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.” (Daniel 10:12-14)
Whoa. These verses give you a glimpse of what is going on in the spiritual realm every time we pray. Frank Peretti’s book, This Present Darkness, was the first book I read that helped me to understand the spiritual warfare that we are often engaged in. Peretti’s book probably borrowed alot from Daniel 10.
Daniel humbles himself, mourns, fasts, and prays for three weeks. It seems like the heavens are silent yet he keeps praying. After three weeks an answer comes. Why the delay? Because the angel sent to answer Daniel’s request is “resisted” and “detained” by the king of Persia. This is not the earthly king of Persia but the demonic king of Persia, the one who is attempting to orchestrate things behind the scenes. It is wild to think of two angels battling each other for three weeks–one trying to get to Daniel to answer his prayer and the other trying to resist God’s plan and detain God’s messenger.
It is a reminder of two things:
- Our prayers impact the spiritual realm. In some mysterious way, God chooses to act and direct His angels based on our prayers. God is sovereign and in control yet He also allows for freedom within His will based on our prayers. God will accomplish His purposes but there seem to be different ways/paths that this can happen. These paths are largely contingent on our prayers. May we never become passive and “que sera sera” about our prayers. There is power in prayer….if we approach God as Daniel did in humbleness, thanksgiving, passion and expectancy.
- We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers. It is wild to think that behind the earthly king of Persia is the demonic king of Persia. Satan has apparently assigned certain demons to certain political spheres. His goal is to influence and move the “powers that be” toward a God-resistant, God-ignoring agenda. We so often forget this and focus our attention on earthly powers and earthly weapons. It is good to be a good citizen of an earthly nation but, as citizens of heaven, our ultimate focus and battle is in the spiritual realm. Prayer is an essential part of this battle–not prayer as a passive substitute for godly living and action but prayer as the power behind all godly living and action. As Paul said, Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God… (Ephesians 6:12-13a). Because our battle is spiritual; our ultimate defense and offense must be spiritual. If we are not active in prayer and in renewing our mind through Scripture, then we are not in the battle no matter how many political causes and campaigns we attach ourselves to.
Lord, forgive me for forsaking the spiritual battle. May I engage the battle through my prayers this week.
BTW…All of this is great preparation for our Spiritual Life Conference next week (October 26-28)! I hope you can join us on Friday (7pm), Saturday (7pm), and Sunday (9:15am, 11am, 6pm) to hear Dr. Peter Held speak on angels, demons, and spiritual warfare.