What Would Daniel Do? #2

A second lesson from Daniel's Prayer Book: Don’t take breaks--even temporary ones--from your prayer habit.

It is interesting to me that the anti-prayer law which Daniel defied was only temporary: don’t pray for the next 30 days. I think in his shoes I might have been tempted to skip prayer for a month, figuring God would understand and would still be there when I got back. And afterall, Daniel was an experienced prophet with many years of praying under his belt. Surely he could have assumed that a month without praying wouldn’t result in much harm, couldn't he? Apparently, he thought it would and he kept right on praying.

I am so quick to take breaks from prayer. In fact, I struggle to find time to pray every weekend--and the reason is that on the weekends my routines fall apart. Things get so busy with the kids and you never know who's where or doing what. And a family vacation? Forget about good prayer habits for that week! Everything is up for grabs! Yet we see Daniel persevering in his habits even though it might have meant the death penalty. Maybe that's because he had learned from a long life walking with God that it is just not worth breaking the routine--prayer was just too high a priority to risk falling off the wagon.

My elliptical machine cracked the other day. I can't use it until it is repaired. This is a real problem for me since I know from past experience that if I stop exercising for even a day I may never start again. I lose motivation. To make myself start again is a full-fledged battle. Prayer is like that too. We need good habits and we need to keep going. No breaks.

"...Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance...." Hebrews 12:1