Orion the Soldier (Armor of God)

By admin On March 12th, 2011

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Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names, details, tags, etc.. Most Images cropped/reduced in size.

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

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ORION THE SOLDIER

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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orionurania.jpg

The pagan cultures saw this incredible constellation as a hunter, with a club.

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Well, they weren’t too far off. Actually, God created it to appear like a soldier. This is because all nature presents aspects of the Gospel.

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Listen… “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” Psalm 19:1.

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And so now we are amazed to discover that beyond the awesome grandeur of the starry night-heavens, God has actually written the Love of God upon the heavenly scroll!   

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Orionurania wikipedia public domain

Orion Constellation at Eagle Ridge

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7 MAJOR STARS OF ORION…

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Orion Constellation can best be seen all winter (but even in August in the pre-http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:25_Orionis_location.pngdawn hours of morning in eastern skies) traveling east to west through the night, in mid-sky. To find the seven major stars of Orion (one star on each shoulder and one star on each foot, plus the three stars which make his belt), you can locate on just about any clear night regardless of the blackness of the night. To find Orion’s other stars, you need more star-visibility…a darker, moonless night, and possibly away from city lights.

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Orion wikimedia share-alike license

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THREE VERSES CONCERNING THE ORION CONSTELLATION…

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“God…Which makes Arcturus, ORION, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.” Job 9:9

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“Can you … loose the bands of ORION?” Job:38:31

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“Seek Him that makes the Seven Stars and ORION…The Lord is His name.” Amos 5:8

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A SHORT “ARMOR OF GOD” STORY   

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“OH SINNER MAN, WHERE YA GONNA RUN TO?”  

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About 40 years ago (being a brand new convert from atheism), I was going through terrible satanic attacks. I was…uh…a Christian, but only because Satan had burst my ‘atheism-bubble’, by revealing himself  to me. But I wouldn’t really call myself a ‘true worshipper’ yet. Maybe I could just be labeled as… an ‘atheist-who-just-met-the-Devil’. And it seemed that my Judgment Day was now at hand. The Devil was sending me through terrors beyond belief. Oh yeah, I was praying for help. But it was like, God was not listening. Heaven was like brass (see Deuteronomy 28:23). During these months my theme song could easily have been that old tune…”Oh Sinner Man”. You know the song… “Oh sinner man where ya gonna run to …all on that day.”  (Click this link to hear)

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This following Bible verse seems to fit what I was going through…  “Then shall they call upon Me (God), but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me:  For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD” Proverbs 1:28,29                     

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But the Devil was laying some “pretty heavy stuff” on me, during those years. I didn’t know the Bible hardly at all. I was trying to be a Christian, but it just wasn’t working. And because I didn’t know the Bible, the Devil could tell me just about any crazy story he wanted to. I was no match for him. So the thought came to me that I was infected with Satan. And not doubt Satan is contagious! OK, OK, I know this was a stupid thing to think. But I didn’t know anything about the Bible. But really, when you think about it, a person who has no protection from Satan…with out God’s protection. He or she is liable to do anything the Devil wishes, if God permits.

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As I was driving up to Portland  on Interstate 5 something caught my attention. An old barn…sitting off to the west of the freeway…in a field…just south of Salem…standing there as a monument to days-gone-by. And as I drove by, I was surprised to see a Bible concept inscribed on its old weathered wooden walls. Someone had painted the following sentence on the side of that old relic… “SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS…ARMOR UP…THE TIME IS AT HAND!” 

 .        Soldiers of the Cross-Armor Up
  
These words made a strong impact on me, at that moment. “Profound statement!”, I thought to myself. “Whoever painted those words must also be aware that Judgment Day is at hand.”           
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But now, I had a little hope. “That writing on that old barn just might be the answer to my problems.” I might have thought… “put on the armor of God. Very interesting concept. Hmmm.”  

