Title: Patience, Patience! / Topic: Prevailing Prayer

Today’s Reading: Daniel 9; Daniel 10; Psalm 123; Luke 5

Scripture: Daniel 10:2-3, 12-13
2 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. 3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. ...

12 Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.

Observation: Daniel received a troubling vision from God that he didn't understand so he began to fast and pray for enlightenment from God as to its meaning. He sought God earnestly, denying himself normal food and pleasures for 3 weeks before an angelic messenger came with the answer. The words of the angel are interesting. He tells Daniel that as soon as he started praying, God heard his prayer and sent the angel in response. But the angel had resistance in getting to Daniel with the answer. A demonic ruling spirit called the prince of Persia battled the angel for three weeks before another angel came to help so that the message could get through.

Application: What are the lessons for me from this? I need to be willing to fast and pray more than I do if I want answers to come. I need to be patient and persistent in my pursuit of wisdom, revelation and direction from God. I need to remember that there is an unseen spiritual battle going on all the time and that my persistence in prayer helps the angels win the battle. If Daniel had stopped praying for the 3 weeks it took for the answer to come, would he have received it? I don't know but I think perhaps not. Maybe the second angel wouldn't have been dispatched so that the first could get through to Daniel. So often, when I pray, if an answer doesn't come immediately, I give up and come to the erroneous conclusion that God either doesn't care about the particular thing I'm praying about, or, more often, that I've done something wrong and so I need to figure out what I need to repent of so my prayers will be answered. The lesson of Daniel is that there are times we just need to engage in persistent prayer and fasting because of the heat of battle in the spiritual realm.

Prayer: Father, give me focus, discipline and patience when it comes to seeking answers from you in prayer. May the whole church gain patience and persistence in prayer and stop having such a short attention span and getting frustrated when answers aren't immediately forthcoming. Teach us to be like Daniel.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.