Title: A HEAVENLY VIEW OF THINGS

Focus: God responds to our prayers.

Function: To encourage the people to pray with confidence and deep trust that God hears and responds to our prayers, even though we may not see the response immediately or in our own lifetime.

Text: Daniel 10:1-11 (txt.12, 13a)

Let’s be honest: sometimes prayer drives us “up the wall.” That is, it seems that our prayers do not go any further than the walls around us. And then we wonder if God hears us at all. And at times, we simply stop praying for “what’s the use anyhow?”

What do you say? Does God hear our prayers? Are our prayers helpful? Useful? Do they make a difference? I can think of occasions in hospitals and other situations where God seemed to respond to our prayers directly. He brought healing, sustained health, and relief. But I can also think of occasions where I did not see the answers to our prayers. And I am sure that you can also think of moments in your life when God’s response to your prayers seemed to be answered with nothing but silence. Does God respond to our prayers?

Today, the prophet Daniel provides us with a heavenly view of things. Daniel’s story in chapter 10 answers our question: “Yes, God responds to our prayers.” Through Daniel’s story, God encourages us today to pray with confidence and deep trust. Even though we may not see God’s response immediately or in our own lifetime, God hears and God acts in response to our prayers.

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As we zero in on Daniel chapter 10, I want us to hear in particular verses 12 and 13a. The angel of the Lord is speaking to Daniel and says: “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.”

Now from the story in Daniel chapter 10 it’s clear that Daniel has been in a “funk.” He is distressed, in mourning. The text reports that “At that time, I Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.”

What’s going on? Well, Daniel has learned that there are enemies of God’s people, who oppose or undermine King Cyrus’ edict that a number of exiled Jews could return to Israel; that the city of Jerusalem could be rebuilt; that the temple could be restored.

From the writings of Ezra, however, we learn (and Daniel heard the reports) that Samaritan leaders in Israel opposed the restoration of the temple and Jerusalem. There was opposition among powerful leaders; and rulers other than Cyrus were also opposed to treat the Jews with grace.

In other words, to Daniel, it seemed that God’s promises and project to have his people return to Israel and restore Jerusalem have come to a halt. And that led Daniel to much grief and concentrated prayers. For 21 days no less! But nothing happened. Daniel saw no response to his prayer and fasting.

But then it happened. Daniel receives a vision. Listen: “On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen….” That man turns out to be an angel from the Lord God. And the angel said: “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. Here we have an answer to the question (that no doubt may also have risen in Daniel’s mind) “what the use of my prayers?” The angel says: “I have come in response to them.”

Let’s ponder and learn from this angel of God. We note that Daniel’s prayers have resulted in “luring” an angel of the Lord in heaven to come down to earth. Now the angels of the Lord do God’s bidding; they are ministering spirits; God sends them to accomplish his purposes and, yes, at times also to respond to our prayers. Such is the power of prayer: they lead God to send his angels to us.

We see many examples of that in Scriptures. When the Lord Jesus, for example, was led into the desert (after his baptism in the Jordan River) he was tempted by the devil. But God sent his angels to minister to Jesus. And when Jesus prayed in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night that he was betrayed, again God sent an angel to strengthen the Lord Jesus in this hour of distress.

And again, when King Herod jailed the Apostle Peter with the intent of killing Peter, the early Christian church prayed to God, and God sent an angel to deliver Peter from the imminent danger. Therefore, let this be a lesson for us: never underestimate the power of our prayers: God hears them and will not hesitate to send angels in response to our prayers.

God hears the prayers of children; God hears the prayers of the elderly as well. We are never too young or too old to “lure” God’s ministering angels in response to our prayers. The most powerful instrument we have to go through life is the vehicle or posture of prayer. God hears our prayers! Therefore, we shall pray with confidence and deep trust that God hears and responds to our prayers, even though (like Daniel) we may not see the response immediately or in our own lifetime.

Here is a powerful insight: For 21 days, Daniel did not see any response to his prayers. He may have felt that his prayers did not rise any further than the ceiling of his bedroom. No inner voice; no obvious sign; no nothing in response to his prayers and fasting. But he did not stop praying. He believed; he trusted God to hear his cause and respond to his prayers in God’s own due time. The point is simple: Praying to God is first of all not about SEEING but about trusting or believing.

But here is the deeper insight or lesson: Through this angel’s message, God reveals to Daniel and us that he is busy responding to our prayers long before we SEE God’s answer to our prayers. The angel said to Daniel: “Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, you words were heard, and I have come in response to them.”

My wife’s grandfather prayed for his grandchildren—that they would serve the Lord all their lives. Watse Bierma never saw the answer to his prayers. But God has been at work in the lives of these grandchildren and their children for decades.

Some of us are praying for wayward sons and daughters. Some have done so for a long time. Do not stop. You and I may not SEE any response to our prayers. But the point is not that we see; the point is that we trust, that we believe that God hears and responds to our prayers.

Think about this: Daniel was praying that God’s project—the return of the remnant and the restoration of Jerusalem—would not come to a halt or to naught altogether. He did not SEE a response to his prayer. Yet, the angel indicates that from day 1 God responded to Daniel’s prayer. For God sent his angel to battle the forces of evil (in this case, the prince of Persia).

While Daniel is praying, God’s angels are battling demonic forces at work in our world. Thus the angel of God was answering Daniel’s prayer for deliverance and for a positive outcome for God’s people in Jerusalem. Clearly, by sending angels to break down the opposing forces of evil, God responded to Daniel’s prayers from day 1.

Therefore, pray with confidence and deep trust that God hears and responds to our prayers, even though we may not SEE the response immediately or in our own lifetime.

Let’s sing: O Love of God, How Strong and True (463:1,2,3)