Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Daniel 10 and Psalm 1

In the very first year that Cyrus replaced Darius as the Emperor of Persia, the Lord moved his heart to release all the Jews who so wished, to return to Jerusalem. He proclaimed in a written statement sent throughout the Empire, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah” (Ezra 1:2). He even sent the treasures of the Temple back to Jerusalem with the returning Jews. It was a miracle of God’s work in his heart.

By this time, however, Daniel was 84 years old, and hence unable to make the journey. Two years later (in the third year of Cyrus) something moved Daniel to a three week period of intense prayer and self-denial. We are not told what moved him like this, but I suspect it may have been the fact that the returned exiles were very slow to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Remember that when Daniel prayed he always turned to face Jerusalem – that’s how precious the City of the LORD was to him. So for three weeks, he says, he “mourned”.

After three weeks of intense prayer, Daniel had a powerful spiritual encounter with an angel (v.8). The angel’s words to Daniel are an enormous encouragement to our own prayers. He explained how he had been sent out immediately in answer to Daniel’s initial prayer, but that he had been delayed and resisted for 21 days by the “Prince of Persia”. As Daniel continued to pray for those 21 days, the angel eventually managed to overcome the demonic resistance when “Michael, one of the chief princes,” came to help him (v.13). So, in Daniel 10, a “prince” evidently describes a spiritual being; either an angel of God sent out to do God’s will, or even a fallen angel or “demon” committed to resisting God’s will.

How does this encourage our prayers. Well, it shows us how we should “pray and never give up” (Luke 18:1). Daniel’s prayers had moved the heart of God to send an answer, but that answer had met spiritual resistance. Similarly, in our lives, there may be hindering factors which we know nothing about as we wonder why the answers to our requests are delayed. Nevertheless, we are to keep on praying. Our persistent prayers move God’s heart, but they also clear the way spiritually for the answer to be delivered. 

Holy Spirit, please move my heart to pray and give me the strength to persevere in prayer when my answer seems to have been delayed – whether that persistence requires 21 days or even 21 years. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.