Praying with your window opened towards Jerusalem?

The other day I was reading the book of Daniel whom I admire very much. I have long noticed that Daniel prayed thrice daily, kneeling, with his window facing Jerusalem, opened. For some reason, I decided to do just that the other day and began opening my window when it was well below freezing outside with Daniel in mind and half-halfheartedly to simply freshen up the air.

    

But just as I set out to do it, God checked me. And in an instant, I understood that Daniel's style of prayer was never really about praying to a city of stones and rocks, but there was a deeper reason that Daniel prayed towards Jerusalem and this act itself was left for us to uncover a very powerful spiritual truth.

As a prophet, whose teachings I believe inspired the Three Wise Men of the East to present to themselves to Jesus so early in His life, their kingly, divine and prophetic gifts - Daniel undoubtedly understood this and in a way, that is precisely why he prayed towards Jerusalem. He was looking into the future sacrifice of Jesus that would take place there. In fact, his spiritual insight into what the Lamb of God would do is also why Daniel dared to pray like a Priest (interceding for his nation) though he was not a Levite and a King (confessing the sins of the nation on their behalf with authority) even though he had no royal blood*.

So how do we pray according to the spiritual truth of what Jerusalem really means rather than following Daniel’s shadow-of-the-real-thing example and literally doing so? When you awake in the morning, it doesn’t matter when or how long but in the first instance that you begin to set your conscious mind on God (because I believe we are always spiritually aware and mindful of Him even if our minds and thinking are not), that just as soon as you do, picture the Annointed One, the Lamb of God bleeding on on the Cross. He is bleeding, He is dying. And He is doing this for you. It is but a mental image reminding you of what Jesus has done.

And as you do, you meditate on the Most Powerful Act of Love the Universe knows. You awaken yourself to His love for you and you remember it. And as you do so this Love of our Father, see how it covers your whole day with an assurance that He is with you, for you. Any guilt you may have, watch it dissipate as the Blood soaks the rocky soil in which the Cross is planted. Any condemnation, see how it is only an illusion, a mirage, albeit a subversively powerful one for you who are in Christ. As your mind centers on what the Grace and Truth that Jesus brings, you are re-centered on the things that truly matter. Problems diminish in size and take their rightful place, under your feet.

So to be totally clear, there is no need to pray with your windows toward a city on earth. Instead, pray with your eyes open to the Cross. There is no better place to be and nothing more important.

*That we in the New Covenant age of Yeshua the King who gives us the authority to be called sons of God (John 1:12) and made us a Royal Priesthood (1 Pet 2:9, Rev 1:6), can easily do what Daniel did is something many take for granted. But Daniel lived in a very different age, 600 years before Jesus came which tells us that Daniel was a man who had a very strong understanding of a New Covenant Truth that few people in the Church today appreciate or understand. And just as he taught the many about God and His ways, revealing the secrets of heavens, even today his example does this in the way he prayed always with his window opened to Jerusalem. For more about Daniel's amazing spiritual insight and wisdom click here.