ANSWER to our PRAYERS may be DELAYED but never DENIED!
September
14 Bible Reading: Daniel Chapters 10-12
ANSWER to our PRAYERS may be DELAYED but never DENIED!
Then he said to me, "Do not
fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and
to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come
because of your words. But the prince of
the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael,
one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with
the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to
your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to
come." (Dan 10:12-14)
The great
Christian writer E. M. Bounds has made the following statement: “The story of every great Christian
achievement is the history of answered prayer”. Daniel, a man greatly beloved
of God, began to pray, mourn, and fast earnestly, and God’s messenger was sent
to Daniel with the answer on the very first day Daniel started praying (v. 2).
However, his answer was held up for 21 days by demonic armies who opposed God’s
purposes. Leon Wood explains about this phenomenon
in his commentary on Daniel as follows:
“The prince of Greece and the prince
of Persia were demons who worked in those nations to oppose God’s people.
Because Greece also would have a similar “prince” assigned to her in due time
(v. 20), and God’s people would be under Greece’s jurisdiction following
Persia’s fall to Greece, the suggestion seems reasonable that Satan often
assigns special emissaries to influence governments against the people of God.
Certainly this chapter has much to contribute regarding the nature of struggles
between the higher powers in reference to God’s program on earth.”
In fact, the
prince of the kingdom of Persia had detained this messenger for three weeks
until Michael, one of the chief angelic princes, came to help him. What ensued
was a spiritual battle in the heavenlies in which Michael was involved. Down on the earth, Daniel continued to fast,
pray and intercede to God, but the answer was delayed by the demonic power that
ruled over the kingdom of Persia. Finally, the revelation that Daniel received was
only due his persistence in his
prayers and supplications (see Luke 18:1-8a).
We need to
understand that spiritual forces are at work behind the scenes in our personal,
national, and international affairs. We need to ultimately realize that our
struggles are ultimately with “spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. At the same time we should also be
fully assured that “the one who is in us is
greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
There is
always a spiritual battle taking place in the heavenlies (vv. 12–13, 20) as
Apostle Paul has described so clearly: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord and in the power of His might...for we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places...praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being
watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the
saints." (Eph 6:10, 12, 18)
