By David Faust
I enjoy walking outdoors, so my daughter bought me a Fitbit. When someone asks, “Are you fit?” I can joke, “Just a bit!” The Fitbit measures the steps I take, the miles I walk, my heart rate, and the number of calories I burn. But it cannot measure my walk with God.
First Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray continually.” What do you do “continually” in a typical day? Check your e-mail? Look at your cell phone? Grab another cup of coffee? Do you worry continually? If a Fitbit could track your walk with God, what would it record?
Daniel’s Spiritual Fitness Strategy
The prophet Daniel faced a lot of stress. He lived in a culture that was hostile to his faith, and he bore heavy responsibilities at work. His career as a government leader skyrocketed until he became “the third highest ruler” in Babylon (Daniel 5:29). Jealous rivals scrutinized his every move and tried to get him in trouble, but “he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent” (6:4). Eventually, his detractors persuaded the king to decree that prayers could be offered only to the king himself. It was an outrageous law, but anyone who dared to break it faced a terrifying death sentence: being torn apart in a lion’s den.
When Daniel heard about the king’s decree, he didn’t panic. He continued the spiritual fitness strategy that had served him well in the past. “He went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before” (6:10).
Ironically, prayer got Daniel thrown to the lions, but it was prayer that spared his life.
God’s Immediate Response
Later, while reading the words of another Hebrew prophet, Daniel realized the Jews’ exile in Babylon would last 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10), and that time period now was nearing an end. Deeply moved, Daniel fasted and poured out his heart in prayer, confessing the sins of his people and begging for the Lord to intervene (Daniel 9:4-19).
In response, the Lord sent the angel Gabriel who gave Daniel a vision of the distant future when the Anointed One, the Messiah, would come (9:20-27). Gabriel’s message included a line that can encourage anyone who trusts in God—even those of us who struggle with prayer. “As soon as you began to pray,” Gabriel said, “a word went out, which I have come to tell you” (9:23, emphasis added).
There is much I don’t understand about prayer. I don’t know exactly how God weaves our requests into his divine providence. C. S. Lewis suggested that prayer is a way God gives his servants “the dignity of causality.” Whether the Father answers our petitions by saying “yes,” “no,” “wait,” or simply “I’m here,” we can trust his heart even when we can’t trace his hand.
This I know. Communication with God is not only a gift to appreciate; it is an indispensable weapon in the spiritual battles we face.
As soon as Daniel began to pray, the Lord responded. Jesus took this idea a step further and said, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). That’s why, despite our questions and our spiritual frailty, we should “always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1).
Personal Challenge: How “fit” is your prayer life right now? What steps could you take to improve and deepen your daily communication with the Lord?
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David Faust’s new book, Not Too Old: Turning Your Later Years into Greater Years, was released April 10. It is available from College Press and Amazon. To read an article/excerpt from Not Too Old, click here.
A few years ago I wrote an article on listening prayer. Here is part of what I said:
“We tend to think of prayer as talking to God, often primarily in terms of asking God to give us or bless us or our friends and/or family. That’s certainly a part of effective prayer, but there is much more than that. Too often we believe more in our own ability than depending on God’s ability. The result is little prayer and even less listening to God for His guidance.
In John 8:47 Jesus says, “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.” (NIV) If we belong to God, we will hear and obey.
Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer. When we look closely at some of the things Jesus said, we begin to see that he was listening to His Father as well as talking to Him. John 8:26b “He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him; these I say to the world.” John 8:28 Jesus said, “. . . I do nothing on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me.” John 8:40 “[I’m] a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God.” Scriptures from the NASB 95.
If Jesus needed to listen to His Father, how much more do we need to listen?”
Jesus said He would always be with us (24/7). When we are with someone we both talk and listen. Where Christianity is growing rapidly, leaders spend hours, not minutes in prayer. As they listen, they expect God to their daily activities and then they obey what they hear.