Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”
Suppose one of the greatest angels of heaven were to come to you, and encourage you by telling you that you are “greatly beloved” by the angels in heaven! Your fellow human beings on earth have tried to kill you by throwing you into a den of hungry lions, but there’s a real Life beyond this world of persecution, and there your reputation is high! Good news!
That was Daniel; we don’t read that he ever made a mistake. “O Daniel, man greatly beloved!” is what the angel told him (Dan. 9:23; 10:11). I have never had an angel tell me that, and I know myself to be “less than the least” of all God’s servants; but the Bible tells me that “God so loved me that He gave His only begotten Son that I might not perish.” That is better than having a thousand angels tell me! The Bible is God’s message book to my soul.
An angel may meet with me for a few minutes and tell me that, but then he is gone. The Bible tells me that 24/7. In a special way Jesus says that “blessed” are the people who have never seen Him resurrected physically as Thomas did “and yet have believed” on the testimony of His apostles (John 20:26-29).
But did you know that the good man Daniel’s prayers were “hindered”? He couldn’t understand! He wondered, why wasn’t God listening to Him? He became so concerned about the apparent indifference of Heaven to his heart request (he was praying for God’s people, not for himself!) that he voluntarily fasted for three whole weeks (Dan. 10:2, 3). Jesus once fasted twice that long (Matt. 4:1, 2), but He did not work hard physically during that time, but apparently Daniel did keep on working during his partial fast.
Then Daniel tells us why his prayers were apparently not answered--Christ Himself joined the angel in “fighting” with the “prince of Persia” and then with “the prince of Greece” (Dan. 10:20), until they did what God wanted them to do--release His people. “From the first day” Daniel’s prayer had been heard (vs. 12), and was in the process of being answered!
Your prayers also are being heard and are in the process of being answered. Be patient, trust, and believe.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 18, 2004.
Copyright © 2016 by "Dial Daily Bread."
