Daniel’s prayer literally initiated a war in the heavens between the Lord’s heavenly host and the principalities and powers of Persia and Greece. This was not just any prayer he was voicing. It was intercession driven by his seeking God to understand a prophecy of Scripture and see its fulfillment. We should pray with the same drive to see the fulfillment of prophecies that apply to us in our generation.

Listen Now:

Download Transcript

Show Notes:

Sometimes when we pray, we feel like the answers to our prayer are not really forthcoming. We struggle on a human level to understand what is withholding the answers. We can draw insight from Daniel, who fasted and prayed about a prophecy by Jeremiah regarding events that Israel faced in his day. God sent the answer from the first day he prayed, but it took twenty-one days for God’s messenger to reach Daniel because the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood this messenger to block him from fulfilling what God sent him to do.

Daniel was sensing that the prophecies were beginning to reach a point of fulfillment and that it was time for these things to come to pass. Therefore he was fasting and praying for greater understanding and knowledge of how to apply these prophecies to the children of Israel in his generation. What kinds of prayer should we be engaged in? I think, like Daniel, we should be praying over the prophecies that we know apply to our generation and understand what is taking place in the spiritual battle that our prayers initiate.

How do we know what prophecies of Scripture apply to our generation? Just look at the prophecies being fulfilled right now as the children of Israel return to their land. Yet many prophesies for this time seem to be delayed and hindered. We should be praying, “Lord, give us more understanding. Show us how these things are to be fulfilled and when they are to be fulfilled. Give us the understanding of Your Word and how it applies to this generation so that we, like Daniel, might begin to fast, to pray, to prophesy, to speak and respeak these Words and have faith that You are bringing Your Kingdom.”

Key Verses:

• Daniel 10:12–14. “I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me.”
• Daniel 10:19–21. “I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; … the prince of Greece is about to come.”
• Matthew 24:32–36. “Learn the parable from the fig tree. … But of that day and hour no one knows.”
• Daniel 9:1–3. “I, Daniel, observed … the word of the LORD to Jeremiah. … So I gave my attention to the Lord God.”
• Jeremiah 25:8–12. “When seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon.”
• Ephesians 6:12. “Our struggle is … against the rulers, against the powers.”
• Matthew 6:10. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
• Ezekiel 11:17–20. “I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them.”
• Jeremiah 32:37–41. “I will … faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart.”

Quotes:

• “Christ told us to ask and keep on asking. That’s not just repetitive prayer. That’s not just vain repetition. That is recognizing that in the spirit realm there may be this battle transpiring.”
• “Why are you talking about Israel? I need to know what is important to me. Well, believe me, Israel is important to you because what fulfillment happens for Israel happens for us as believers in Yeshua in this age.”
• “He had to show us mercy. We must come to the fullness of that mercy, and then we will minister mercy along with God to Israel.”

Takeaways:

1. Daniel was not just praying any prayers. He was not praying for his personal life or his family. He was concerned about the Word of God. He was concerned about the prophecies of Scripture and what they said about Israel and about the circumstances he and Israel were in.
2. There are prophecies that apply to us in our generation and that should be the focal point of our prayer. We must begin to pray about the fulfillment of prophecies that we are expecting and anticipating. And it is these prayers over prophecy that initiate the wars in the heavens we read about.
3. We do not want to engage on a natural level. Our battle is in the heavens, and as mature believers we must know and understand how to engage in that battle. We want to learn how to pray in a way that tears down the principalities and powers, the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places that prevent His Kingdom from coming.