Fear Not (Daniel 10:12)

Then He said to me, “Fear not, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.”
– Daniel 10:12

What a scene, Daniel is praying and he’s exhausted. You read through Daniel 10, he’s overwhelmed by this vision that he has received from God. He’s hardly able to stand, and this messenger from heaven, comes to him. Daniel’s trembling, and this messenger from heaven says, “Fear not, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand this vision and you humbled yourself before God, and you’ve been praying in light of this word, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.”

Did you catch that? Daniel’s prayers to God, just like we saw in Daniel 9, were causing movement to happen in the spiritual realm and this messenger from heaven comes to Daniel, with a message based on the words Daniel’s been speaking in prayer. Just let that soak in. That you and I have been invited into conversation with God, words before God, that lead to movement in the heavenly realms, that lead to movement among spiritual beings.

And you go on and read more in Daniel 10 when it comes to exactly what that involves, but just let that reality soak in and God help us to step into this reality. God help us to pray like it matters. To lift words before God, knowing that God is hearing our prayers and He is moving heaven and earth and spiritual beings in the heavenly places, in response to our prayers, in response to our words.

This is not the only time the Bible talks like this. I think about Moses. God’s saying, “I have done, according to your word.” God says that to Moses. And then Jesus, that’s the whole invitation that He gives us in John 15. It’s the words upon which this podcast is based. “If you remain in me, my words remain in you. Ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you. Pray according to my words.”

So God, we pray right now, according to your word, according to this mind blowing picture in Daniel 10, believing that as we pray to you right now, I’m voicing a prayer, us echoing it in all of our hearts where we’re listening to this, that you hear us, by the grace of Jesus, by the blood of Jesus. That we’ve been welcomed into your presence to speak words to you, that you respond to, in your grace.

So God, we pray for, well all sorts of things in our lives. I just think of all the things that we desire in our lives, in our families, in our churches, and our work. All the things we desire in the world, based on your word. God, help us to be prayerful, not to be prayerless, when we have this opportunity before you.

God, as we pray for the nations, for unreached peoples, like today. God, hear our words for the Madurese Borneo people of Indonesia, this Muslim people group. God we pray, hear our words, crying out for their salvation, for the spread of the gospel to this unreached people group, the Madurese Borneo people. Hear our prayers and answer them. God, we pray that you would bring salvation among this people group. That you would open eyes to your salvation. That you would send laborers into this people group.

And God, we pray that many of them would come to know Jesus. God, we ask for that and we ask that you would move heaven and earth to bring it about. God, teach us to pray with confidence and faith and trust, that our words matter when we speak them before you, that you have invited us in prayer into a heavenly conversation that leads to heavenly movement and movement on the earth for your glory, for our good, for others good.

Oh God, thank you for this privilege. Jesus, we praise you for making this privilege possible for us and we pray all of this in light of your word, in Daniel 10. In Jesus name, Amen.