Daniel 10:9-14 KJV Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. [10] And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. [11] And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. [12] Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. [13] But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. [14] Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.
Daniel 10:9-14 MOFFAT’S TRANSLATION I heard the sound of what he was saying, but when I heard his voice I fell down into a dead faint, my face upon the ground. [10] Then a hand touched me on my knees and hands all shaking. [11] He said to me, “O Daniel, a man greatly loved by God, stand erect and understand the message I now bring to you, for I have been sent to you at last.” [12] When he said this, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for ever since you applied yourself to brooding on the future and to fasting humbly before your God, your prayers have been heard, and for the sake of your prayers I am here. [13] (The guardian angel of the realm of Persia thwarted me for twenty-one days, but Michael one of the archangels came to my aid, and I have left him to deal single-handed with the guardian angel of the Persian kings.)
I. INTRODUCTION -- SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Amazingly almost twenty years have passed quite rapidly since I read two books by Frank Peretti. He would go on to write many more but those two seemed to have the most impact on my thinking. This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness were two books where Peretti placed quite a description on what spiritual warfare seemed to look like.
In the first book, This Present Darkness, he brought to life a small quiet college town that was touched by the influence of its college. Behind the scenes at the college were a few professors who encouraged some of their students to dabble into the tenets of New Age philosophies. The extreme spiritual deception was something that none of the participants factored into their actions. Sadly some of the teachers and their students managed to infiltrate one of the churches and much damage was done because of the lack of prayer and dedication.
So Peretti wrote about a world beyond our eyes that was full of angels who fought very bitter battles with the terrible ogres of the underworld. Some of the theology that Peretti used is quite a stretch but there is one thing about it, his stories proved the great importance of a praying church. In the book, he wrote about a small church that was equipped with a pastor who knew the Word, knew how to pray, and encouraged the saints to give themselves to the ministry of prayer and fasting.
The faithful praying of some of the aged saints in this little church provided much strength to the angels who were battling in the heavenlies. Many scenes were portrayed in the book of how that a combination of praying and spiritual warfare worked in conjunction with the battle that was being fought.
Peretti’s story is not a new one and although it is obvious that he had a very fertile imagination with the story, the fact of the matter is that we are involved in a spiritual battle and our prayers are important to the Kingdom of God.
II. SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY COMES WITH PRAYER
-There is much authority that comes to the life of the saint of God who is willing to give himself to the ministry of prayer and fasting.
Arthur Mathews (Born for Battle) -- In any situation where Satan dominates and threatens, God looks for a man through whom He may declare war on the enemy. He purposes that through that man Satan be served notice to back up, pack up, and clear out!”
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 KJV [4] (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) [5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
-There have been times in our lives when we all have faced incredible and seemingly insurmountable odds and prayer activated something in our lives. Prayer immersed us into an avenue of holy anointing that the geography that was covered in prayer was given to us by God.
I am not speaking of the material holdings in this world.
I am preaching about prayer that kept our worship at an elevated level.
I am speaking of complete deliverance of habits that were working to destroy us.
I am preaching of the hunger for spiritual things that was fed only with prayer.
I am speaking of the passionate pursuit of holiness that came to us when we were on our knees in a place of prayer.
I am preaching about a place in prayer that wilted temptation that came into our paths.
I am preaching about praying that kept us from lukewarm attitudes and sinful actions.
It is a prayer that will help you see the victory before it comes to pass.
I am preaching about a prayer that will give you visionary revelation.
It is a prayer that brings the Cross into such a focus that everything is centered around the Cross.
Jude 1:17-21 KJV But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; [18] How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. [19] These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. [20] But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, [21] Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
-Put the hedge of prayer up!
-If you will put the hedge of prayer up you can almost see an intervention of the Holy Ghost in the troubling situation. God will give you such vast insight into the situation that you can see the Spirit of God beginning to orchestrate every detail.
-There is a level of prayer that we can attain to and it will enable the gifts of the Spirit complete operation in our lives. To war in prayer places a great premium on how I live my life. My prayer life and its effectiveness is greatly influenced and affected by the company that I keep and the appetites that I feed.
III. DANIEL’S WAR
-In the book of Daniel, the first six chapters are primarily historical and biographical in nature. The last six chapters of Daniel are very prophetic and are full of revelation for the future state not only of Israel but entire history of the ages.
