One of the most intriguing, mysterious, ignored and probably abused topics in all of Scripture is the matter of spiritual warfare.
One of the most important but puzzling issues in all of Scripture is prayer and spiritual breakthrough. It’s puzzling because we all have questions about prayer. How come some prayers don’t get answered? How come some answers to prayer are very delayed? And is there a key, or is there a secret to spiritual breakthrough?
And this morning we have one of the wildest passages in all of Scripture where the topics of powerful prayer and spiritual warfare intersect. I’m talking about Daniel 10 in which Daniel has his most jaw-dropping and spiritually exhausting vision yet, the fourth and final great vision of the book of Daniel, which encompasses the totality of three chapters, and is the most detailed and extensive apocalyptic vision in all of the Bible this side of the Book of Revelation.
And at the outset at least, it’s a lesson in the kind of prayer that God hears, the kind of prayer that results in spiritual breakthrough. What we should learn from it is this: Humble, fervent, persistent and even courageous prayer is the key to spiritual breakthrough. Now I know that’s a mouthful, but all those characteristics of prayer are important. They need to be humble; they need to be fervent, they must be persistent and even courageous, and they must actually be prayers of a godly man (or woman). Then, and perhaps only then, does spiritual breakthrough take place.
It's now 536 B.C. Daniel 10 identifies it as the third year of the reign of Cyrus the Persian. In other words, the Medes and the Persians who had defeated the Babylonians have now been in power for a total of three years. Cyrus is the great Persian King who in his first year issued the decree which permitted the return of the Jewish exiles to Israel from Babylon. And the first group of those exiles has now left for Israel from Babylon, leaving Daniel behind. Finally, the 70- year captivity of the Jews has come to an end, as a result of Daniel’s prayer of confession in Daniel 9. Daniel is now likely about 85 years old, and he is still in prayer. Actually he is in mourning and prayer. Daniel 10, verses one through four, describe for us his spiritual activity late in his life. He had not tasted any tasty food; he had not had any wine; he had even neglected his personal grooming because he was so intensely involved in this modified fast for 21 days in seeking God for His people Israel. Now at the outset, Daniel doesn’t mention why he is in mourning. That doesn’t become evident until verse 14. Daniel had still been concerned for his people Israel, what would happen to them now that they had been released from exile. He might be a little sad that he had come to the end of this life and for reasons not revealed, perhaps his age, perhaps his work, had been unable to return to the Promised Land after all these years of longing for it. But apparently, in light of the answer about to be brought to him by this great angel, his mourning and concern had been for the future of his people Israel, as well as perhaps his own future, in the Promised Land. Now, God does give him an answer with regard to His own future in the Promised Land in this vision, but it’s not mentioned in chapter 10 or 11. It doesn’t come until chapter 12, and God gives him hope. God tells him he will be resurrected to his allotted inheritance, obviously in the Promised Land, at the end of the age. With regard to Israel’s future, well, there’s lots of trouble ahead, and part of the reason is the spiritual warfare going on in heavenly places that has great impact on earth and human history.
But the lesson of verses one through nine is this: The humble fervent fasting of the godly gets God’s attention. You want to get God’s attention. You want an answer to your prayers. You want God to show up for you. Then dare to be a Daniel. Dare to do what Daniel repeatedly did. Pray, Pray, and then fast and pray. Humble yourself before God in intense prayer demonstrated by the fact that you neglect the pleasures and sometimes even the necessities of life in order to seek God’s face, that you might hear from on high, and God often shows up.
On this occasion, for Daniel, it happened after 21 days of fasting. Again, we see the pattern of sevens. This time it’s again a multiple of sevens, three times seven, on the 21st day of his fast, on the 24th day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar, as he’s standing next to the river Tigris, 35 miles north of Babylon, that he lifts his eyes and he sees a certain man dressed in linen, verse 5, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphas, his body was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.
