You may be wondering if God is hearing the prayers were praying during this challenging time.There was a time in my life when I would have wondered the same thing. Then I came across this in the book of Daniel. It’s a little long but a lot worth it.
While God knows everything, that doesn’t mean He determines everything. He allows us the privilege of partnership with Him. That is a sobering thought, but we can see that as we read what happened to Daniel the prophet in Daniel chapter 10. When I first came across this section in the Old Testament, I felt like I had stumbled onto one of faith’s significant insights. Grabbing additional reference books and commentaries for clarity, I discovered my newfound truth had already been well researched. That only added to its value.
The scene opens with Daniel the prophet awaiting a message from God for his people. He was fasting and praying expectantly for God to reveal his vision. As he prayed, Daniel received a vision. Daniel 10:4-6, “On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.” Some commentaries say that chrysolite is topaz, a gemstone made of yellowish or brown well-formed crystals. Others depict is as peridot, a multi-faceted brilliant chartreuse green stone. Either way we know it’s brightly colored and shiny. You can imagine what Daniel must have felt seeing a vision like this!
The folks who were with Daniel, didn’t see the vision, but they were overtaken with fear and they fled and hid themselves. That left Daniel alone, the only one seeing the formidable being. In Daniel 10:8 we read, “So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless.”
Daniel 10:10-14 reads, “A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, ‘Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.’ And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
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. 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. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.’”
Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament explains this prince as a demon exercising influence over the Persian realm. Some theologians see this as Satan himself. The Prince of Darkness was waging war to keep God’s message from reaching His people through Daniel. The being with the bronze body and the blazing eyes reported to Daniel that he had heard the prophet’s prayer, and set out to give him the message he had been seeking. Then he adds, “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,” Daniel 10:13. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary explains that Michael is the angel serving as the guardian of God’s people.
As the messenger made his way to Daniel, we see that he was detained by the powers of hell itself. For twenty-one days the impressive messenger along with Michael fought the resistance of demonic forces before he was able to deliver his divine message. While Daniel prayed, the battle raged until the angel, with Michael’s help, was able to fight through the resistance and deliver God’s vision. Daniel had been fasting and praying for that twenty-one days. Daniel’s prayers made a difference!
Let’s look again at Daniel 10:12 where the angel gives credit to the fasting prophet: “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.” The angel conveying: “Since you started praying, Daniel, your words were heard, but Satan tried to prevent me from getting this prophecy to you. Still your faithful prayers, your perseverance moved the hands of heaven on your behalf. Your prayers made a difference to God!”
With regards to the things that happen in this world, C. S.Lewis had this to say, “The event has been decided—in a sense it was decided before all worlds began. But one of the things taken into account in deciding it and therefore one of the things that really cause it to happen, may be the very prayer that we are offering.”
So let’s keep praying and let it draw us closer to the Lord and closer to the answers we seek. Taken from “Disconnect to Reconnect,” Chapter 5 in Tech-Pecked of Tuned In: Finding God in a Digital World.