Three Times a Day… Not just for Meals!

Many things changed for Daniel over his lifetime, there were major shifts in power from one King to another, He was taken from his family to serve in the palace, his life was threatened and yet there was one thing that never seemed to change. As we read through the book of Daniel we can not only find Daniel turning to God when he need help, but chapter 6:10 tells us that “three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before”. For Daniel, praying three times a day was a part of who he was.

Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9 reveals a passion and purpose that should help us understand how we are to humbly come before our God confessing our sins, asking for forgiveness and giving praise to Him. Daniel “turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes”. Have you ever pleaded with God in pray and petition? We may never have donned sackcloth and covered ourselves with ashes as Daniel did but his example calls us to put aside all the distractions and things of life to be on our knees in front of our Heavenly Father.

Three times a day, most likely morning, noon and evening Daniel prayed to God, praising Him, confessing his sins, seeking wisdom and guidance as he was a leader and example to many. As vocational ministry leaders I believe we are called to be like Daniel, we must be set into a life that is centered around prayer. For many of us prayer is often the result or response to something that has happened, and that is OK. I am sure Daniel did the same thing as he worked through his day as things came up. It is his example and devotion to those personal times of prayer that should inspire us. Daniel spent time in his “upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem”; Matthew 6:6 commands us the same thing “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen”. There is never a time when God is too busy to listen, it is the busyness of life that draws us away from the practice of prayer.