A life of Prayer
Daniel's name is synonymous with the word "prayer." Daniel lived a life of prayer. When people talk about Daniel, they talk about prayer. We need more Daniels today. Every preacher should be a Daniel. Every believer should be a Daniel.
Daniel was a man of great wisdom and knowledge. It came from his prayer life. When we pray, God imparts wisdom and knowledge to our spirit man, not to our natural man. You might not understand all that is going on in the natural mind, but your spirit will have enough sense to let it happen.
Daniel had an excellent spirit. He had discernment of spirits and the gift of interpreting dreams. The king began to notice him and exalt him in that kingdom. When the king was killed, Daniel became the principal ruler.
God knows where to put you if you'll pray. People who don't pray don't get anywhere. That's why they're always trying to start something. You've got to "birth" your ministry in your prayer life before you start walking in it.
You're got to do it. You can't depend on somebody else's praying your ministry through. They can help you, yes, but the ultimate responsibility rests on you. You're the one called to do the ministry God has set before you. You're the one God has anointed as its leader. Pray about it. It's yours to do what He told you to do.
God exalted Daniel to a high position. Some of the other men were jealous. They didn't like Daniel's being over them. They decided to try to find something to charge Daniel with:
"Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God."
—Daniel 6:5
That's a good report right there. How would you like that to be said of you? If your enemies can say that about you, you're doing well. Daniel's enemies couldn't find anything wrong with him, so they decided to deceive him. They tricked the king into signing a law stating that people were to pray only to the king, not to any god or person.
Daniel 6:10 says,
"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."
If you knew you'd be persecuted for praying and you'd be thrown into a lions' den if you were caught, would you keep on praying? Daniel did. As soon as the king signed that decree, Daniel said, "That's not going to stop me—and to prove it, I'm going to go pray-"
Daniel prayed and he was protected. We can learn much from Daniel's prayer life.
First, he committed himself to pray three times a day.
Second, Daniel had set times to pray. He did not break those times, no matter what. He was a very busy man, but when it was time to pray, he stopped whatever he was doing and went to prayer.
Third, notice that God protects those who pray.
If you have a set time to pray and you keep it, God will start meeting you there every day. He'll know He can depend on you to be there.
If you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night to spend time with God in prayer, do it. Prayer is important. Commit yourself to prayer and stick with it. Don't give up. If the going gets rough in prayer, stay at it a little longer.
Some people tell me, "When I pray, my mind wanders."
When your mind wanders, click it off and tell it to be quiet. I don't know why, but this works.
When it's time for me to pray, my mind either shuts up or it agrees; I don't give it any other choice. If you haven't yet trained your mind to click off like that, just let it wander. One day it will run out of things to tell you and it will stop wandering.
Don't quit praying when the power hits, either. Increase your praying then. Some people stop praying the second the glory hits. That's just the time to begin to pray! That's the time to gain more strength and take more ground in the spiritual realm.
Control your total man. Tell your natural man what to do; especially during times of prayer. In prayer, God is moving. That should be the priority. Nothing should get in the way of prayer. I don't care how often the doorbell rings. If you're praying, don't answer the door. I don't care how often the phone rings; don't answer it. If you're in prayer, stay there. Don't let anyone or anything pull you away from it. When you mean business with the King, He'll do business with you.
When I was very little, my grandmother would tell my sister and me, "I'm praying. Come in here with me until I'm done." She'd say, "I'm not coming out of this room until I've finished praying. If you die, I'm staying here." She'd shut the door, kneel down, and pray. My sister and I would sit there and play while she prayed. When we got older, we prayed, too.
Many parents ask me what they should do with their children while they're praying. Take them in the prayer closet with you. That way you can keep an eye on them while you're praying—and when the Holy Spirit falls, you can grab them and transmit His power into them!
Don't quit praying because circumstances say it might not be a good time to pray. You rule the circumstances. It's up to you to impose God's spiritual laws on the natural. You tell your natural body what to do, and it must obey you.
When my sister and I got a little older, our grandmother let us out of the prayer room while she prayed. But she warned us, "Don't get hit by a car or anything while I'm in here praying, because if you do, I'm not coming out! I'm not moving until I've finished praying!"
That was pretty stern, but it worked. She kept on praying, and she kept our lives safe. She kept us from getting seriously hurt. She kept us from the power of the devil. She went in her prayer closet and did battle with the enemy—and she wouldn't give up until she'd won. She'd say, "I'm going to win or die trying!" That's what we need in prayer—determination!
Elijah prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn't. Then he prayed that it would rain and it did. He got answers to his prayers because he was determined. He didn't pray a little tiny prayer and then get up and quit. That's doubt. He prayed until he got his answers.
Prevailing prayer works. We've got to have prevailing prayer in our lives as ministers and believers. prevailing prayer hangs onto the gates of heaven and pounds on the doors of the Throne Room until God does what you have asked for. Prevailing prayer blasts through mountains.
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