Now this was an incredible presence, like the presence of God. Only Daniel saw the vision, but the men with him ran away because they experienced some sense of dread. The vision is reminiscent of the vision of John in the Book of Revelation of the glorified Christ—who face was like the sun shining in full strength, and so many tend to think this was a theophany, an appearance of God, the angel of the Lord or the pre-incarnate Christ. We will talk about that in a moment. Regardless of who it was, it was an astounding visit by a heavenly personality that was incredible, a great revelation of God. And Daniel was overwhelmed by it—there was no strength left in him, his visage became white like a deathly pallor, and when the angel spoke, Daniel was so overwhelmed, he put his face on the ground and fell into a deep sleep. Wow!
Want God to show up? Do what Daniel did. Want an answer to prayer?! Well, humble, fervent, intense, prayer with fasting is how it happens.
And it’s how it has happened for me. As I’ve mentioned too many times, it seems that on the seventh day of fast is when God has shown up for me in remarkable ways on at least two of the three occasions that I have fasted and prayed for that long.
Now at this point we encounter a major question for Bible interpreters. Who was this angel? Obviously, he was at least a very powerful angel. The most two common interpretations are that this was the Angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Christ, who occurs in angel form in other places in the Old Testament. The similarities between his appearance and the description of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation 1 make this a very popular interpretation. The problem with it, as we will see as we get into the next section is that this angel is going to confess that he had been prevented from coming earlier by a demonic prince known as the Prince of Persia. How could this be if this were the pre-incarnate Christ? Christ, as God, is all-powerful. A mere demonic prince, however great, could not by any means hinder him in anything He decided to do. Nevertheless, this is a very popular understanding of his identity.
The second view is that this is again the angel Gabriel. Gabriel has appeared to Daniel in two previous visions, so why not this one. However, I don’t subscribe to this view for two reasons. First, Daniel didn’t recognize this angel as Gabriel. He had recognized Gabriel as Gabriel in his second vision. So it would make sense that if this were again Gabriel, Daniel would have made note of it. And the second reason why I don’t believe this could be Gabriel is his appearance is far more glorious and overwhelming.
I think a more reasonable interpretation is that this is a very powerful angel, an angel on the level of the very demonic princes mentioned in this angel, and very possibly an archangel himself. In verse 13, where Michael is mentioned as one of the chief princes among the angels, it indicates that there are other chief princes like him. He is called the archangel in other places in Scripture, and so I think it’s possible that there are other archangels like Michael, though unnamed, and this angel might be one of them. The Book of Jude talks about angelic majesties, and the glory associated with this angel strongly suggests this as a very mighty angel who possessed great majesty as an angel of the Lord.
Now it’s important to remember at this point, as we delve into verses 10-17, that this answer to prayer didn’t take place until Daniel had prayed and fasted for 21 days. The 21 days were essential, because it took 21 days for there to be a breakthrough in the heavenly places.
This gives us another clue--a clue to how breakthrough prayer takes place. It takes place through persistent and intense prayer. Persistent intense prayer results in spiritual breakthrough.
Verse 10: Daniel has fallen into a deep sleep and we see that this angel repeatedly in this passage has the power to strengthen him. Daniel writes, “Then, behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said to me, “O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up.” Then verses 12-14 reveal something very interesting about why it took 21 days of prayer before Daniel received an answer: Verse 12: “Then he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days, then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.”
Now again, this is mysterious. But it speaks of something that has been happening in heavenly places. A “Prince of Persia” withstands this mighty angel so that though he has been sent by God to answer Daniel’s prayer, he is delayed for 21 days there with the kings of Persia.
If the “Prince of Persia” has resisted this great angel, and we know angels are much stronger and more powerful than men, this Prince of Persia must also be an angel, but a fallen angel, a demonic presence, apparently assigned by Satan to the Kingdom of the Medes and Persians. And where had this delay taken place—with the kings of Persia. In other words, this demonic prince, obviously a very powerful demon with great authority, authority over and influencing the human Kingdom of the Medes and Persians was there with the Kings of the Medes and Persians because he was exerting influence over that Kingdom. Kings is in the plural because, I believe, it’s evident that there was more than one king at this time—there was the Emperor Cyrus and King Darius who had ruled in Babylon at the same time. So this is very revealing. Demonic powers, great demons, have specific assignments to influence and direct the affairs of the nations of the earth through their leaders. They also have some authority over what happens in heavenly places among angels. In this case, because of the Prince of Persia’s power over Persia, he was able to prevent this angel from coming to Daniel in answer to Daniel’s prayer for 21 days. It was only after 21 days when Michael the Archangel, who according to Daniel 12:1 is the great prince who stands guard over the son of Daniel’s people Israel, comes to assist him that He is able to get beyond this demonic Prince of Persia to meet with Daniel with this answer to his prayer.
