Fasting in the Bible Day 9: Daniel

In the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, son of Ahasuerus, king of the Babylonians, I, Daniel, understood from the words of Jeremiah the prophet that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God with prayer and petition, fasting, and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “Lord, You are a great and awesome God who keeps Your covenant of unfailing love with those who love You and obey Your commands. We have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled, turning away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to Your prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our ancestors and all the people of the land. You, Lord, are righteous, but we are covered in shame. All the people of Judah, Jerusalem and all of Israel were scattered by You because of our disloyalty. All of us, including our leaders, are covered in shame because we have sinned against You. But You, LORD are compassionate and forgiving, even though we rebelled against You. We have not obeyed Your voice or followed the teachings You gave us through Your prophets. All of Israel disobeyed Your instructions and turned away, not obeying Your voice. So the judgments written in the law of Moses have been poured on us because of our sin.” From Daniel 9: 1 – 11

Daniel was a successful servant of the king, capable, always responsible and completely trustworthy. He was also a faithful man of God. Because of his great ability, the king wanted to promote him over the entire empire. Some of the other administrators became jealous and looked for ways to criticize and condemn him. But they realized that they could only get him in trouble by focusing on his religion. So they went to the king and persuaded him to sign a law saying that for the next thirty days, no one could pray to anyone except the king himself, or be thrown into a den of lions.

Daniel ignored the law and continued to pray three times a day, as usual, by his window that looked towards Jerusalem. The administrators brought it to the king’s attention, of course. Even though he didn’t want to, the king was forced to send Daniel to the den of lions. The king said, “I hope your God will rescue you!” And the next morning, the king rushed to the lions’ den and asked if his God had indeed saved him. Daniel responded that God had closed the lions’ mouths and he was found innocent, and was without a scratch. Then the king had Daniel’s accusers and their families thrown into the den and the same lions tore them all apart. He also sent out a decree saying that Daniel’s God was a living God who rescues His people.

Although Daniel continued to prosper at his job, in his personal life he was troubled by many visions of the end times of the world. Because most of his people, the Jews exiled in Babylon and the Jews living in Jerusalem, lived their lives separate from what God had commanded and lived according to what the world dictated, he was afraid for them.

His response was to pray and petition God to act out of His love for them. He fasted and lay in sackcloth and ashes. And he confessed his sins and the sins of his people to God.

Confession means you agree with God where you were wrong. You ask for His forgiveness. You commit to turn around and away from that sin in the future.

We do not usually dwell on the confession part for what we might call small sins or white lies. We try not to punish ourselves. We might consider a repayment or apology for our wrongdoing. We normally do not think it is a big deal.

But Daniel thought his sin and the sin of his people was a big deal! He felt covered in shame and judged by God. He mourned for their sin. He felt the need to spend some extended time fasting and confessing.

Confession does not always come easily to us, sometimes it takes several days or a week or more to finally admit that we were wrong. But we know that true confession brings us to a refreshing state of mind. Instead of dragging it out, maybe next time consider setting aside a time of solitude to deal with your wrongdoing, big or small. Mark that time with a sacrifice of fasting. Mark in your journal an open conversation with God about your desire to turn around and turn towards Him. Know that you have truly confessed and then forget.

What situation or wrong action have you been thinking about but not handling? It might be a big deal to someone else. Commit to deal with it, once and for all.

Forgiving Lord, I agree with you that sometimes I might be quick to offend and quick to feel offended. I want to take the time to unpack my action, refresh my mind and act differently next time. Help me mark that time with Your love and care for me. Amen.