21

I'm reading Daniel 10 tonight.

Daniel prayed and fasted, waiting for a response from God.  The response came from an angel.  But it came three weeks after Daniel started praying. The delay had nothing to do with Daniel's heart, or his ability to fast, or God's desire to answer.  The reason for the delay was that spiritual warfare prevented the messenger from getting to Daniel.  The prayer had been heard and the answer dispatched immediately.

1) Daniel kept praying, even though there was no answer.  He knew that God was faithful to answer him eventually.

2) Daniel continued his fast until he saw answer to his prayer.

3) The messenger/angel that came to Daniel did not have a lot of support from the other angels, saying specifically that only Michael supported him in his struggle against other spiritual beings.

4) The appearance and voice of the angel caused Daniel to fall into a deep sleep.

5) Daniel did not have the strength to receive the answer from the angel.  He had to be strengthened by the words of the angel before he could receive the answer to prayer from the angel.

6) 21 Days...  The angel wrestled against demonic powers for 21 days in order to deliver the message to Daniel.

I find the whole story fascinating.  I'm sure as I think on it and read it again, I'll find more to chew on.

But in the meantime, I'm just in awe at what happens behind the scenes as we pray for God's power to be unleashed in our lives.