-Daniel is literally overwhelmed by this revelation that has come to him. In addition to this Daniel has watched Israel continue to sin and live in idolatry despite the corrective judgments of God through their captivity.
-In fact the exact historical setting of Daniel 10 is when the Jewish exiles had returned to the land and were rebuilding the Temple when Daniel is in this particular experience. Daniel found himself in a distressed state of mind.
He was distressed by the few who wanted to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild it.
He was distressed because of the heartaches that those who returned would have to face.
He was distressed by what he had seen in the seventy-week prophecy.
-When Daniel starts to look for progressive revelation and answers, he humbles himself to a time of prayer and fasting. It is important to interject the thought that Daniel is now been in service for a number of years. At this point of Daniel 10, he is at least 60 but probably closer to 70 years old. He is continuing to fast!
-This fasting and prayer was not something that came on him in his adult life. Evidently this pattern had existed throughout his entire life, because as a teen in Daniel 1, we see him already beginning to apply himself to fasting. Often the habits that we set in our youth will be with us for the rest of our lives.
A. A Man of Prayer
-So for all the revelation that Daniel had received, he begin to long for some more specific answers. However, Daniel did not realize that his prayers would be hindered by a war in the heavens.
-There are some keys very early in the chapter that tell us what kind of man that Daniel was. He was a man who was seeking prophetic revelation to something that God had shown to him.
-From our text, we specifically see that Daniel’s answer in prayer was delayed in the heavens. The whole situation was beyond Daniel’s control. He was only required to give himself to prayer and fasting and the rest of it was up to God.
-All throughout the book of Daniel, one of the key themes is his prayers:
A habit of prayer -- Daniel 6:10-11
A regular time of prayer (three times a day) -- Daniel 6:10-11
Secret prayer in his chamber -- Daniel 6:10
Earnest prayer (Set my face. . . to seek by prayer) -- Daniel 9:3
Self-denial and prayer (fasting) -- Daniel 9:3
Humble prayer (sackcloth and ashes) -- Daniel 9:3
Reverence in prayer (on his knees) -- Daniel 9:3
Confessing sin in prayer -- Daniel 9:20
Believing prayer -- His windows were opened toward Jerusalem.
Grateful prayer -- He gave thanks before God.
Courageous prayer -- He prayed in spite of the decree.
B. What the Prayers Brought
-When you pray for deeper experiences with the Lord, expect to pay a price for them. Three weeks of fasting and prayer begin to do something.
-When you pray, you become part of the spiritual warfare, therefore we cannot take times of prayer very lightly!
-This kind of prayer brings some things
1. Prayer Activates Angels to Bring Encouragement
-There are many theologians and scholars who feel strongly that the angel who came to Daniel was Gabriel. Gabriel was sent to deliver the message from God about his prayers. Sometimes during the interval between the prayer and the answer, there are some tense, worry-filled hours.
-More often than not we are unable to totally understand why we are having the thoughts and feelings that pull at us. Daniel found himself in a state of “mourning” (10:2). Why should one of God’s greatest prophets be having the mindset of mourning?
-I believe that he was living in the interval between the prayer and the answer. He was living in a war zone but he could not see the armies who were fighting. He could feel the pressure from another world.
-God will never be defeated but this will not lessen the attacks of the devil and his demons. He will fight until he is finally banished once and for all. But when the prayer does not seem to be gaining any answers, we must remember:
Psalms 34:7 KJV The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
-Elisha’s servant could not see the host of angels until God opened his eyes. There is much going on in the Kingdom that we cannot see. That is why that we must continue to serve despite how we may feel!
-Suddenly that hand that had fought the Prince of Persia was the hand that was bringing revelation and a greater measure of faith into Daniel’s spirit.
-Daniel was so important to God that He sent Gabriel to encourage him. Gabriel told Daniel, “Just because you cannot see an immediate answer to prayer does not mean that God has not heard nor is He unwilling to answer.”
-There is a cause and effect process that is set into motion when we begin to pray. Daniel’s prayer had set in motion a war in heaven that he was not even aware of. There are prayers that have been prayed here in the last few months, the last few years, the last few decades that have set some great things in motion.
