAYER AND MEDITATION
- What are some things about Daniel’s character that stand out to you from this passage of Scripture?
- In listening prayer, ask the Lord to show you areas of your own character that need addressing. Ask Him to give you a word, thought or picture about the potential for you to grow in this area.
- Pray that you would grow in character and integrity, that you would have the faith to obey God in all circumstances.
