January 3
Verse of the Day for January 3
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.Daniel 6:10 KJV
The Key of Beginnings · Day 3 of 31
Reflection · 4 min read
He Had Always Opened That Window
The decree is signed. For thirty days, anyone who prays to any god or man except the king goes into the den of lions. Daniel holds one of the highest offices in the empire and has the most to lose.
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
As he did aforetime. Four words, and they are the whole story.
Daniel did not decide, in the crisis, to become a man who prays three times a day at an open window. He already was one. The decree changed the cost of the habit; it did not change the habit.
Which means the courage everybody remembers him for was not summoned that afternoon. It had been accumulating quietly, three times a day, for years, in an ordinary upstairs room, on days when nothing was at stake.
He did not have to find strength. He only had to keep doing what he was already doing.
The decree changed the cost.It did not change the habit.
We tend to think the test reveals whether we have courage. More often it reveals what we have practised.
Build the habit now, while it costs you nothing. That is the only time it can be built cheaply.
Carry this today
What would still be standing if it became costly?
Pray
Read Daniel 6:6–11
6Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. 7All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 8Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 9Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. 10Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 11Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
Keep praying
Reflection by Collins Asein, from the daily devotionals in the PrayerKey app. Bible text: King James Version.