This is the spiritual battle in the heavenly places unveiled. God draws back the curtain for Daniel and us to see that there is a very real spiritual battle taking place between the good angels and demons in heavenly places, and the issues have to do with the nations of men, and even answered prayer.
It’s the very thing we hear about in the New Testament from the Apostle Paul in the definitive passage about spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:10-19. Listen especially to Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Notice the rulers that Paul is talking about are not flesh and blood. Rather they are demonic, demonic forces who can be described as rulers, i.e., princes. We battle “against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places.” So this prince of Persia must be one of these demonic heavenly rulers or princes, one of these world forces of this darkness that was assigned specifically to the Kingdom of the Medes and the Persians, and the Kings of the Persians. And he had so much power in that realm he could prevent an incredibly powerful angel of God from coming to Daniel for 21 days.
Now, this provides us with an answer to a common question. Why is there such a delay in answered prayer? Why does it take a long time, sometimes, between when we ask, and we receive an answer? Sometimes, at least, it appears that the reason for the delay is spiritual warfare. Powerful demonic presences stand in the way of angels, messengers of God, who live to serve God’s people, from carrying out God’s directives.
So then the question we might ask, is how can this resistance be overcome? Apparently, the answer is also provided in this passage. It’s persistent prayer. Persistent prayer, and sometimes fasting, results in spiritual breakthrough. It’s only when Daniel has mourned and fasted as he here fasted and gave himself to prayer for 21 days that finally Michael the archangel shows up and helps this powerful angel break the stalemate with the demonic prince of the Medes and the Persians. And again it comes after a multiple of seven days, in this case, three sevens or 21 days, which seems to be a significant issue in God’s economy, persistent prayer and answers to prayer. Only then could this great angel come and explain the purpose of his coming—specific answers to Daniel’s prayer for the welfare of Daniel’s people. Verse 14: “Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.” And what Daniel will receive in chapters 11 and 12 is a detailed prophecy of what will happen to the nation of Israel in both the immediate and then distant future—first it’s future under the Kings of Persia and then the Kings of Greece, and then a leap into the distant future in what we now know is Daniel’s 70th week when the Antichrist comes. Significantly, what is missing once again is the church age, when God deals with the people of God who make up the Church of Jesus Christ, rather than Israel.
Now the significant application for us here is this: That it was Daniel’s persistent prayer that led to spiritual breakthrough. Daniel persisted in this modified fast and intense prayer persistently for 21 days, and it was only after 21 days that a breakthrough took place in heaven that became evident on earth. It is persistent intense prayer that results in spiritual breakthrough.
Now I have done three fasts of 7 days or more. And in two of the three, remarkable things happened on the seventh day, when I did not expect them to take place. That was the day God would supernaturally reveal Himself—as I’ve mentioned previously, in direct answer to prayer, by putting his face on a cloud in the sky. Or in another case, the seventh day happened to be a Sunday. As I was on my way into the school where we were holding our church service, we met a lady with her three- or four-year-old son. And the lady told us her son had seen a cloud over the building and angels going up and down a ladder. I took it with a grain of salt—maybe he had seen it or maybe he hadn’t. I didn’t know what to make of it at that time. But that day, unbeknownst to most of the congregation, there were three different demonic manifestations in the lives of individuals who were attending that Sunday that resulted in deliverances. The Spiritual Battle had been engaged. There had been some sort of spiritual breakthrough and Satan’s minions and their work had been exposed and defeated—again as a result of persistent prayer and in this case fasting.
