What happens in the future depends on what we pray in the present.

Church family: It is very easy to ignore the constant spiritual warfare around us everyday. We are in a spiritual fight whether we acknowledge it or not. For example, it is very easy to only look at the “liberal” SCOTUS judges and think that they are the only ones standing in the way of defeating abortion in the USA. And it is easy to think that the shooting Wednesday, at the Oxford High School in Michigan, by the 15-year-old boy, that killed four other students was a result of just poor parenting and free access to guns. Or, thinking that the turmoil and unforgiving bitterness within family relationships is just because of not having a weekly date night. Instead, we should be quick to acknowledge the spiritual war that has been going on in these situations for years, decades and even centuries. From Daniel 10, we see that the struggles and conflicts on earth are a manifestation of the struggles and conflicts in the heavenly realm. Think about all of the other spiritual battles that are going on right now in our lives, in Hollywood, in Washington DC, in your home, in social media, in Hampstead and at GCT.

In Daniel 10:1-21, we see that God wanted Daniel, and us, to know that the prayers of His people bring about what He has already sovereignly planned. Yes, God is sovereign over all, He is unchangeable but He also chooses to use our humble, needy, hopeful cries for help as the means of releasing His sovereign plan into this world. In other words, most often God choses that His Will – will not be done without prayer, because He has chosen to make prayer necessary. What an amazing privilege and powerful impetus for us to pray! God includes us in the discharge of His eternal sovereign plan.

Because of Daniel's prayers God released angels into battle to bring about the rise and fall of nations and kingdoms through heavenly, spiritual warfare. Daniel saw first-hand that the struggles and conflicts on earth are a manifestation of the struggles and conflicts in the heavenly realm. He was given a peek into the reality that we do not wrestle and fight against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers, over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).  If Daniel's prayers can affect nations, our prayers can affect families, SCOTUS, schools, and everything else on this earth.

Church, let Daniel 10, be a powerful force for us to be constant in fervent prayer knowing that the future is affected by these prayers.

Daniel 10:12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.