Take Heart, Your Prayers Are Heard

I was reading in Daniel the other day and a certain part stood out to me that I missed before. As soon as I read it, I realized again not only how important prayer is, but the realities of what’s happening all around us and how often we miss it.

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. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.” – Daniel 10:12-14

So before I go any further into this, let’s remember something. While we can see and feel a physical world all around us, we need to also remember there is a spiritual world around us as well. We can’t see or feel it, but it’s there. We as Christians believe that Jesus lived a perfect life, died in the cross, and rose from the dead. We believe in the power of the Bible and the fact it’s absolutely true.

There’s so much to our faith that is spiritual and we believe so many aspects of it, but sometimes when the Bible talks about angels or prayer, we forget the reality of them, or don’t really understand them. We forget there really are angels around us. We forget of the various activities going on in heaven and on earth that revolve around God and Him doing a great work at all times. We forget the power of prayer and the direct access we have to God through Jesus.

That being said, now let’s talk about 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…”

This is incredible! The moment Daniel started to pray, his words were heard!

How may times do we think…

• What’s the point of prayer?
• Am I even saying the right words?
• Why should I even keep talking?
• Can you even hear me God?

God Hears Us On Day One

Fear not Daniel, from the first day…

How many times do you find yourself praying once or twice, and then being tempted to give up thinking God isn’t really hearing anyway? Or you expect an immediate result and since you don’t tangibly see God do something right away, you give up on praying?

This passage from Daniel should give us great encouragement on the fact that God IS with us, He IS listening, and hears us even on Day 1 of praying. This puts a great emphasis on prayer for us as followers of Jesus, and not even just praying once, but being persistent in prayer.

This Is A Spiritual Battle

The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me…

We might glance over this and just keep reading the Bible, but hold on a sec! God sent one of his angels to minister to Daniel, and along the way the enemy battled with him for 21 days. 21 days! Imagine praying for 3 weeks and not getting any answers from the Lord. Would you keep going?

This angel was in literal battle on behalf of Daniel for 3 weeks, even to the point of getting assistance from Michael, the archangel, who had to come help him to get past the enemy and get towards Daniel.

Don’t overlook the battle that is happening all around us. If only we could get a glimpse of the spiritual world. I believe we would go straight to our faces on the ground in prayer if we could see what is actually happening around us, but since we can’t, it’s so easy to just dismiss it like it’s not happening.

But again, we come back to the Bible. This isn’t a “what is the original meaning of this text?” situations…this is literal. Daniel prays, God in heaven hears him from day 1, an angel gets sent immediately, is in battle for 3 weeks, gets help from Michael, and then shows up for Daniel. This is black and white text and truth we need to take hold of and remember while we are in prayer.

Be encouraged and challenged that prayer is serious. Prayer is the work for the Christian and moves the needle spiritually in the hearts and minds of people. We must be a people of prayer!

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 6:12

Start Praying Today

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. -Psalm 103:19

The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand. -Isaiah 14:24

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. -Proverbs 19:21

We overlook prayer because we don’t know if we’re using the right words, or if He’s listening, or if it really makes a difference. This passage from Daniel shows us the direct activity that takes place from our prayers, proving God is listening and that prayer really does make a difference. Prayer is simply a conversation with God. Don’t overthink it. Don’t worry about saying “certain phrases” or “getting it right or wrong.” Just be honest and open with what is on your heart and mind, God already knows.

The good news is that God is in control and His purposes will stand at the end of the day (and that’s a good thing)! So you don’t have to have everything figured out or know all of the answers. The pressure is not on your shoulders to change hearts and minds of others. Rather, you have the opportunity to come before God because of Jesus to talk with Him and spend time with Him.

Christian, God hears you. He hears you express your desires, your pain, your questions, and your requests. Keep praying. Don’t give up, don’t lose heart. If only we could tangibly see the activity happening in heaven when we pray. The thing is, we don’t have to see. If God tells us this is happening in His Word, the same Word that tells us what Jesus has done for us, we can trust Him. Move forward, take steps, come back to prayer if you’ve given up, start praying and don’t delay.

Mike Mobley

Follower of Christ, Husband to Joelle, Father to Peyton & Matthew, Finance & Operations Pastor at 121 Community Church, SAG-AFTRA Actor, Founder of Before The Cross, Owner of MMWCS, and Podcast Host for the Not Quite There Show.

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