War Praying

REFERENCE: Daniel 10:11-13 And the man said to me, “Daniel, you are very precious to God, so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. Stand up, for I have been sent to you.” When he said this to me, I stood up, still trembling. 12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way.

Observation: What do we need to know when we are praying? First, that we are precious to God. He really does care about what is on our hearts and minds. We don’t have to force Him to answer, we just need to let Him know what are needs are.

Secondly, as soon as we begin to pray, God hears and begins to answer. He is not ignoring our requests. He is working out a supernatural response. We need to continue to have faith in His faithfulness even as we wait for Him.

Thirdly, the answer can be delayed by spiritual warfare. It is a good idea to pray against those forces of darkness that may keep the answer from coming.

Our prayers really do matter. The worst thing we can do is to stop offering them to God.

Application/Confession: I let myself get discouraged in praying too often. I need to remember the spiritual battle and to engage in it.

PRAYER: Dear God, remind me that I am precious to You and that it is worth it to fight the spiritual battles on behalf of the blessing You are sending my way because You have chosen to act on my behalf in response to prayer.