Neville Goddard on Daniel 6:12-13 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Daniel 6 in context

Scripture Focus

12Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

13Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

Daniel 6:12-13

Biblical Context

Daniel 6:12-13 shows men reminding the king of his decree that forbids petitioning other gods, and Daniel continues to petition his God three times a day, undeterred by the law. The outer decree is tested against inner fidelity, revealing the power of faithful petition.

Neville's Inner Vision

Daniel’s act is a mirror of the inner life. The decree and the den are not about a human king; they symbolize the conflict between outer authorities and the I AM within. Daniel’s three daily petitions are simply consistent acts of imagination—assumptions that the God of his captivity is still present and ruling. The king’s law cannot touch the inner state; the lions symbolize fears stirred by the outer scene, but the I AM remains unaffected because it is the ground of being. Thus the story teaches that outer decrees are movable shadows when confronted with the inner reality of God. For us, the empowerment is to establish a steady petition: whenever you feel ruled by circumstance, revise the thought by declaring, 'I petition the I AM now; I am held in divine protection by the I AM within me.' Feel the calm, the transaction of awareness, and the sense that you are not bound by the apparent 'den' but sustained by a higher power.

Practice This Now

Assume now the inner petition: close eyes, take a deep breath, and say, 'I am always petitioning the I AM.' Do this for a minute, three times today, imagining the den dissolving into a bright inner sanctuary.