What do you think Daniel was praying for at this time? If you were in that chamber and you knew that you would be cast into the lion’s den, would you be praying: “Lord deliver me?” Earlier we read that he asked his friends to ask, in prayer, for the mercies from the God of heaven that they might be delivered. Surely here, too, he was crying that God would deliver him. But, Daniel knew who his real enemies were. Those enemies were not merely fierce lions. Those enemies were the wicked who were seeking to destroy him together with the remnant in Babylon. So he prayed to the God of heaven. He knew that God will be faithful. Do not forget this! He has been given dreams and visions. He knows God’s Word. He knows that God is faithful. No wonder that he prays also with thanksgiving. He is not praying a desperate prayer. He is praying with gratitude to God that God is able to deliver him. And even if God does not deliver, He is a God of salvation; He is a God Who is faithful to His people; He will bring all things to pass.

We come then to the secret behind Daniel’s prayer life! Daniel was faithful in prayer because he knew the faithfulness of Jehovah! Young people, our faithfulness in prayer is only in the way of knowing the faithfulness of Jehovah. How can we learn, in times of distress, to pray? How will we remember also in times of prosperity to give thanks to God? What is the secret we must uncover so that we can learn to pray when we are old but also when we are young? How can we learn to pray not only in the evening but also in the morning? How can we learn to pray not only on the Lord’s Day but every day, to be steadfast, to be regular, to be consistent in prayer? Here is Daniel’s secret. His faith. Nothing more, nothing less.

Faithfulness in prayer is only in the way of faith. The beautiful gift of faith by which we are made righteous is also the means by which we continue to commune with God. How often do we take that faith and put it away in a drawer? And I even know the blessings of that faith. But, beloved, are we like Daniel who lived in the consciousness of his faith? Is faith at the very root of our life? Is the faith that we have in God, the faith with regard to our salvation, the faith concerning His kingdom, the faith about the future, that fills our hearts and minds? Then we cannot help but pray! We will pray because we are filled with faith.

Daniel 11:32 tells us the people who know their God, they shall be strong and shall do exploits. Daniel surely knew his God! He was strong in the faith. Not only does the first part of the book’s narrative of Daniel’s life, but also the last six chapters of the book of Daniel’s visions emphasize prayer and the secret that Daniel had in his faithfulness in prayer. This is clear for example in Daniel 9, a passage of Scripture which will show to us directly the secret behind Daniel’s faithfulness in prayer. “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And prayed unto the LORD my God….” Before we look at this prayer more closely, let us understand the point. Although Daniel was a man blessed with visions and dreams, he knew his need of the Bible. He read the Word of God. He turned to his books and there he found out the number of years which Jeremiah the prophet had already prophesied years earlier! Had he heard Jeremiah when he was a young lad? Perhaps. Had he known Jeremiah? We do not know. But the scrolls of the prophecy of Jeremiah he had treasured. He took them out and he read them. He did not say, “Ah, I am a man of experience. I am a man of vision. God speaks to me directly.” He came to the Word and there he read it, and there he understood that it was God who had already promised that after 70 years He will bring His children back to Jerusalem. Can you imagine how he leaped with joy? How he danced with singing? How he was filled with gratitude to God because the Word of God once again reminded him and taught him, revealed to him the truth of God and of His covenant?

Even Daniel, notwithstanding all the Pentecostals today who want to tell us that God speaks to them directly, the man who was filled with visions and dreams knew that if he was to be faithful to God and faithful in prayer he had to open his Bible and he had to read and search it! “Read your Bible and pray every day if you want to grow.” That may be a simple childlike song, but it is true! If you want to grow! If you want to grow strong, if you want to grow wise there is only one way: Read your Bible and pray! Every day! Daniel knew that. In fact it was in the opening to the Scriptures, as he searched those Scriptures, that he knew how to pray, too.

One of the first things that comes forth upon Daniel’s lips in his prayer recorded in Daniel 9 is: “O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity….” It is in the reading of the Scriptures that, once again, God reminds us of the reason why we are in such a terrible state; the reason why we are so downcast and discouraged; the reason why we are persecuted. Why were they in the Babylonian captivity in the first place? Do you know? God had warned them again and again, “You bow before the idol gods of the nations, you give your sons and daughters, to marry amongst the children of the ungodly, and I will send you to the Babylonian captivity.” And still, knowingly and deliberately, they contradicted God’s commandments. And now they are in captivity. When Daniel read the Bible, Daniel did not say, “Oh, God forgive these people, these ungodly people who are compromising.” As he read the Word of God he came to deep contrition, repentance of heart. He is on his knees and is praying, “Forgive us, O God!” When the Bible is closed, and we are not reading it reverently, submissively, honestly, we also quit praying. O perhaps in formality we still pray, but not in such a way pleasing and acceptable in God’s eyes. How dare we talk to God and close our ears to Him? Proverbs 28:11 tells us that he who despises the law, even his prayer is abomination in the sight of God. If we are to pray faithfully, we must read God’s Word faithfully also. If we are to pray aright, we must read the Bible! In the face of God, in the face of His Word, then alone we will understand that God would allow even all our enemies to attack us and persecution to come upon us, yea, even weaknesses and struggles so that we may learn once again to humble ourselves and to call upon the Name of God. That is prayer, is it not? To be humbled, to be on our knees, whether literally or figuratively. We recognize that it is not of us. In fact, we deserve only God’s wrath. But God is merciful to us.

