I am bell and He is sure wind, and He moves and I am rung and I know it for what it is: this is the other side where Daniel, man of prayer, lived.
Change agent, mover and shaker Daniel, second-to-the-king Daniel, sleeping-on-perfect-peace-in-the-den-of-lions Daniel.
Daniel is a man of power prayer, not because he bends the stiff knees and makes petitions of the High Throne three times a day.
Rather, his prayer moves kings and lion jaws because Daniel "prayed three times a day, just as he had always, giving thanks to His God" (Daniel 6:10, emphasis added).
Three times a day Daniel prayed thanksgiving for the everyday common, for the God-love spilling from the God-heart center of it all....The only real prayers are the ones mouthed with thankful lips.
Because gratitude ushers into the other side of prayer, into the heart of the God-love, and all power to change the world, me, resides here in His love.
Prayer, to be prayer, to have power to change anything, must first speak thanks: "In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6).
"First I tell you to pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to Him"
(1 Timothy 2:1).
Prayer without ceasing is only possible in a life of continual thanks.
How did I ever think there was another way to enter into His courts but with thanksgiving?
Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the LORD is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100:4-5
From One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
