Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. – Daniel 6:10, KJV

According to Charles Duhigg, author of the bestseller The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business:

There’s this fundamental finding in science that some habits seem to matter more than others. When researchers look at how people change their habitual behaviors, they find when some changes occur, it seems to set off a chain reaction that causes other patterns to change as well. For some people, exercise is a good example of this. When you start exercising habitually, according to studies, you start eating more healthfully. That makes sense. You start feeling good about your body. For many people, when they start exercising, they stop using their credit cards quite so often. They procrastinate less at work. They do their dishes earlier in the day. It seems to be evidence that for many people, exercise is a keystone habit. Once you start to change your exercise habits, it sets off a chain reaction that changes other habits as well.

I can attest to the “keystone habit effect” of exercise in my own life. When I exercise regularly, I am more energetic about my daily work, whether at the office or at home, which leads to less procrastination and more productivity in both arenas. When I fail to exercise regularly, the exact opposite occurs: less energy, more procrastination, and lower productivity.

“Exercise” has the same effect in our spiritual lives, but here I’m not referring to exercise in the physical sense. I’m talking about flexing our spiritual muscles. When we habitually exercise our spiritual muscles, we are more energetic about the Way of God, less likely to put off obeying The Lord’s commands, and more productive in bringing pleasure to our Creator, which is what our obedience does for Him. In addition, we begin to evidence the Fruit of the Spirit, detailed by God (through Paul) in Galatians 5:22-23, not through any will power of our own, but as part of the “chain reaction” that is created when we exercise our spiritual muscles.

So, how do we exercise our spiritual muscles? The answer is in Daniel 6. As Daniel 6:3 states:

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

Daniel’s excellent spirit, which made him so precious to King Darius, came from his “keystone habit” evidenced in verse 10:

….he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

Daniel’s secret to the victorious Christian life was constant communion with God. By developing the “keystone habit” of constant communion with God, Daniel became a man of excellence, well-favored by the heathen kings who knew him, and highly-favored by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Himself.

Do you want to be spiritual? Do you want to possess an excellent spirit? Do you long to evidence the Fruit of the Spirit in your life? Then cultivate the keystone habit of constant communion with God, and the desired chain reaction of righteous habits will follow automatically.