Deeper Reflection
D aniel 10 presents a picture of what happened on earth and in heaven when Daniel prayed to God. In heaven, God answered Daniel’s prayer immediately: “from the first day…your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words” (v.12). But God’s answer reached Daniel on earth only “twenty-one days” later (vv.13-14). There was a delay. We are told that it was caused by “the prince of Persia” “withstanding” the heavenly messenger (v.13). Paul teaches that we are to “put on the full armour of God” and “pray at all times in the Spirit” “with all perseverance”, in order to “stand firm against the schemes of the devil” “in the evil day” (Eph 6:10-13, 18). However, Daniel 10 does not tell us that because Daniel persevered in his prayer for 21 days, God sent Michael to help the heavenly messenger to fight “the prince of Persia”, so that the messenger was freed to deliver His answer to Daniel. The cosmic conflict continued even when Daniel received God’s answer to his prayer after 21 days (Dan 10:20-21) and Daniel stopped praying after that.Living with God’s delay in answering our prayers is hard, especially when we do not know God’s reason for it. Waiting patiently with faith is a vital discipline that God wants to develop in us (cf. Heb 6:12, 15). We “ought to pray at all times and not lose heart” (Lk 18:1), trusting in God that He “answers us in His faithfulness, in His righteousness” (Psa 143:1), and in His goodness (Matt 7:11), no matter how long we must wait.