In the heat of the battle

Then the angel said to me, "Don't be afraid, Daniel, for from the very first day you applied your mind to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I have come in response to your words.

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand.....” Dan. 10: 12-14

Do you ever wonder what is happening in the heavenlies? I would bet that if we could see with our eyes what goes on around us in the spirit realm, we would faint dead away. That is exactly what Daniel did when the angel came before him, three weeks after he started a fast in hopes of gaining understanding of a vision God had given him. As soon as Daniel saw the angel, he fell on his face and fell “into a deep sleep”.

According to the angel, help would have arrived as soon as Daniel “applied his mind to understand”, but the angel was detained by a demon who contended with him for the whole three weeks of Daniel’s fast.

After fighting the demon alone, another angel named Michael came to help the one who was assigned to speak to Daniel.

Clearly, the prince of this world does not want any of God’s children to set their minds on anything God would have them understand. He would rather we all just set our brains in idle and content ourselves with the things of this age.

I am very much guilty of this malady.  Facebook, Pinterest, gmail, and news take up far too much of my brain time, but as soon as I set my mind to understand God, He is so gracious to commune with me. 

Any effort I make to hear God, is an assault on the devil. My times of meditation and prayer are times when I am also in the battle with the angels of heaven.

I have to always keep in mind that the “ho hum” syndrome I often feel when I focus on God is a major strike against me. Too often it is a successful attempt by the devil to divert my attention to focus on innocuous things.

But when I dodge this temptation and instead sit quietly before the Lord, above me the battle rages as God’s legions strike against the spirits who are warring against me, my friends, my family, and everyone else God puts on my heart to pray for.