Daniel was a man that honored God and pleased God with faithful dedication to love and serve him.   Daniel lived in a very difficult time as Babylon had sieged Jerusalem and took him captive.  He was chosen to serve in the palace of a king that did not honor God.   Men from the palace were assigned to train and teach  Daniel the literature and language of the Chaldeans to prepare him for this service.  This education was to take three years.  During this period daily food that the king would eat would be provided for Daniel but, Daniel did not want to defile himself with the kings food.  But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.  There fore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. Daniel 1:8 ESV   I make this point to give you a glimpse of Daniel and his relationship with God desiring not to dishonor God even in the food that he ate.  Even in a very difficult time, Daniel honored God.   Now let’s fast forward to another king .… The king was Darius.  Darius was impressed with Daniel and was going to set him over the whole kingdom.  Others were not so excited about this and made it a point to find something in which they could accuse Daniel.  When they could not find anything, they decided to convince the king to make a law that said you had to worship him and no other gods for thirty days.  They did this because they knew that Daniel was faithful to pray to God daily.   After years of being in captivity and in the courts of those who did not honor God, Daniel had remained faithful to God.  The men that approached the king with the idea of worshipping him for thirty days and no other god, convinced him it was a good idea.  The consequence for worshipping any other god….death in a den of lions.   But this didn’t deter Daniel for When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.  He got down on his knees three times  a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Daniel 6:10 ESV     Even with consequence of death Daniel worshipped and prayed to God for God was who he lived for.  What can we learn from Daniel?

        The decision of the land does not affect our prayer and worship of God. “When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had a windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem,”  Daniel lived in plain sight for God as he did everyday before this document was signed.  He did not go into hiding or close his windows but left them open.  He did this not to bring attention to himself but to continue to honor God.

        He bowed down to God and not man, “He got down on his knees three times  a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God,”   God is God and he alone is worthy of our prayers and worship and deserves no less even in difficult times.

        He did not change his daily practice of prayer,  “He got down on his knees three times  a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God,”   as he had done previously.   Nothing had changed for Daniel, He continued in his daily practice just as before.  The laws of man did not regulate his lifestyle or belief in God.  If anything did change I believe it would have been the intensiveness of his prayers.

The concluding point ….press on remain, faithful, and know God has not moved…He is still on His throne.

Because of His Grace~ Pastor David