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“FIERY ARROWS FROM THE WICKED ONE”

Ephesians 6 …

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Sometime later, my new wife, Becky, and I were visiting relatives in the Bay area. (The satanic attacks had subsided for a year or so). But now, Satan had once again renewed his warfare against me. And I was going through a lot of personal spiritual attacks. I was so new to Christianity, and didn’t know how to combat all the fierce attacks. All the doubts. All the condemnation…                
 
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The fears Satan put in my mind! Desperate! “The king of Babylon (Satan) has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a dragon, he has filled his belly with my delicates, he has cast me out.” Jeremiah 51:34

  .              385px-B-29s_dropping_bombs wikipedia public domain
 
“You’re not praying enough!” (said the Devil)                
 
“You’re a glutton!”                
 
“You’re not like Jesus!”               
 
“You’re gonna lose your salvation! 

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 “You’re this!” “You didn’t do that!”  Like flaming arrows or dropping missiles, the Devil was hailing accusations down on me. And what made it so effective, was that his accusations were valid criticisms. I mean, the Devil doesn’t have to make these things up. I really wasn’t Christ-like. I didn’t pray like Jesus, etc… 

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This was overwhelming. I  had no shelter from this barrage of mental attacks. No relief!           
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B-29s dropping bombs – wikipedia public domain

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“A WALK IN THE PARK (but no picnic!)”

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Anyway, I remember, that when down there (the Bay Area) visiting, I decided to go for a walk, one day, to a nearby park to pray and read my Bible. And it was a nice sunny California day. (But not for me, because of all these satanic attacks).

weston park australia

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Anyway, while reading, I came across Ephesians Chapter 6, where it commands Believers to put on the ‘whole armor of God’. 

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But the part that really made sense, was where the next words continued… “that you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the Devil.” 

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“Dear Lord! That’s my problem!” (I must have thought). “Fiery darts! That’s exactly how Satan’s attacks feel! Like someone’s shooting fiery darts into my soul!” 

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And so, this concept of ‘putting on the armor of God’ came back to me, from that experience I had a few years earlier, while passing that old barn. 

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“How do I put on this armor, Lord?”  I didn’t know. “I want to put it on right away! Do I put it on by just believing by faith?  Does it take time? Or do I put it on at once?”  These were the kind of thoughts running through my mind, as I sat on a picnic bench.           

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wikipedia common use license weston park australia
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COOL WATER IN A DRY THIRSTY LAND… 

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 Looking back on this experience, it’s hard to imagine all this confusion. But going through this kind of satanic assault, I felt crushed by the weight of the heavy persecution. So, reading  passages as Ephesians 6, you just drink it in! Imagine yourself walking through, say, Death Valley, in 117 degree heat. And just before you collapse, you look down and see an ice-cold glass of water. Imagine how wonderful that would be to drink that ice-cold water! Well, that’s how the Word of God was to me during these days. During these days of persecution… 

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The reality of the spiritual battle I was going through, in captured in the following verse which really says it all…“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12 

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And believe me, there is nothing like satanic persecution to get a person reading their Bible! Especially when he was talking directly to me (in my mind)! 

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 “My soul thirsts for Thee (God), my flesh longs for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” Psalm 63:1 

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“As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news (the Gospel) from a far country (Heaven).”  Proverbs 25:25             

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“PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD”…

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 I didn’t understand all that Ephesians 6 was talking about. “What does it mean to put on ‘the breast plate of righteousness'”? This was very puzzling to me… “How does a person just put something like that on?” This was a concept above my comprehension.

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“And how does a person ‘put on the helmet of salvation'”, I thought to myself… “especially while Satan is condemning and accusing every moment?”

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And how do you put on the shoes, ‘with the gospel of peace’? I couldn’t understand these concepts. I was too new in the faith.

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ONE CONCEPT THAT DID MAKE SENSE… But there was one thing I could understand. I knew what it meant to take thesword of the spirit, which is the word of God”. Now that I got! Read the Bible! That’s a simple concept! Yeah! 

