In this time, we must recognise like Daniel that we each live as exiles, refugees looking forward to our true home. While we wait for that glorious land, may we become people of prayer like the faithful prophet. As we remember his brave moments standing up for Yahweh in a foreign land. He

• Refused to eat the king’s meat.
• Interpreted the mysterious handwriting on the wall.
• Survived a night in a den of hungry lions.

We learn particularly that his life story stood strongly on the foundation of consistent prayers; from when as a young man, probably a young teenager (Nebuchadnezzar captured Daniel and his buddies, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah when they were very young men, probably mid-teens) until he’s well over eighty years old. A consistent piece of his life is prayer. He prays as a teenager when faced with an impossible task given by King Nebuchadnezzar; he prays as an octogenarian hated by his jealous underlings in Daniel 6. And no doubt he prayed throughout the decades in between. Prayer does not become a habit just because a person’s hair has turned gray but as an exile living away from family, synagogue, and teachers, Daniel teaches us that in every stage of life, we must be people of prayer.  

Praying for Daniel included praying:

1. with other believers as we see in Daniel 2:1–19, supplicating with God to answer the riddle posed by Nebuchadnezzar’s dream,
   1. thus, making a difference that Jehovah was superior to the god of Babylon, and
   2. delivering the four for greater witness in the land
2. praying alone because prayer is often a solo activity (Daniel 6:10; 9:1–19). Looking for a way to oust the old man, Daniel’s envious colleagues knew that they wouldn’t be able to get any dirt on him unless it was in regard to his God. Thus, they convinced King Darius to make a law prohibiting all prayer, except to the king. Daniel, as they knew he would, ignored this and “got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks to his God, as he had done previously” (Dan. 6:10). Not only does Daniel show his courage, but he demonstrates that he made it his practice to pray by himself.

While Scripture makes it clear that the church ought to come together to pray, it also resounds with the notion that we must be individuals of prayer. Jesus modeled this as He went off by Himself to pray (Matthew 14:23) and  Matthew 6:6. People of prayer mostly do their work on their own.
Daniel 9:1-19 teaches us that:

• We pray in humility.
• Prayer Is Fueled by the Word. In fact, prayer fueled by God’s Word is particularly efficacious (John 15:7)
• Prayer Is More Important than Your Life (Dan. 6). Daniel risked his life to pray. It was that important to him. He knew full well that he would end up with the lions and that God could save him; but like his friends before him, even if God didn’t spare him, he wasn’t going to stop praying (Daniel 3:18). We make sacrifices for a lot of things, giving up our time, money, and energy for workouts, vacations, and new toys. But what would you be willing to give up to pray? For Daniel, the answer was quite literally, “Whatever it takes.”
• Prayer Shows Off What You Think about God (Daniel 2:20–23; 9:1–19). Every prayer is a demonstration of what the pray-er thinks about God.

To quote Cindy Matson, she wrote:

• If your God is your genie, your prayers will be a shopping list.
• If you over-emphasize the love of God and downplay His holiness, your prayers will lack repentance.
• If your God is not transcendent (high above all of creation), your prayers won’t contain much adoration.
• If your God isn’t all-powerful, you probably don’t pray much. Culled from Revive Our Hearts

What do your prayers reveal about what you think about God? Finally, prayer is a demonstration of Faith (Daniel 9:1–2). How will these reshape your prayer life? Selah.

Pastor Afolabi Oladele