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Today, prayer is endorsed as a personal remedy. Although this is true to an extent, it doesn’t capture the big picture. A common misconception about prayer is that it’s only for us. Daniel was mourning for his people. He passed by the delicacies in order to seek God. Here, we read an amazing truth.
An angelic being appears to Daniel and says…
Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.
Daniel 10:12 ESV
So let us consider, God not only hears our prayers but will dispatch angelic beings to us based on our words! It is another fantastic reminder that prayer matters.
From there, Daniel gets a rare look into the spiritual realm. As events were taking place on Earth, and kingdoms were rising and falling, the battle was fierce in the spiritual realm. We read that this angelic being was held up for three weeks fighting an evil spirit called the Prince of Persia.
What’s interesting to think about is that these empires would have had specific evil powers assigned to them in the spiritual realm. The Medo-Persian empire had the Prince of Persia. We also read of the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great having an evil angelic power leading it.
Again, the most amazing and impactful aspect for me is that Daniel is grieved over the destruction coming to Jerusalem so he entered into a partial fast. He prayed knowing the will of God and because of his obedience, God answered him in a miraculous way. Is this the way we are seeking God in prayer?