Want a spiritual breakthrough? The key is persistent intense prayer, and even fasting.
Daniel, upon hearing the great angel is then again rendered speechless and turns his face toward the ground. The angel has to strengthen him again and encourage him. He touches him a second time after Daniel expresses his difficulty in talking with such a majestic and holy being. And listen to the angel’s exhortation to Daniel in verse 19: “O man of high esteem. Do not be afraid. Peace be with you; take courage and be courageous!”
And the result? “Now as soon as he spoke to me, I received strength, and said, “May my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”
Now I find the angel’s exhortation interesting, even provocative. Daniel is in the process, I know, of receiving an answer to prayer. But even in receiving an answer to prayer, he is encouraged to take courage, to even be courageous. And even as He is encouraged to be courageous, he is strengthened so he can hear the angel’s answer.
Now maybe this is a bit of a stretch. But I think God wants us to be courageous in seeking answers to prayer. We need to engage in courageous prayer. And I want to suggest to you that when we are courageous in prayer, we can move spiritual mountains.
As soon as Daniel has now been strengthened to hear more, the angel refers to some of the spiritual mountains that are being moved. The angel himself must be courageous, he has been moved by Daniel’s prayer, and he is about to return to the spiritual battle. He describes what is about to happen in heavenly places between angels and demons which will precisely correlate with what happens on earth among the kingdoms of men.
Verse 20: “Then he said, “Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia, so I am going forth and behold the prince of Greece is about to come. However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.”
So what’s happening here? This powerful angel is saying he has taken a time-out from spiritual battle to reveal to Daniel what is written in the book of truth—perhaps a heavenly Bible of some sort. He tells him that he must return to do even more battle with the Prince of Persia. Why? Because the Kings of the Medes and the Persians are still the dominant kingdom on the earth and have authority over the Jews, the people of God. But that will not last too long. Before long the Prince of Greece, another demonic ruler with authority over the Kingdom of Greece is coming. In other words, the angel knows that the next great Kingdom on Earth that will have authority over the Jews will be the Kingdom of Greece, just as predicted in other places in Daniel and fulfilled in history. And He will also have to do battle against that evil demonic prince, and that Michael, the archangel—that is the good angel assigned to be a guardian over Daniel’s people Israel, is the only angelic power on his side in this battle.
What it tells us is just how important prayer is in this spiritual battle that we are in the midst of. This is what Ephesians 6:10-19 tells us--that our ultimate struggle as believers in reaching people for Christ and the Kingdom of God is not against human beings, flesh and blood, but against powerful demonic rulers and princes in heavenly places. And we can move mountains when we involve ourselves in humble, persistent and even courageous prayer.
Just a couple years ago I had lunch with Steve Yoas and Blair McCoy after passing out invitations to church in a local neighborhood. Many of you may not know, but Steve is a former Satanist. The subject turned to some of the places that Satanists frequent, including a house in downtown Reno that I once, in the course of a 40-day fast, went and prayed over.
As a result of our talk, I decided that I was going to devote myself to prayer that week for Satanists to be saved, and that all the prayers and rites of Satanists in our area would be frustrated, their curses reversed, and Satanists shown that they had been rendered powerless.
And several strange things happened that week that told me that things had been stirred up in the heavenly places. First, Blair received two anonymous calls that week from Satanists who for some reason called our church that week with some message like, “Satan rules.” And second, the very next Sunday, we found an about 35-year-old man who looked like he’s been up all night, has been strung out on drugs, and was demonized, waiting for our Sunday morning service at Sepulveda Elementary School. He was in bad shape, could hardly communicate. Hardly made it through the service, but afterward, I shared the Gospel with Him. I had to continually pray for him and stop and pray through the presentation because he would fall asleep or be distracted, but in the end, he prayed a prayer of confession of faith. And I never saw him again.
Yes, when we pray persistently, courageously, and intensely, with fasting, some amazing things can happen. We can even move spiritual mountains.
And yes, you can pray and move mountains, if you will pray courageously, intensely, persistently and fast, as Daniel once did and changed the world!
