Verse of the Day 10/23

Verse of the Day 10/23

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.  English Standard Version (ESV)

As you can tell by several recent posts, prayer has been on my mind a lot lately.  It is an area of my life, of my spiritual live that needs improvement and the best way to do that is to read, study, learn and apply what I learn about prayer.  For today's verse and personal lesson we go to the book of Daniel.  Daniel was a man of courage facing a foreign king, standing up to opposition and persecution and scheming enemies.  His was not an easy life, but he prayed daily and God was with Him and as today's verse indicates, He heard his prayers.

Verse 2 in the  chapter indicates that he had been "mourning three full weeks".  Daniel knew what it was like not to receive immediate answers and to have to deal with the hand that was dealt him.  Still he persevered in life, and I would have to say, in prayer.  He is a model for us.

In today's "Grace Gems" I read the following quote from Mary Winslow, "O what a mercy to be persuaded that whatever may be our circumstances, God is with us, directing and overruling the whole for our good and for His own glory. To know that He is ours--and that we are His. To draw near in faith, telling Him all that is in our hearts, conscious of having the ear and heart of Jehovah towards us. Is not this true, substantial happiness?" .   

"Cast all your care on Him, because He cares for you!" 1 Peter 5:7    

Her feelings line up with Daniel's, who trusted that God was directing and orchestrating our circumstances, and Daniel brought all of those circumstances before the Lord and the Lord delivered him from his enemies and from the mouths of hungry lions in the lions den.

Call on Him today and every day.  At some point, in this life or in the life to come God will say to you, "from the first day you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself (in prayer) before God, your words have been heard."  He will come to you and one day bring you home.

Blessings,

Mike

Daniel 10:12-14The Message (MSG)

12-14 "'Relax, Daniel,' he continued, 'don't be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. And now I'm here to help you understand what will eventually happen to your people. The vision has to do with what's ahead.'