A Hopeful Prayer

A long time ago there lived a monk by the name of Elias. Elias lived in the local monastery just outside the local village. Elias was known in the village as the praying monk. People would constantly see him stopping and praying at random places around the village. They would also see his lips move with no sound come out of them and they came to understand that even while he was walking and doing his work he seemed to be constantly praying. When people would ask other monks about Elias they would confirm that he was the same way at the monastery. He was constantly praying.

Well one day there was a boy who had recently moved to the village with his family. As he was walking through the streets of the village he eventually caught sight of Elias. He turned to one of the other kids he was with and asked him why that man was muttering under his breath. One of the kids responded that his name was Elias and everyone called him the praying monk because he was always in prayer. While most people would probably accept this at face value this young boy was a bit more skeptical. Not only was he skeptical but he was also curious. So over the next couple of days the boy would watch Elias from a distance to see if he was really always in prayer.

What he noticed was that Elias would be constantly moving his mouth as he walked around the village. He also noticed that this praying monk would offer bread and vegetables to some of the poorer people in the village. He also paid attention to the fact that he would talk to people in the streets and in the shops. The boy then asked other monks what kinds of things Elias did around the monastery. He learned that he would work in the garden and chop wood and do other chores that he wanted or was assigned.

Finally this boy felt he had enough information about Elias, the praying monk. that he approached him directly and asked him if it was true that he was always in prayer. It seemed rather impossible. Elias looked at the boy kindly and responded with a caring voice. “Yes, I am always in prayer.” The boy pointed out all the times the man was doing chores or talking to people where he wouldn’t be able to say a prayer. He then ended with is biggest argument of all, he had to sleep and you can’t pray while you sleep. Realizing this boy had done his research, Elias put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and very lovingly explained his prayer life. “I do pray a lot even when I’m about town. When I’m talking with people or giving them food I am always sharing God’s love which is a form of prayer. So are all the chores I do at the monastery, they are all done for God’s glory and that can be a form of prayer too. Finally as to sleep. yes I do sleep. But as I sleep I know there are people who are awake through the night and they pray for me. But more importantly prayer isn’t just about the words you say but are about your giving your whole self to God. So while I sleep I place my trust in God that God will bring me through the night.” The boy’s face shifted from skeptical to wonder. He had never thought about prayer in that way before. The boy simply responded, “I will pray for you Elias.” Elias smiled back at the boy and said, “I will pray for you too.” And they departed.

This is what the story of Daniel is also about. While it may have been Daniel’s commitment to prayer that caused him to get in trouble with this new law, it was prayer that brought him through the trials that he was facing. Having heard the proclamation that the king had made he could have easily have gone and prayed in a different part of the house. He could have prayed after everyone had gone to bed. He could have done probably one of a dozen different things that would have made it so that he could have prayed and not been caught by these officers that were conspiring against him. He could have also not prayed for the month and then returned to his routine after the edict ended.

But this isn’t who Daniel is. Daniels life of prayer and faithfulness to God is at the very center of who he is. King Darius had recently become king he appointed three main officers over every other officer, administrator, and official in his kingdom. One of those three was Daniel. Daniel continued to surpass everyone else and was being considered to be just under Darius. Not too dissimilar from Joseph being the person just under Pharaoh. These jealous officials were so upset by this that they tried to find a fault with Daniel but discovered that there was no corruption or anything found in Daniel and his work.

Their very next thought to oust Daniel was to exploit his faith and his religious practices. To me this connection between his trustworthiness and his faith go hand in hand. The whole reason Daniel is trustworthy, the reason why he works so hard and is lifted up for his work is because his faith life, his life of prayer is rooted in his very being. He is rooted in the word of God and that informs and transforms who he is as compared to these other officials.

And we even see this same idea play out in his rescue from the lion’s den. No one can rescue him from being put into the den. Daniel is unwilling to compromise his faith and that’s why he’s thrown in, but again that is also what saves him from this disaster. King Darius, despite the fact that he doesn’t want Daniel to die can’t stop his own law. Not even the king can stop what is about to happen. But what does get Daniel through it? His faith. He never wavered in his prayer, he continued to live his life of faith every step of the way and God brought him through this trial.

Now I’m not saying that any of you should throw yourself or someone else into a lion’s den or run up to a pack of coyotes or anything of the sort. What I am saying is that our lives are impacted and transformed by the way that we live them. If we spend our lives in prayer, whether spoken or as the praying monk Elias would say, that our whole being, everything we do and say can be a form of prayer, then we too will see how we can be transformed by the love and the grace of God. And don’t let anything get in the way of spending your time in prayer to God. Don’t let a king, an official, a negative thought, a friend, or a situation or anything else from fulling living into who you are. You are a child of God. And know that when we live a life of prayer of orienting ourselves to God then we can and will see the hope that God sees and that God brings into this world. May God bless you as we enter this season of Advent and begin with a prayer life filled with hope. Amen.