Daniel's Prayer and Fasting as a Model for Seeking Guidance
Daniel's practice of prayer and fasting serves as a significant model for seeking divine guidance in biblical tradition. The prophet Daniel, whose name means "judgment of God" or "God my judge" [3], consistently demonstrated a life devoted to God through these spiritual disciplines.
One notable instance is recorded in Daniel 9:3, where Daniel states, "I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes" [1]. This passage illustrates Daniel's intentional and earnest approach to seeking God. He dedicated specific time for this service, distinct from his regular prayer times and daily responsibilities [5]. His posture of "setting his face" towards the Lord God indicates a focused and determined resolve to appeal to the sovereign ruler of all [5].
Daniel's commitment to prayer was a consistent feature of his life, even in the face of persecution. When a decree was issued forbidding prayer to any god or man other than the king, Daniel continued his practice of praying three times a day, just as he had always done [2, 6]. This demonstrates that his prayer life was not merely a reaction to crisis but an established habit.
Fasting, for Daniel, was an outward expression of sorrow and a means of separating himself from worldly enjoyments to devote himself more fully to prayer [4]. For example, Daniel mourned for three weeks, abstaining from "pleasant bread, flesh and wine" [4]. This act of self-affliction was not for its own sake but as a sign of deep sorrow, likely for his countrymen who faced obstacles in rebuilding the temple [4].
The combination of prayer and fasting in Daniel's life highlights a model of seeking God with humility and earnestness. This approach is not presented as an indispensable obligation for all believers but rather as a powerful means of expressing devotion and seeking divine intervention [4]. Daniel's example underscores the importance of intentionality, consistency, and a spirit of humility when seeking guidance from God.
Sources
- Daniel “I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. -- Daniel 9:3”
- Daniel “Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God. -- Daniel 6:11”
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Daniel — judgment of God; God my judge”
- Daniel (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Daniel 10:2: mourning--that is afflicting myself by fasting from "pleasant bread, flesh and wine" (Dan 10:3), as a sign of sorrow, not for its own sake. Compare Mat 9:14, "fast," answering to "mourn" (Dan 10:15). Compare Co1 8:8; Ti1 4:3, which prove that "fasting" is not an indispensable Christian obligation; but merely an outward expression of sorrow, and separation from ordinary worldly enjoyments, in order to give one's self to prayer (Act 13:2). Daniel's mourning was probably for his countrymen, who met with many obstructions to their building of the temple, f”
- Daniel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Daniel 9:3: And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications,.... He set apart some time on purpose for this service, distinct from his usual stated times of prayer, as well as from his civil business and employment; and he not only set his face toward Jerusalem, as he used to do, Dan 6:10, the more to affect his mind with the desolations the city and temple lay in; but towards the Lord God, the sovereign Lord of all, who does according to his will in heaven and in earth, the Governor of the universe, the one true God, Father, Son, and Spirit: and this deno”
- Daniel (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Daniel 6:9: Such a despotic decree is quite explicable by remembering that the king, as the incarnation of Ormuzd, might demand such an act of religious obedience as a test of loyalty. Persecuting laws are always made on false pretenses. Instead of bitter complaints against men, Daniel prays to God. Though having vast business as a ruler of the empire, he finds time to pray thrice a day. Daniel's three companions (Dan 3:12), are not alluded to here, nor any other Jew who conscientiously may have disregarded the edict, as the conspirators aimed at Daniel alone (Dan ”