-Now we are living and praying in the interval. There is a war going on in the heavens and the answers will find us in due time. As soon as Daniel prayed, God sent Gabriel to the kingdom of the Persians.
a. T. W. Barnes, A Prophet In Our Time
Sister Nona Freeman has recently written a new book about Brother T. W. Barnes. I read this about this great man and thought that it might bring some encouragement to those who are involved in the battle. It comes from a chapter (8) entitled, “Revelations. . . After The Valley.”
After preaching several campmeetings in 1963, I had a break down from overwork at the close of the California Camp and could not preach the last night. I climbed on an airplane in Los Angeles going home in unforgettable misery, and walked through the darkest valley of my life for the next hundred days. Weakness overwhelmed me, I could neither eat nor sleep. I tried to eat baby food and my weight went down to 125 pounds. Many prayed for me but my deeply troubled mind would not focus on anything. Finally, one day I cried to the Lord, “Jesus, all of my life you have dealt with me with visions and dreams, please speak to me tonight and show me why I cannot receive my healing.”
I dreamed that night and looked into a large room and a quivering little bird sat in the middle of the floor. I wondered why. Suddenly, I heard a noise and huge snake came out of a hole in the wall and slithered toward the little bird as if he would eat him. The long serpent could easily reach the bird without coming completely out of his hole. I thought this will be the end of the little bird, but instead the snake taunted him with questions, “Why have you been sick so long?” “When will you get well?” “Are you going to eat, little bird?” Then he returned to his hole.
The little bird shook violently from the encounter and by the time he became almost calm, the snake returned to torment him again, and again, and again. I felt someone standing beside me as I watched the scene repeated over and over, I said, “Why doesn’t the snake eat the little bird and get it over with?”
The snake came out of his hole again and this time he stopped with his head only a few feet away from me. I saw a screen muzzle securely tied over his head. “You are the little bird,” the Spirit said, “The serpent is the devil. I have him muzzled, he cannot destroy you except with words. If you will stop listening to his lies, and believe My Word, you will get will.”
“Cook me a big steak,” I told my wife the next day, “This little bird is going to eat.”
Two visions followed the dream that completed my healing. In one I stood at the foot of the world’s highest mountain surrounded by lower hills. I looked behind me and saw murky black water rising rapidly, I climbed the mountain, but as fast as I climbed, the waters rose behind me. Finally, I reached the top running from the terrible black waters of depression, I could see the smaller hills far below. The water continued to rise and it reached my knees.
Suddenly a howling wind accompanied by storm clouds came and the winds screamed at me with a ghostly voice, “Give up. What is the use of struggling? You’ve climbed the highest peak and there is no place to go. This is the end.” I saw a tidal wave coming, eighty to a hundred feet high. I thought, “This is the end, everything is against me, there is no escape, nowhere to go.”
Out of heaven came a long strong voice, “Have you forgotten the power of My Name?” I shook myself, maybe like Samson did when the Philistines came against him. I raised my hand and lifted my voice, “Waves, I rebuke you in Jesus’ Name!” The high wave lay down at my feet like a kitten on the hearth of the old home place. Immediately the wind, storm clouds and murky waters disappeared. The sun shone brightly with springtime flowers in full bloom. I saw dew sparkling on the bushes and trees, and I declared, “This is it. I am healed, the depression is gone.”
(Another vision followed concerning Israel and the Jews and their involvement in the Six-Day War in 1967.) Brother Barnes went on to write:
The devil has no right to fool around with a Jesus Name, Holy Ghost filled person. When the devil came after me, I told him so. He said, “I’ll just take your mind.” “No!” I answered him, “Jesus gave me a sound mind and there is nothing you can do about it.”
The years that have followed have been the best years of my life. I know well the hopelessness and blackness of despair, when I hurt all over and couldn’t sleep at night, but I stayed on my cross and held on to my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan said, “We will bring you under our power and our dominion.” I replied, “I will come out of this in Jesus’ Name. You will never win Satan, never!” (From A Prophet In Our Time, The Life Story of T. W. Barnes by Nona Freeman, pp. 97-101)
2. Prayer Activates Angels to Increase Our Faith
Prayer activates angels to bring encouragement.
Prayer activates angels to increase our faith.
-When you begin to break down the 10th chapter of Daniel you will find that God’s angel was prepared to meet every need and difficulty that Daniel endured.
Daniel was prostrate. . . The angel stood him up.
