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)
There is a lot to think and meditate on in this moment from Daniel 6. As I was reading through the story in Daniel 4-6, I was encouraged by the faithfulness and steadfastness of Daniel in these times of extreme pressure and hardship. In these three chapters, there were three different kings and they each continually forgot about Daniel. Each time he was brought before one of the kings he had to “prove” himself over again to the new king. There was extreme danger in this, yet the consistent theme of the story is that Daniel is the one constant. He was at his core, just a humble and faithful servant of the Most High God. His outward character shined as a bright light in the darkness of these kingly courts and was fueled by his steadfast practice of seeking the presence of the Lord on a consistent and intentional basis.
Daniel’s daily practice of godliness was to open the windows of his house that faced Jerusalem and prostrate himself on the ground before the Lord. This prostrate position of humility was not just a simple reminder, but was an actual physical humbling of himself before his Creator and Lord. This prostrate position put his mind in the right frame, so that he could come before his God as was fitting and right.
His prayer itself was modeled after the direction of Solomon when he dedicated the temple in 1 Kings 8:46-50. In this prayer, Solomon was calling for the Lord to hear from heaven when the people who had sinned and been carried away as captives, turned their hearts back to the Lord in repentance and humility. Solomon’s prayer was for the Lord to hear these humble prayers of repentance and bring forgiveness to the people of God and show them compassion in the eyes of their captors.
This is what Daniel was doing three times a day, every day. He had been doing this for a long time, possibly since he arrived in Babylon. So, when the document was signed and everything was official, Daniel had a choice. He always had a choice, but this was a specific and critical choice. His options were that he could stop praying all together and not risk getting caught at all; he could pray secretly in his heart without falling prostrate or giving any outward signs; he could continue his practice of private prostrate prayer in his room in secret; or he could continue to pray with his windows open as he had been in the practice of doing for so long.
There are obvious good reasons to choose any of these options and any of us could make a good and right spiritual case for why we chose one of them. Daniel’s choice was to continue his practice of prayer in the manner that he had been practicing. He did this knowing full well, that the purpose of the document and decree was to bring trouble upon his head. I often wonder at this choice of Daniel’s to continue in the same open manner. My mind tells me to simply keep the windows shut and continue as he had previously. Mine is more of a rational compromise. I would desire to continue with the importance of the daily discipline and practice, but in a manner that did not draw attention to myself or the practice.
I think this is the key for Daniel’s choice. The importance of Daniel’s decision is that he does not compromise. There is not one moment of hesitation revealed in the text where Daniel would compromise his conviction to the consistent, humble prayer of looking toward Jerusalem. Compromise would have demonstrated a lack of faith and trust in the God he serves. No, there would be no compromise in the life of Daniel. His convictions came from the Spirit of God, and he was comfortable and settled in the life of faith that brought him before his loving and kind God.
This is what I need in my life. I need a spiritual walk where I am not compromising my spirit-led convictions. Where the Lord has called me to spiritual faithfulness, there is no room for compromise. There is only room for faithful and steadfast obedience. I am woefully terrible at this and continually seeking ways to compromise these convictions. It is stories like this one from the life of Daniel that cause me to pause, reflect, and consider my choices. I have those same choices today and every day. The question I need to answer in these moments is the following, “Who will I follow this day?”