Daniel 9:21-23 - while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift
flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel,
I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray,
an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly
esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the
vision:
Daniel learned many things by reading the words of the prophet
Jeremiah. He read and studied what books
God had already had penned for us to learn from the past. He used his math
ability to calculate that the 70 year period of captivity was coming to an end…and
spent many hours of his prayer time confessing the sins of his people and
begging for God to move and keep his promises.
It was during one of these prayer times that God sent one of
the angels he had seen in his earlier visions….to tell him that God had already
answered his prayer. He was sent to Daniel
to give him insight and understanding of all that was going to happen as a part
of God’s master plan for the future. He
even gave him a glimpse of the timeline God was going to use to reveal his
answer.
It is important to note that the answer was not spelled out
directly for Daniel. The insight that
the angel gave him was embedded in numbers and symbols that Daniel understood
because of his studies of other prophets. He understood because he read and studied. He understood because he was faithful to pray
and lift God up as holy.
It is so hard to understand this concept of answered prayer.
We expect a human response…a tangible way to see that God has moved on our
requests and petitions. We want a response that makes sense to our humanness. But God speaks to us from the depths of our
relationship with him. God speaks to our heart….a heart that will only
understand what we have read and studied and prayed for understanding.
His answers sometimes come in a code meant just for those
that seek him. They may be as tangible
as a phone call or text with an address of a loved one you haven’t heard from
in months….or as the unsurpassable feeling of peace he sometimes gives to wait
for his timing that never seems to match our own.
His answers sometimes come in simple language and form…so
that all can see his glory and feel the great supernatural power that drives
those of us who believe. It tells me
that I need to be praying for God to show his glory like Daniel did…so that
more nonbelievers can see the power God has to control this world.
Father…thank you for the reminder that my prayers and
studies are so very important to understanding all the answers you give …the
moment I lift up a request to you.
Forgive me for allowing doubts to creep in when I pray….or feel slighted
when your answer did not match my vision of how you would answer. Give me an extra dose of that peace that surpasses
understanding this morning…so I can wait as long as I need to for you to show
your glory and move in everything I have prayed for. Amen.
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