Daniel was so shocked he could not speak. . . The angel opened his mouth so he could speak.
Daniel fainted from the presence and revelation. . . The angel’s touch filled him with strength.
Physical strength came from a touch from the angel. . . Spiritual strength came from the angel’s words.
-There are prayers that only the saints of God can pray that will put the heavens into motion. These angels were more useful to Daniel fighting in the heavens than they were right next to him.
-The difficulty with living in the interval is that we often cannot see what is going on just beyond us. That is why it was important for Daniel to continue to pray and fast throughout the time of difficulty.
-There are times that praying in an atmosphere of difficulty or praying during the interval can begin to release our faith. It also can release the power of angels.
a. Brother John Boone’s Parents Dilemma
Last year about this time our church was blessed with the ministry of Brother John Boone. He had told me a story sometime in the past about an incident that happened to his parents in 1994.
Elder Brother and Sister Boone had gone to General Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah and were returning back home. They had a truck with a fifth-wheel trailer that they were using during this time while they were serving in the role as an evangelist.
About 50 miles out of Roswell, New Mexico, they pulled into a rest area late one night to rest for a while. They were in the trailer and early the next morning, Brother Boone got out of the trailer and went up front to the truck and cranked it up to begin warming up the cab. After he cranked the truck, he went back and got back in the trailer.
He had not been in the trailer very long (just a matter of minutes) when he felt the trailer begin to shift as if it were moving. So he quickly stepped out the door and saw that someone had gotten into the truck and was literally in the process of stealing the truck and trailer. Elder Brother Boone was so caught off guard that before he could react the truck and trailer was roaring off out of the down the road.
Several long minutes passed before the New Mexico State Police came to the rest area. They were responding to the call from another traveler who had called in the report. In the meantime, Brother Boone was in great distress and fear but he begin to pray for the safety of Sister Boone.
The State Police put Brother Boone in the back of the car and they roared off down the highway in pursuit the truck and trailer. They were traveling at speeds in excess of a 100 mph in an effort to catch the truck. Another unnerving thing about it was this highway was twisting and curving through a mountainous area of New Mexico.
Meanwhile in the trailer, Sister Boone realized that something was amiss. She began to fear for her safety and decided to do something to protect herself should the trailer crash. She got down on the floor under the small table and padded the whole area with cushions and pillows from the furniture in the trailer. I might add that she and Brother Boone were doing their share of praying while all of this was going on.
When the State Police finally caught up with the truck and it was traveling in ranges of 80 mph. After a successful roadblock, the State Police surrounded the truck and trailer. Sister Boone was hustled off the trailer by the State Troopers and rushed away from the trailer while they were in the process of apprehending the thief. It just so happens that he was an escaped convict who had a rap sheet a mile long.
While Sister Boone was waiting at the back of one of the police vehicles, a nicely dressed man came up and just stayed there with her. She felt very calm around this man and much of her wits begin to return back to her. When the troopers begin to come back to get her statement, he sort of smiled and nodded and left her. After her statement had been taken, she asked who the nicely dressed was. All of the troopers started looking around for him and he was not to be found. Furthermore he was not an employee of the State Police.
Brother and Sister Boone finally decided that this man was an angel who had been sent to protect her during the ordeal! ! !
-I know. . . I know. . . I know. . . Your doubt wants to shut down this sort of story because so many urban myths are floating around. You say, “I got an e-mail that told me a similar story and I was supposed to forward it on to eleventy-hundred and forty-leven folks or some virus would attack my computer.”
-But let me remind you again:
Psalms 34:7 KJV The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
When my wife goes out and about. . . angels are with her.
When my kids are out and about. . . angels are with them.
When we kneel down and pray. . . angels are present.
When we are worshiping in church, in our cars, in our homes. . . angels are present.
-They are working during the interval!
IV. CONCLUSION -- IN THE INTERVAL
-I have to bring it to your attention one more time. . . . Even in the interval of our praying and the answer finally arriving. . . God is still in charge!
-An old black “spiritual” goes like this:
I feel like going on,
I feel like going on,
Though trials come on every hand,
I feel like going on.
-Another old black “spiritual” asks a question:
Whose Side Are You On Anyway? ? ?
-I feel pretty certain that you are on the Lord’s side. . .
Philip Harrelson
November 18, 2007
