Daniel's Prayer Was Answered But Delayed
by David J. Stewart | January 2016 | Updated April 2016
Daniel 10:12, “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.”
I love this passage of Scripture. We learn a few important
truths here.
First, we learn that God immediately answered Daniel's prayer. This is encouraging.
Second, Daniel's prayer was delayed because of satanic influence. Satan's kingdom relentlessly fights against the Church. I sometimes wonder why God allows the Devil and fallen angels to hinder our prayers, but for reasons known only to God, He does:
Daniel 10:11-13, “And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia [a demon] withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael [an archangel], one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.”
Here we see that the angels are referred to as “chief princes.” The angels are princes. The Holy Bible teaches that the believer's battle is not against flesh and blood; but rather, “against against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). The world has always been a wicked place (1st John 5:19). Every Christian is commanded to pray without ceasing (1st Thessalonians 5:17). We ought to leave nothing to chance, but prayer about everything, letting our requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6-7). Many believers pray, but then quit praying because they don't receive the answer(s) they wanted. We ought to trust God, and pray regardless, and lean not unto our own human understanding (Proverbs 3:5-7). God sees things that we cannot, in the spiritual world and physical world as well. Prayer is getting God involved. Prayer is asking! Prayer is showing God that we are depending on Him to help us, which is faith and humility (James 4:6-8). You cannot draw nigh unto God without humbling yourself in prayer.
We ought to learn from Daniel's hindrance to prayer by satanic forces that we are subject to the same delays. Hence, keep praying, and praying, about matters that you want God's help with. If we keep praying, then God cannot say that we didn't come to Him and ask multiple times. The truth is that if we ask God even once, He never needs to remember that we asked Him. God never remembers. He does need to, for He is omniscient and always knows all things, even the things that haven't happened yet.
We don't need to pray lengthy prayers to receive our needs met from God, because HE ALREADY KNOWS OUR NEEDS BEFORE WE EVEN ASK HIM IN PRAYER. Matthew 6:7-8, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” God just wants us to know that we need Him. God wants us to pray. If you became discouraged and stopped praying, then just get back up and start praying again. We all get discouraged at times. God understands that we are dust. Psalms 103:14, “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Amen for that! God is a good and great God! God is a merciful and loving God, fair and right in all that He does! Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!!!
God has allowed us to see a glimpse into the spiritual world, to learn that Daniel's prayers were delayed by demonic powers. We should expect the same, and not be discouraged when we pray and don't see immediate answers. There are forces at work that we do not understand. But we do know that God is omnipotent, and not threatened in the least by Satan's power. In fact, the only power that Satan has is the power that God has given to him (Luke 4:6). No born-again Christian who is right with the Lord needs to fear the Devil. 1st John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Satan cannot hurt any believer without God's permission, unless we hand Satan a baseball bat to hit us with. When a Christian goes into sin, we open ourselves up to receive a beating from the Devil. In fact, Hebrews 12:6-8 and 1st Corinthians 3:17 teach that God will chastise and scourge us Himself, or he may let the Devil do it for Him (1st Corinthians 5:5).
I walk away from Daniel 10:12 with the attitude that I need to be patient when I pray about matters, because in the spiritual world there can be delays. I don't understand it, but the Bible teaches it, so that settles it. END
