Habitual Strength

In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 1 Chronicles 29:12b

 

In my last blog post  I talked about a man who had obviously lived for the Lord and left no doubt at his death that he had lived for the Kingdom of God. How does one do that? I did not know the man; only his wife.

The scriptures teach about this in at least one instance.

Daniel.

By the time we get to Daniel 6 he has shown the Chaldeans what kind of man he is. He has served well in a foreign, idol-worshipping nation under wicked rulers. He had been promoted in government positions and he was willing to do what he needed to do without forsaking his faith in the One true God.

Daniel is a “prime minister” of sorts under King Darius and over satraps. He is loved by the king and hated by the satraps because the king was going to set him over the whole kingdom (Daniel 6:3)

A Plot To Ruin

So, in 6:4 they plot against him: “Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.”

They set out to ruin him by getting the king to make an irrevocable law that all prayer for thirty days could only be prayed to the king. Any prayer to any other man or god would be punishable by being cast into a den of hungry lions.

Daniel’s Habit

After Daniel knew 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.  (emphasis mine)

Daniel had a habit that he had practiced while exiled. He prayed in a window (in full view of anyone passing by) three times a day. When the law was passed Daniel did not hide, he did not move away from the window. He did not decide to sit prayer out for thirty days until it was “legal” (according to who?) again. He did not worry about his fate with the rulers. He prayed like he had always prayed.  It was a habit.

The Blessing of Habit

Yesterday I got a note from a woman who had been having a pretty bad day with her children. “Funny how the progression of sanctification goes. If He hadn’t already shown his Sovereignty to our family, in our home, this struggle would have been VERY different.”

It has become her habit prior to these circumstances to remind herself of the sovereignty of God when things seem hard. She has been learning to look for the blessings. She has formed a habit and the habit gives her confidence that God has not left her, abandoned her, or forgotten her. Stuff happens in the family. God is not unaware or absent.

Habits of faith are important. Whether we are facing life and death situations like Daniel or just a hard day when the kids are kids, already having the practice of following hard after Christ will bring all circumstances into clear focus so we can stand firm.

Would you and I stand firm as Daniel did?  Will we at our next opportunity?

What habits do you need to establish to strengthen your faith in difficult times?