If you don’t have “election anxiety,” you’re in the decided minority. With all the political messages inundating social media, television, and mailers, we’re inundated daily with the subject. Conversations about politics can strain friendships; heated debates can increase tension and negatively impact relationships.
Some avoid social gatherings altogether to avoid conflict. And many are worried about what comes after the elections.
Reading through Daniel 6 today, I found an ancient remedy for the anxiety of our times. It is relevant regardless of our circumstances and fears. I am committing myself to it anew today and invite you to join me.
“Going up to the temple at the hour of prayer”
Many people know of the Muslim custom of praying five times a day (known as Salah), but fewer know that the Jews have historically prayed three times each day. (Some historians think Muhammad was aware of this and patterned the Muslim custom on it.)
According to Jewish tradition, Abraham instituted the morning prayer, known as Shacharit. His son Isaac instituted the afternoon prayer, called Mincha, and his son Jacob originated the evening prayer, known as Maariv. Over time, daily sacrifices in the temple were aligned with these times of prayer, so that “Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour” (Acts 3:1).
David referenced this discipline when he testified, “Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice” (Isaiah 55:17). Similarly, we find Jesus praying early in the morning (Mark 1:35), during the day (cf. John 6:11), and at night (cf. Luke 6:12).
Notably, all three “hours” of sacrifice and prayer were associated directly with his crucifixion: it began at the “third hour” of the day (Mark 15:25), corresponding to the first hour of prayer (9 am); darkness began at the “sixth hour” (Matthew 27:45), corresponding to the second hour of prayer (12 noon); and our Savior died at the “ninth hour” (Luke 23:44–46), corresponding to the third hour of prayer (3 pm).
“Windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem”
This commitment to three “hours” of prayer was especially modeled by Daniel, who risked his life to keep it.
After King Darius issued a decree that prayers could be made only to him (Daniel 6:6–9), we read:
When Daniel knew that 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 (v. 10).
As the story famously continues, he was arrested for this, thrown into the lions’ den, and miraculously delivered by God (vv. 11–23).
I find it interesting that Daniel did not make any of the compromises available to him by which to avoid the arrest he knew was coming.
- He did not choose to stop praying for the thirty days required by the edict.
- He did not pray “to the king” as he prayed to the King, so as to obey Darius’ edict while continuing to pray to God.
- He did not pray silently or in a room where he would not be visible to his enemies.
- Nor did he close his windows so his opponents could not hear his words and charge him with disobeying the edict.
Rather, he prayed “toward Jerusalem,” as has been Jewish custom across the centuries, at open “windows in his upper chamber” where his enemies could both see and hear his prayers. At the time, he could not know that God would protect him from the persecution to follow. For all he knew, these would be the last hours he would spend, and he wanted to spend them faithfully communing with his Lord.
Appointments with God
Over the years, I have found the Jewish practice of setting aside three times in the day for prayer to be very valuable. I think of them as “appointments with God.”
They force me, no matter what is happening in my life and world at the moment, to take a moment to reorient from the horizontal to the vertical and from the temporal to the eternal. They give me the opportunity to reconnect my soul with the Spirit, who is the power of my life and work.
I have never paid Daniel’s price for such a discipline, but I believe it was this discipline that empowered him to pay the price he did. And I believe it will do the same for us, whatever our fears and challenges today.
When was your last “appointment” with your Father?
When will be your next?