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Well this was possibly the event that began my Bible sojourn. Reading God’s Word! I determined that I would saturate my mind with Scriptures. That’s what I would do! After all, I loved to read it anyway. So maybe by reading it and knowing it, I could know the Bible well enough to overcome all these attacks by Satan. Maybe that’s the key to finding personal victory. “Study, study, study!” Just completely fill my mind with knowledge…of His words!  

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Well, this began a long love affair with the Word of God! And by studying the Bible for myself, I came to understand what it meant to ‘put on the breastplate of righteousness’. And by hiding the ‘Word in my heart’ (Psalm 119:11), I began to comprehend what it meant to ‘put on the helmet of salvation’.  To put on the ‘preparation of the gospel of peace’‘the shield of faith’. (I already knew well what the fiery darts of the devil meant) But these other truths didn’t come all at once.       

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The sketch above is Orion the Soldier and the Dragon of Revelation 12. They begin to rise in the east in the fall and gradually move westward, finally sinking in the west in the spring. Find Orion first. Look for his 3-star belt. Then find the 4 bright stars of his shoulders and feet. Then locate the Dragon’s mouth (AKA Hyades). 

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“THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MY HEART”

(Ps. 119:11)…  

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So, it became my mission to know everything about the Bible. I read the Bible and every spiritual book related, that I felt was reliable. I found little Gideon pockhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holy_bible.jpget Bibles at the thrift shop, that I could carry in my back pocket. Then whenever I had a spare moment, I could commit a verse to memory. I also carried a notebook in which to write a passage from a spiritual book. Then at work, whenever I had a moment to spare, I would look at the notebook, and try to memorize the passage. The Lord seemed to have blessed my memory skills, because prior to this, I couldn’t memorize well at all. Through these times, it seemed that looking at the Bible was like cool refreshing water in a dry and thirsty land. Every time I opened my Bible or related books, it was like cool refreshing water. The Devil was attacking me on a daily basis. The Bible was my “safe harbor”. It was my “hiding place”  (“Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in Thy Word.” Psalm 119:114)          
 
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Holy Bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Lic..

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40 YEARS LATER…

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By the grace of God, the love for the Bible remains. Oh yeah, it’s been a ‘long and winding road’ (as the old song goes).  There’s been some valleys, and a deep ditch or two, along the way.

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 The Bible commands us to meditate ‘day and night’ on God’s word (Psalm 1 & Psalm 119:97).  And whether or not a person is bombarded with Satan’s ‘fiery bullets’, or  merely being drowned in an ocean of worldliness, he must ‘continue in My Word’  John 8:28. That’s our protection from the Devil. That’s our armor. That’s our shield. It’s our helmet too. It’s our Gospel shoes. It’s the life-blood every true worshipper of God. The Word of God. “Sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Hebrews 4)

  
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www.devouringfire.com share-and-share-alike license.         
  
For the entire story of how I went through Judgment Day, just click the following link… “Judgment Day…RX7” 

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A HEAVENLY HOBBY

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Starry_Night_at_La_Silla.jpg

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“Lift up your eyes on high, and behold Who hath created these things; that brings out their host by number: He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isaiah 40:26

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ABOVE PICTURE – Starry Night at La Silla – cropped  and altered image – Wikimedia – Share-Alike license

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The above verse is a plea from God to look up at the Heavens and behold Who has created these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:New_york_times_square-terabass.jpgthings.

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In this busy work-a-day world, there are many very interesting things which can occupy one’s time and energy: hobbies, and careers, and entertainments and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shoppers_on_Dundas,_near_Yonge.jpgworries, and habits, to name just a few.

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But as the child of God devotes his or her life to God, there should be a jealous guarding of one’s own heart… “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23.

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The Christian wants nothing to get in the way of running that Christian Race.

