Gluten Free & God Seeking: Overcomers in Babylon - What We Learn About Prayer in Daniel 10

Monday, December 16, 2019

Overcomers in Babylon - What We Learn About Prayer in Daniel 10

In Daniel 9 we see that the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies are real. Prior to that God had given Daniel a dream about four beasts in chapter 8 that left him deeply perplexed. The Bible tells us that Daniel prayed for 21 days to try to figure it out (10:2).

    It probably surprised Daniel when an angel appeared to him and told him that at the outset of his prayer, he'd already been heard, but a heavenly battle was taking place with an evil angel, whom he calls the prince over Persia:

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days; but now Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, I remained there alone with the kings of Persia.....And now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia; so I go forth, and the prince of Javan is now about to come.    Daniel 10:13, 20B

    In chapter 15 of the Life-Study of Daniel Witness Lee says that this scene shows that Satan has assigned evil angels over different countries. These evil princes battle against God's angels to prevent God's will from reaching the earth. He also say here that this scene shows God's people that there's always a spiritual scene behind the physical one. This is mentioned on pages 91-92 of the Life-Study of Daniel:

"What we see outwardly is the physical world, but behind the physical world is the spiritual. In the spiritual world Christ is the preeminent One. Therefore, in chapter ten He is mentioned first (vv.4-9)....After this vision of Christ, an angelic messenger came to tell Daniel about the things behind the physical world. He told Daniel that he himself was fighting against the prince of the kingdom of Persia, a rebellious evil spirit. Then Daniel was told that there was another evil spirit, the prince of Greece (Javan). There was also the archangel Michael who was a prince fighting for Israel. At least four spirits are covered here....Apparently, all of these struggles [mentioned in the dream of the beasts in Daniel 8] are merely the activities of human governments represented by the great human image in Daniel 2. Actually, God was behind the physical world managing the entire situation. This is what we need to see as we consider chapter ten of Daniel and the vision of Israel's destiny in chapter eleven (Lee. Witness. Life-Study of Daniel. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, Print 1991).

After reading this sometimes I've realized that an answer to prayer is probably somewhere in the space of "21 days" and God's answer is stuck because of this spiritual battle. This word has encouraged my husband and I to keep praying and not be discouraged if the answer doesn't come in a week or two. We've had situations in our family where we have prayed for over a decade before the answer came.

I read in a book that our prayers can be likened to items put on a scale, and you have to keep praying until the scales are tipped. God has a lot of concerns on this earth that need our prayer. This chapter showed me again that our prayer always connects us to the spiritual battle that's always going on behind the scene.

Other posts on the Major Prophets

Life-Study of Isaiah:

You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Study of Isaiah on Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee. You can also read the online Life-Studies of Isaiah and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.

How Can the Son in Isaiah 7:14 & 9:6 Be the Mighty God?
Seeing Christ as the Great Light in Isaiah 9:2
Why is Christ Called the Cornerstone in Isaiah 28:26?
Taking a Closer Look at Isaiah 53 - Christ's Crucifixion Foretold - Part 1

Taking a Closer Look at Isaiah 53 - Christ's Resurrection &Ascension Foretold - Part 2 of 2

Life-Study of Jeremiah & Lamentations: