Today's Devotional Thought
September 09, 2011 by Wendy Foreman
Would You Pray?
Would you keep on praying?
In the 6th chapter of the book of Daniel, we see that a decree had been signed by King Darius stating that no one could pray to anyone divine or human. They could only pray to and worship the King.
Would you keep on praying?
We read that Daniel, in spite of the decree, continued to pray to his God, and not in private either. Daniel threw open the windows as he always had and prayed towards Jerusalem. I recently heard Wendy Pope from Proverbs 31 Ministries talk about how this moment in Daniel's life was a defining moment. Defining moments show to others what we have become. Daniel could have prayed in private and kept the window closed, but I believe to Daniel that would have been compromising. He knew what the right thing to do was.
Let me ask you ladies, do you always do what you know is right?
I was faced with something yesterday that helped me put this devotional into practice. We have an event planned next month with our ladies from church and my teenaged daughter is going with us. And I am so excited. Yesterday, she texted me from school and told me that the same weekend we have planned to be away is homecoming at her high school.
I was faced with a hard decision: would I allow her to go to homecoming instead of going to the conference? It was a defining moment for me and for her. I knew that the right thing was for her to attend the conference with the ladies from our church because it was more important than homecoming at her school. I know that attending this conference will result in an eternal difference in her life, so we decided that she would go to the conference and not to homecoming. She came home from school and although she was upset, she never questioned it and I was so proud of her. I know she is disappointed. But I also know that this conference will be more meaningful.
As a mother and a woman, I am an example to my daughter. She will learn from me and how I make decisions. Daniel was faced with a decision and in my opinion, his choice showed others what he was made of, what was truly important to him. If I had told my daughter that it was okay to ditch going to a Christian women's conference to go to a school function, then I would have told her that there are other things that are more important than the Lord.
Daniel lived his life caring more about what the Lord thought than others. Because of that Daniel made decisions that honored God and God took care of Him. He was spared in the lion's den and because of that, many people recognized the one true living God.
Do you care more about what others think or do you care more about what God thinks? The answer to that question will make a difference in how you live your life. My prayer is that God is who you care most about and that it is reflected in your decisions.
December