Practical Wisdom from the Word of God

Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. ¹³ 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.

In my last post we discussed the necessity of understanding the way the devil works in being able to operate from a position of strength. Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 6 to put on the full armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the “wiles” of the devil. The armor will help us stand against the wiles of the devil but knowing what they are and how they work will help us go on the offensive. I believe we need to move from simply reacting to what the devil does against the church to an offensive posture where we take the battle to the enemy.

Last time we saw from the World War II Battle of Midway that winning the battle of military intelligence led to a United States Naval victory that changed the outcome of the war in the Pacific. I believe that knowing how the devil works against us can change our war against the kingdom of darkness and by extension our individual Christian lives as well. Jesus told us in Matthew 16 that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church. Gates are defensive. To me, that has to mean that Jesus intends for us to be on the offensive. Intelligence concerning the wiles of the devil will help us turn the tide.

Not long ago in this space we focused on John 10:10. This verse tells us the Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundant. It also tells us that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. We live in two worlds at the same time. It is hard for us to understand that. What we see in the natural world in only a reflection of what is happening in the world of the spirit. There is a battle in the heavens and we have a role to play in that battle.

In today’s scripture the Prophet Daniel has an encounter with an angel of the Lord. He has been praying about the future of his people and the Lord sends an angel to speak to him. It is interesting to note that the nation ruling the region at that time was Persia. The angel assures Daniel he was sent by God to answer his prayer on the first day of his 21-day fast. He was delayed because he had to fight through the Prince of Persia.

This was not a natural prince. It was a spiritual prince. It was one of those spirits noted by Paul in Ephesians 6:12. No one, not even Daniel, knew that there was a battle in the air over the Persian Empire at that time. However, there was. An angel had been sent to give Daniel some “intelligence” about the future. The demonic spirit empowering the Persian Empire did not want Daniel to have this information and was fighting to keep the angel from getting through. God sent in angelic reinforcements in the person of the Archangel Michael to see to it that the angel got his intelligence to Daniel.

To many of us this story seems fantastic. It is like the stories from Greek mythology. However, let me point out another verse in this chapter. The angel calls the spirit he is fighting the Prince of Persia. This is understandable as the people in charge of the current ruling empire were Persian. However, look at verse 20.

Daniel 10:20 (NKJV) ²⁰ Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.

This is long before Greece was an empire. Look at the name of the next prince who would rule the area. His name is the prince of Greece. Indeed the Greek empire would defeat the Persians and rise to rule in the region. Our modern western thinking trains us to discount such things. Yet these verses speak of two empires. Both had natural rulers who controlled the region. The angel tells us that both also had demonic princes that empowered their physical counterparts. When the spiritual ruler changed so did the physical ruler.

I know that we cannot see a prince of America, but he exists. There are princes that rule over every continent. Within each region, there are rulers and sub-rulers. I am not trying to be melodramatic or to frighten. This is just what the bible teaches. I do not understand it all but I do not have to understan. I just have to do my part.

What is my part? In the case of Daniel and the Prince of Persia, his part was twofold. First, he had to pray. He was fasting and praying for 21 days when the Angel finally got through to him. The thing that precipitated the battle was Daniel’s prayer. I believe our prayers release the angels to do battle on our behalf. Hebrews 1:14 gives us some insight into this.

Hebrews 1:14 (NKJV) ¹⁴ Are they (angels) not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

Here we learn that the angels are ministering spirits sent out for us, the heirs of salvation. This is a perfect picture of what is happening in Daniel 10. The angel was sent to minister for Daniel and Daniel’s prayers sent him into battle. It is our responsibility to pray and release the angels to do battle.

There was a second aspect to Daniel’s responsibility. Daniel had to be a witness of the true and living God in his world. Daniel was known as one who stood for the principles of God. Because of his uncompromised stand, we see Daniel thrown into a den of lions in chapter 6. In this well-known Bible story, we read that it was an angel who came and closed the mouths of the lions so they would not be able to harm Daniel.

We need to see that we are part of a great drama that is playing out in our world just as it was in Daniel’s world. God is moving to bring about his will in the earth. There are forces opposed to his will and they are currently wielding great power. The degree of instability we see in the natural is the result of an increase in the warfare in the spirit. We have a part to play and God has given us the weapons we need to do that part. That is what the full armor of God is all about.

Our part is the same as Daniel’s part in Persia. We must pray. When we pray we release the power of God, including the angelic army, to bring about the will of God. We must also act. We must live as real Christians walking as best we can in the principles of the bible. When we do, we empower the angels to work for us. Through prayer and our Christian stand, we will help to bring about the will of God in our world and hasten the return of Jesus Christ as the true ruler of God’s people.