Another thing which stands out clearly in Daniel’s prayer is Daniel’s love for Jerusalem. How often in this prayer he prays concerning the city! Of course, this answers the question, too, why he was facing Jerusalem as he prayed. Zion, the city of God, continued to be Daniel’s love and treasure. Notice how often in this prayer he asks God to bless Jerusalem. For example, verses 16& 17: “O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem…. Cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate.” He prays that God will once again redeem His people. Although Daniel is far away in Babylon, he does not forget God’s people and kingdom. This too was due to his faith in Jehovah the Savior of His people. With this faith he prayed, and he prayed faithfully.

Yet a third thing stands out clearly in his prayer on account of his faith. Daniel sought the glory of God. It was not only his own life. He was not crying in desperation that he was going to die. He is eighty years old—at the end of his life anyway. What does he pray? Notice verse 19: “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” In this prayer, he recounts how God had taken His people out of bondage through Moses and how God is able to deliver His people. In a most godly sense he is challenging God. He is saying: “O God, Thou who art the sovereign God, are you going to let the enemies laugh at us? Are you going to wipe out the remnant? For Thy own name’s sake, O Jehovah, hear my prayer.” Have you ever prayed that way? We will not pray that way unless we are reading the Scriptures. On the other hand, we will indeed pray this way when we walk by faith, and when our faith is being nourished. As we go up to God’s house to hear His Word, we grow to pray more faithfully. As we daily read the Scriptures we will learn to pray like Daniel did. For the glory and honor of our faithful God.

Daily devotion is not just praying, but opening the Bible and reading it prayerfully! Young people, do you have a set time to open your Bible and read it every day, meditating upon the Word while searching the Scripture? Devote half an hour, ten minutes, some time in the day or night when you can really search the Scriptures. Do not be satisfied with a quick prayer, or even a quick reading at the table. Faithfulness in prayer after the example of Daniel will mean that we know that we are not only going to pray to God in our distress and praise God and thank Him, but we are searching the Word. Think of it, on the Lord’s Day, when we come to His house to worship Him, is it not true that as we hear the preaching that is when our song and our prayers increase, we are filled with gratitude, we are stirred to a greater searching of His Word, we are talking about God, we are praying to Him. Why? Because the Word of God comes to us and we know that God is speaking to us and then we respond in prayer. Prayer is as the flower opening up unto God as the sunshine of God’s love comes upon us. Do you want to be faithful in prayer every day? If you want to commune with God and really walk with Him, this is the secret: open your Bible. Search the Word. Let God speak to you. When God’s Word comes upon your heart you will not but pray. When God’s will is revealed to you, you will not but pray godly prayers according to His will. When God’s holiness is impressed upon you as you read the Word, you will not but cry out in humble repentance. And when His promises are repeated, and you remind yourself of them in the daily reading of the Scriptures, you will not but be filled with gratitude and thanksgiving morning, day and night, praying.

Learn from Daniel. He was weak in himself but found strength to pray through the power of faith. In chapter 10 we find Daniel is in prayer and fasting. He is fainting because he has been given so many glorious visions. You know what happens? You read, verse 18, “There came again…one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.” Even Daniel was weak, you know. He found that as he was praying and as he was seeing the vision that he became very faint. He was struggling. He could not tell a word. But then the Son of Man, and this was the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament appeared to Daniel. Then Daniel was strengthened! Daniel was given the Word. The Son of Man spoke to him and Daniel said, “Lord, speak on. Speak to me and then I will have the strength to pray.” Again in verse 21, the Son of Man said to Daniel: “I will shew thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth…” Then Daniel was able to be bold and stand up and continue to receive visions from God. Only through the Word, was Daniel faithful in prayer. It is the same with us. Keep away from God’s house, neglect the preaching of the Word, neglect your daily reading of the Scriptures, and I guarantee you that you will not know the power and worth and the blessedness of prayer.

Finally, let us be reminded of the fruits of such a prayer life. The first is faithfulness itself. Daniel was faithful as a young lad but also to the end of his live. Although his death is not recorded, in Daniel 12 we are told some beautiful things about Daniel’s end. We read there in Daniel 12 of the last judgment, verse 2: Many of them (that is a multitude of them)…all will come out from the dust of the earth, and shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And then notice verse 3: “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” That is Daniel. He stands as a star in the firmament. And he shall ever be remembered as that wise and godly man who knew his God and remained faithful to the end. So that last verse of Daniel closes this way: “Go thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”

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Rev. Mahtani is pastor of Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in Houston, Texas.