When Daniel learned that the decree had been signed and posted, he continued to pray just as he had always done…Three times a day he knelt there in prayer, thanking and praising his God. Daniel 6:10 (MSG)
Developing the habit of being thankful has so many benefits, but one of the most surprising is that it actually helps to grow our faith. In fact, we can find a great example of this in Daniel, whose practice of thankfulness preceded a faith-filled response to a death sentence.
Deceitful governors undermined Daniel by tricking the king into making a short-term law that forbid praying to anyone except the king, which of course Daniel refused to obey. He continued to pray and give thanks only to God, and as a result, the king had no choice but to have him thrown into a den of lions. In the face of what seemed to be certain doom, Daniel trusted God to take him through, and he miraculously survived unharmed! (See Daniel 6.)
You see, three times a day for years, Daniel had practiced keeping his heart focused on giving thanks to God. When facing what seemed to be certain death, Daniel was drawing from a confident heart, full of faith in God and His ability to save him.
A lack of thankfulness causes faith to dwindle, but when we choose to give thanks to God, not for the circumstances but in spite of the circumstances, thankfulness opens the doorway to the miraculous.
The habit of giving thanks grows gratitude in your heart, which causes faith to rise up on the inside of you. Then, when you face difficult circumstances, you won’t feel like a deer in the headlights—you’ll be empowered to stand strong like Daniel!