God’s Word for You
Daniel 6:10a Windows toward Jerusalem
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, October 30, 2025
10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room. It had open windows that faced toward Jerusalem.
I think we will take this verse in two halves, because there is a lot to say about prayer. In the second part, Daniel describes how often he prayed, and his posture (that is, he prayed on his knees and not standing up). More about that tomorrow. In this part, we see Daniel faithfully following the command and invitation from God to pray.
So the two parts of this verse can be looked at in this way: (1) The posture of the heart in prayer, and (2) The posture of the body in prayer. And both halves touch on the content of our prayers.
Even though the government had forbidden him from doing it, Daniel went right home as soon as he heard about the king’s edict and went to where he usually prayed, and then he prayed. Just as Peter would say five hundred years later, “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Jesus also taught us. He said, “You have to obey the lawyers and do everything they tell you. But don’t do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach” (Matthew 23:3). Now, Jesus was talking about religious leaders (the “lawyers” were the scribes), but his words apply all the more to the secular government, where there are bound to be many hypocrites and scoundrels who make laws but don’t follow them, not according to the letter nor according to the spirit of the law.
His room “had open windows that faced toward Jerusalem.” We always need to be on our guard not to overlay our culture, our habits, or even our architecture onto the Biblical world. They did not have windows with sashes to raise, or that cranked out like ours, nor even windows that had glass in them. A window was bound to have a curtain for privacy and to help guard against wind and weather or to give secrecy. A window might have a lattice that was a semi-permanent covering (Judges 5:28; Proverbs 7:6; Song of Solomon 2:9). Some windows had shutters that could be opened, like the one that Elisha had King Jehoash shoot through (2 Kings 13:16). Daniel’s windows were simply open, or usually uncovered even by curtains. Such were easy prey for thieves (Joel 2:9), but Daniel’s were up on the second floor.
The importance of the windows facing Jerusalem was so that the worshiper would face the temple as he prayed, and more specifically, the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant rested. David said, “In reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple” (Psalm 5:7), and again, “I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place” (Psalm 28:2). For David, the temple was still a tabernacle, and the Ark was not in the Most Holy Place, but had to be moved from the house of Abinadab (with errors and death delaying them, 2 Samuel 6:6-7) to a special tent the king pitched in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:17). Then in the days of Solomon, when the temple was built, the king prayed that even when people were taken captive, they might “pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin” (1 Kings 8:35). This was Daniel’s regular practice, showing the posture of his heart.
Did turning the body toward the west (that is, toward Jerusalem from Babylon) mean that the prayer was pointed in the right direction? No. It meant that the heart of the one praying was considering what the temple meant. It was the place where sacrifices were made for sins (Numbers 18:9), and it was the place where the high priest made atonement for all of the sins of the Israelites every year (Leviticus 16:1-20). So the posture of facing toward Jerusalem was the posture that prepared the heart of the worshiper for prayer.
Having said this, we want to remember some important things about our own prayers.
1, Prayer is an act of worship (Acts 13:1-2). Therefore, we do not join in prayer with unbelievers or with those who do not believe as we do.
2, In prayer, we speak to God from our hearts. “O Lord, listen! O Lord, hear and act!” (Daniel 9:19). This is a good reason for us to remember to guard our tongues against foul language, lies, and insults, since ours are “lips that we must use in prayer.”
3, God only hears the prayers of believers (those who believe in Jesus and who pray in his name). “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
4, A believer may bring to God prayers or requests about anyone or anything. “I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone” (1 Timothy 2:1).
5, A believer may pray at any time and anywhere. “Pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God” (Jonah 2:1).
6, A Christian may use his or her own words to pray. “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:10). Those words do not need to be rehearsed, or perfectly spoken. The Holy Spirit knows what we mean to say and he “intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26).
7, A Christian may use words given to him by someone else. “Take words with you and return to the Lord” (Hosea 14:2). They can be prayers learned in childhood; those prayers are still welcome to God’s ears later in life. “Say thy prayers, and farewell!”
8, A Christian will certainly want to use the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus gave to us as a model. “This is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…’” (Matthew 6:9).
God promises to hear and answer the prayers of all who pray to him in faith. Paul says, “In Christ and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12). And Jesus said, “Which of you, if his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? Or it he asks for a fish, would give him a snake? So then, if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?” (Matthew 7:9-11). God’s answer might sometimes be “no,” as it was to Jesus in the Garden (Matthew 26:39). But he always gives us what is good, right, and necessary, according to our needs and according to his will for his kingdom.
When you go to him in prayer today, remember the posture of your heart, which is nothing but faith in Jesus Christ, for on account of him and in his name we may approach our heavenly father “as dear children ask their dear father.” Your heart itself is a window toward the true Jerusalem; our Lord’s throne in heaven.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.