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New York Times Square – terabass – cropped image – Wikipedia – Share-alike License

Shoppers in Toronto – cropped image – Wikimedia – share-alike license

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“AND WHEN YE SEE THESE THINGS…

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LOOK UP, LIFT UP YOUR HEAD”

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But having said this, there is one hobby which every ‘Noble Berean’ may take up, which only compliments the pursuit of the heavenly Prize.

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Yes, Signs Of Heaven becomes a wonderfully rewarding hobby which, unlike many less meaningful hobbies, pays off with rich, heavenly rewards. Everlasting rewards!

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And unlike the person in this photo with equipment, all you need is fairly good vision, and a dark, starry night.

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And once a person really gets to know these heavenly messengers, it will become very apparent that the message connected with these signs is truly a message to be heeded.

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Thus will the Christian be able to share this message with others. And there are perhaps many nuances and hidden biblical truths to these signs which have yet to be discovered.

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Astronomy Amateur – cropped image – Wikipedia – share-alike license

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.summer w/woman & doves

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“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;” Luke 21:25

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ABOVE CHART: Summer Constellations with Doves (Sagittarius) & Woman (Ursa Major)

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FIRST FIND ORION & 7 STARS

.Orion Constellation

The very first step in finding these many constellations, should be to find the two main constellations: Orion, and the 7 Stars (aka, The Big Dipper).

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These two constellations represent Christ (Orion), and His Chur7 stars as Crossch (7 Stars).

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And just as these are the easiest constellations to find, so too, the first place to begin studying the Bible is the Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).

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These four books present Christ and His Church, when He walked the earth, just as Orion and the 7 Stars represent Christ and His Church, as seen up in the heavens.

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Then, once you are comfortable finding these two constellations, you can begin to locate the next closest constellations, and so on.

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ABOVE PICTURE: Orion the Soldier and the Revelation 12 Dragon (Hyades & Pleiades, etc.) – winter constellations – www.signsofheaven.org – not for commercial use

ABOVE PICTURE – 7 Stars Constellation as the Cross (aka Big Dipper) – winter – signsofheaven.org – not for commercial uses

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ANOTHER HEAVENLY HOBBY: PRAYER-WALKS

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Now if you’re fortunate enough to be able to go on nightly walks, and you live in an area where you can safely view the stars, here is another Heavenly Hobby which Signs Of Heaven endorses…

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Starry_Night_at_La_Silla.jpg

Why not combine star-watching with prayer, as you walk? What a great way to draw closer to God!

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It cannot be over-stressed, just how wonderful it is to walk under the dark canopy of Heaven, while lifting up one’s heart to our Heavenly Father! There is a closeness to God that cannot be described with words!

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(And even if you cannot safely do this, you can always do such prayer-walks in the daytime, in a safe place, such as a mall, which is every bit as effective, prayer-wise.

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And for those who are in confinement, one can view these starry signs on the Internet, or simply listen to Scripture on audio.

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Either way, all such may enjoy God’s richest blessings at this very time in which God is pouring out all Heaven’s treasures upon anyone willing to forsake all, and follow Jesus!)

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Starry Night at La Silla – cropped and altered image – Wikipedia – share-alike license

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THRICE-DAILY PRAYERS

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marines_at_Prayer_by_Alex_Raymond.jpg.

Now of course, the Bible commands us to, “pray without ceasing“. The Christian is to constantly talk with our Heavenly Father throughout the day.

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But the Bible also holds up the godly life of Daniel, who, when captive in Babylon, still set aside three times daily, in which he knelt for special prayer.

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And furthermore the Bible also says… “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.” Psalm 55:17.

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Even those who are bed-fast or in a prison cell can begin to imitate Daniel in this way. And if one is fortunate to be able to walk, then this thrice-daily prayer regimen can be combined with three walks daily and even nightly.

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Marines at Prayer by Alex Raymond – Wikimedia – public domain

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