Daniel 9:21-23 “Prayer”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹and while I [was] one speaking in prayer, and the man Gabriel, who I had seen in a vision in the former, flying swiftly, one touching me according to the time of the evening sacrifice, ²²and he caused [me] to understand and spoke with me and he said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight of understanding, ²³In the beginning of your request, a word went out, and I have come to declare because you [are] greatly valued, and discern in the matter and cause to understand in the vision.”

One more thought before I dive into Gabriel’s prophecy of the Seventy Weeks – Isn’t it interesting here to see what goes on when we pray? Oftentimes as we pray, do we not feel, in a sense, like we’re praying to the air? What I mean is that, as we pray, we are for the most part praying in faith. We get to see no visions, hear no voices, and sometimes wonder if our prayers do any good at all. Yet we pray on, simply believing in our God who says He hears our prayers. He told us, “Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not” (Jer. 33:3). He said, “Ask and you shall receive.” Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray and not give up!” And so we go to Him, pour out our hearts, cry out for answers, beg His help and deliverances, plead for those we love, and do it all to a large extent simply in faith.

What do we see in this passage? Our friend Daniel goes to prayer. He sees a need – in this case the deliverance of the Jewish people. He is a prophet and certainly has at times been allowed to see visions, yet, I would suggest that most of the time he had to pray in simple faith, just like you and me. In other words, I’m sure he had no expectation that his prayer would be answered by the physical appearance of an angel! In his mind, he would pray his prayer, then, like Habakkuk say, “I will stand at my watch; I will look to see what He will say to me” (2:1). In other words, having prayed his prayer, he would simply arise, go back to “the king’s business,” and simply wait in faith to see what the Lord would do – just like you and me.

To an unbeliever, it would all seem like a pointless business – literally “praying to the air,” a silly activity where the only thing accomplished was to make us “feel better.” Yet, what does this passage teach us? What do we learn when the Lord draws back the veil and allows us to see into the spirit world? Far from “praying to the air” or a “pointless business,” what we get to see is that prayer literally “moves heaven and earth!”

There was Gabriel at his position, “Standing in the presence of God.” We learn that “as soon as Daniel began to pray,” an answer was given, and Gabriel was sent to fly swiftly to him. It says he was sent to “Give you insight and understanding.” All of that actually happened, yet the only reason we know it is because we’re told. In other words, all of that could have happened and we would have been completely oblivious to it, except that we are told. In our case today, the usual plan is exactly that, that we don’t get to “see” what is happening in the spirit world. Yet, would we think that not to be the case for us?

On exactly that point, I cannot possibly relate the number of times, as an engineer, I’ve been faced with extremely difficult situations, even ones where no one else can figure out what’s going on or what to do about it. I have prayed and then suddenly the answer just occurs to me! At those times, I am keenly aware that somehow it “wasn’t me,” that, even to me, it is a complete mystery how I saw that. Why should I not believe exactly the same thing happened for me as for Daniel. As soon as I began praying, an answer was given, and the Lord sent an angel to give me “insight and understanding!” My first thought is that I doubt the Lord sent any angel as important as Gabriel to someone like me, but then, what does that matter? The same thing is true for me as for Daniel – prayer moves heaven and earth!

I’m quite sure any real believer reading this can say “Amen” and Amen.” We’ve all seen answers to our prayers and sometimes all of us have had that clear sense that something miraculous just happened. By faith, we should not be surprised. What I mean is, knowing our Bibles, and particularly now thinking of this passage in Daniel, we can and should believe that our prayers are not only heard, but that they serve to mobilize even angels, to call down real help, that there is an entire world responding to those prayers – a spirit world which our eyes cannot see.

We’re of course reminded of Elisha and his servant. When the Syrian army surrounded their house, Elisha told his servant, “’Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (II Kings 6:16-18). Our passage here in Daniel is calling us to “see” the same thing. Not only are we not “praying to the air,” we can believe by faith that our prayers are mobilizing spiritual forces far greater than our minds can even imagine!

Just so it’s said, someone may argue that Daniel is a prophet and a model believer and somehow more worthy than the rest of us to receive such miraculous answers to prayer, but that argument needs to be simply shot down. As noted earlier, although he may be a model believer to the rest of us, he would be the first to remind us he too is a child of Adam, that his heart, like ours, is desperately wicked, and that it is pure grace that has made him who he is. The whole point of Hebrews 4 is that Jesus is our High Priest, and therefore we can come boldly to the Throne of Grace. What does it say in vv. 14-16? “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin. Let us then approach the Throne of Grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” It is Jesus who makes us worthy to pray.

So then, let us all pray on! When we have that awful feeling we’re “praying to the air,” let’s say in faith, “Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief!” and pray on. And let us pray believing that we are in fact surrounded by a spirit world we cannot see, that our prayers really do move mountains. Like Jesus said, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53).

May Daniel and his friend Gabriel today remind us that in fact “prayer moves heaven and earth!”