SkiesBible story
Daniel in the lions’ den
A retelling of Daniel 6: a law against prayer, an open window, and a night with the lions.
My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”
Daniel 6:22
In Daniel 6, jealous officials tricked King Darius into banning prayer to anyone but the king. Daniel kept praying to God three times a day at his open window, as he always had. He was thrown into a den of lions, but God “shut the mouths of the lions,” and the next morning Daniel came out unharmed.
The story
Daniel was an old man, an exile from Jerusalem who had risen to the top of the Persian government because of his honesty. Other officials were jealous, but they could find nothing wrong with him, except his faith.
So they persuaded King Darius to sign a law: for thirty days, anyone who prayed to any god or man except the king would be thrown to the lions. Daniel heard about the law. He went home, opened his windows toward Jerusalem, and knelt to pray three times a day, “just as he had done before.”
The officials caught him, and the king, who loved Daniel, could not undo his own law. Daniel was thrown into the den, and a stone was rolled over the opening. The king spent the night fasting and sleepless. At dawn he ran to the den and called out. Daniel answered: “My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions.”
What it means
Daniel didn’t invent a new act of courage for the crisis. He simply kept the habit he already had: praying three times a day, “just as he had done before.” Faithfulness in small daily habits carried him through the big test.
The story ends with a pagan king praising “the living God” whose “kingdom will never be destroyed” (v. 26). Daniel’s quiet faithfulness pointed others to God.
Pray
God, make me faithful in the small things, so I am ready for the hard ones. Give me courage to keep praying, whatever anyone thinks. Amen.
Read it in the Bible
Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Daniel 6:10
I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion will never end.
Daniel 6:26
