Daniel 6:4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. 5 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. 11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
This passage of scripture shows us that the prophet Danial was once accused by his fellows, of praying to God, a charge that is worthy of note, since so many of us as Christians living today, could never be charged with such a practice. We observe in the above passage that the princes and presidents of the realm of ancient Babylon, sought in vain to find errors and faults in Daniel, but were futile in their attempts, for as far as finite minds go, there was nothing to be seen or heard that was contrary to the laws of the land. And so the only resort left was to accuse him of prayer, which he was accustomed to doing consistently, three times a day, for many years.
The close scrutiny with which his enemies investigated Daniel should give us all pause for concern, for we should understand that it was an extensive and intrusive analysis of all his doings that is reflected here in these verses. They most likely started with his taxes, asking the IRS to do a detailed investigation of his records, and after scouring through them with a fine toothed comb, it was seen that Daniel had paid all of his taxes in a timely manner, with no arrears being carried forward to later years. Next they pulled up his social media together with his face-book page, and lo and behold, there was nothing there to indict him, for all they saw were "Text messages" (pun intended) that Daniel had sent to many of his fellow workers, with the hope that they too would read the holy scriptures and turn to God with all of their hearts.
Then in desperation they actually smuggled the hard drive of Daniel's computer, to see if there was any hidden, personal information, any child pornography or adult x-rated material that he was secretly viewing. They searched carefully at the movies Daniel down loaded from Netflix, and there again they saw nothing worthy of incrimination, for all that Daniel viewed were some nature shows and some documentaries dealing with sacred history. Then finally, in a last ditch effort to accuse him, they literally followed him to his home, where the secret service of Babylon had installed remote cameras hidden from view, and sure enough they finally got the only thing they could try to make an accusation of, for they saw on camera that Daniel prayed three times a day, just as he had done previously.
As Christians living in the 21st century, we should have nothing to hide from mortal man, for our records should be of such that when called for in short order, they would stand the closest and most extensive scrutiny any finite being can institute. Furthermore, our prayer life should be of such quality and consistency, that our enemies can depend on us to be praying, very much the same as took place with faithful Daniel. What is worthy of note is that Daniel indeed had some faults, but those were only of the kind which the all-seeing eye of God could detect, and therefore his horizontal relationship with his fellow men was certified by his enemies as being intact. Let's read:
Daniel 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 4 And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; 21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
In our day and in our own experiences, the issue of consistent prayer is one that is given little thought by many Christians, and in some cases is left up to chance, after all of our other temporal concerns have been attended to. It is a sad commentary on our day that many of us who have taken the name of Christ, cannot be accused of prayer, but instead can truly be indicted for not praying. Prayer is the method by which the communication lines between ourselves and God remain open, and therefore is of the utmost importance, especially in the context of the very troubled times in which we now live. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us to seek God diligently in prayer each day, not in a listless, haphazard manner, but with the consistency and energy which characterized Daniel's prayers, and then if any accusation must be brought against us, let it be prayer.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which reiterates this very important aspect of our lives, and it is the will of God that we be consistent and in earnest about repairing and maintaining our prayer life, according to the stated will of God. Let's read:
2nd Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 16 "And mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study and practice of His every word. God bless!