Find Me Praying or Praising

In Daniel Chapter 2, the king basically had a nightmare, and it was so disturbing that he couldn’t sleep. He demanded his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to interpret the dream without him telling them what he dreamt about. They said it was an impossible demand, which made the king furious. He ordered that all the wise men of Babylon were to be executed.

That would have included Daniel and his friends. But we see in verse 18, in a time of crisis, Daniel turned to prayer. And when God answered his prayer, he responded with praise.

Prayer should be accompanied by praise. When God revealed the dream to Daniel, Daniel wasn’t in a rush to go to the king to reveal this mysterious dream and be a hero and make a name for himself, but He took his time to first praise the Lord.

This is the attitude God desires from us. In times of crisis, we turn to Him in prayer and when He answers, we shouldn’t rush on to the next thing like the nine lepers in Luke 17, but we should pause and take time to praise Lord.

So, we should be either praying or praising. When you’re not praying, you should be praising; and when you’re not praising, you should be praying. In every season, we can either pray or praise, and so remain in God’s presence, regardless of our circumstances.

As James 5:13 says: “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.”

In hardships, struggles, and disappointments, do not turn away from God but turn toward Him in prayer. And in times of plenty, do not become complacent, instead, come to Him with praise.