FAITH IS
A HABIT.
What Daniel teaches us about consistency, courage, and the ordinary decisions that shape our walk with Jesus.
I've been in ministry for most of my life. I've preached thousands of sermons, spent years studying Scripture, served all over the globe, and had the privilege of seeing God do some incredible things.
I can spend an entire day studying for a sermon, answering phone calls, helping people, attending meetings, and doing ministry, and still neglect the most important relationship in my life.
And if I'm not careful, I can confuse being busy for Jesus with actually walking with Jesus.
That's why Daniel 6:10 has been challenging me.
Recently, as I've been preparing for our Courage series, I've been reminded of something I think every Christian needs to understand.
You cannot build a consistent Christian life on occasional spiritual excitement.
Y'all, we love big moments. We love powerful worship services, incredible testimonies, and those Sundays when you leave church knowing God has been at work.
And listen, I'm grateful for those moments. I've experienced them. I've seen God move in extraordinary ways.
But Monday always comes.
The calendar fills up. The kids have practice. Work gets demanding. We're tired. And before we know it, the spiritual commitments we were so excited about begin to disappear.
That's why I want you to notice something in Daniel's life.
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.
Daniel Didn't Suddenly Become Faithful
When most of us think about Daniel, we immediately think about the lions' den. We picture this courageous man standing before a king, refusing to compromise, and trusting God while surrounded by hungry lions.
But I think we sometimes miss the most important part of the story.
The king had signed a law making it illegal to pray to anyone except him for thirty days. Daniel knew the law. He knew the consequences. He knew that continuing to pray could cost him his life.
And what did he do?
He went home, got down on his knees, and prayed.
Don't miss those last five words in verse 10. "As he had done previously."
Daniel didn't hear that prayer had become illegal and suddenly decide to become spiritual. He didn't start praying to make a political statement. He wasn't trying to prove something to the government.
This was simply what Daniel did.
Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year.
By this point, Daniel was probably around eighty years old. He had served different kings, lived under different governments, and watched empires rise and fall.
Everything around Daniel kept changing. But Daniel didn't. Because Daniel's God hadn't changed.
Your Habits Today Are Preparing You for Tomorrow
Y'all, we have this idea that if something really terrible happens, we'll suddenly become these giants of faith.
One day the doctor calls with news we never wanted to hear. One day our marriage gets shaken. One day our child makes a decision that breaks our heart. One day we lose our job. One day following Jesus actually costs us something.
And we think, "When that happens, I'll trust God."
Maybe.
But Daniel teaches us something different.
The lions simply revealed what Daniel had spent decades becoming.
When Daniel's world was turned upside down, his instinct was to pray. Why? Because he had spent years going to God with everything else.
And I wonder how many of us have trained ourselves to do the opposite.
When trouble comes, we panic. We worry. We complain. We call everybody we know. We spend hours imagining everything that could go wrong.
And somewhere along the way, we remember that we should probably pray.
Listen, I'm including myself in that.
What if prayer became our first response instead of our last resort?
What if we developed the habit of trusting God in the ordinary moments so that when the extraordinary moments came, trusting Him was already familiar?
Consistency Matters More Than Intensity
There is nothing wrong with having powerful spiritual experiences. I'm grateful for those moments when God moves in our hearts in extraordinary ways.
But you cannot live the Christian life on those moments alone.
Think about marriage.
A healthy marriage isn't built on one incredible anniversary dinner. It's built through thousands of ordinary conversations, daily decisions, forgiveness, sacrifice, and faithfulness.
The same is true of our walk with Jesus.
Spiritual maturity isn't measured simply by how emotional you become during worship on Sunday. It's revealed in how faithfully you walk with Jesus on Monday.
It's opening your Bible when you don't particularly feel like it. It's praying when you're tired. It's worshiping with your church family when you've had a long week.
It's choosing integrity when nobody is watching. It's forgiving someone when you'd rather stay angry. It's obeying God in the small things.
Because the small things aren't really small. They're shaping the person you're becoming.
Daniel Was Busy Too
Here's something else worth remembering. Daniel was busy.
Y'all, the man was helping run an empire!
He had responsibilities. He had meetings. He had people demanding his attention. He had more going on than most of us could imagine.
Yet three times a day, Daniel stopped and prayed.
Daniel didn't find time for God. Daniel made time for God.
And that's where this gets personal for me.
I can convince myself that because I've spent hours studying Scripture for a sermon, I've spent time with Jesus. But preparing to tell other people about God is not a substitute for personally walking with God.
And the same is true for all of us.
You can serve in a ministry, sing in the choir, teach a class, attend every church event, and still neglect your personal relationship with Christ.
Those are wonderful things. We should do them. But doing things for Jesus should never replace spending time with Jesus.
Start Being Faithful Today
Maybe you're reading this and thinking about how inconsistent you've been.
You haven't opened your Bible in weeks. Your prayer life has become almost nonexistent. You've allowed everything else to become more important than your relationship with Christ.
Here's my encouragement. Start today.
Not next Monday. Not when life slows down. Not when the kids get older. Not when work gets easier.
Today.
Open your Bible and read a chapter. Start somewhere and stay with it.
Spend a few minutes talking to God. You don't need impressive words.
Make worship with your church family a priority.
Identify one area where God is calling you to obey Him.
Do it again tomorrow. And when you stumble, begin again.
Listen, consistency isn't about never missing a day. It's about refusing to give up when you do.
And please don't misunderstand me. I'm not telling you that if you read your Bible every morning, God will love you more. I'm not telling you that checking off a religious list will make God accept you.
We pursue faithfulness because we belong to a Savior who has already been faithful to us.
Jesus has saved us. He has forgiven us. He has given us His Spirit. He is interceding for us. And He has promised never to leave us or forsake us.
Our consistency is not the foundation of our salvation. His faithfulness is.
And because He is faithful, we can keep showing up, even when we stumble.
The Lions Will Eventually Roar.
I don't know what tomorrow holds for you. I don't know what phone call you might receive next week, what difficult conversation is coming, or what unexpected circumstances may be waiting around the corner.
But I do know this. Life has a way of bringing us into situations where we discover what we've really been trusting.
And when those moments come, I don't want to be desperately searching for a faith I've neglected for years.
I want to be able to do what Daniel did.
Go to God. Trust Him. Obey Him.
Just as I had done previously.
Y'all, the time to build a consistent walk with Jesus isn't when the lions start roaring. It's today.
And tomorrow, do it again.