Pray for your country (Part 4)
We must be aware that our battle is supposed to be spiritual and not physical. Likewise, the victory is first of all in spiritual realm before it is manifested in the physical realm.
The Bible says in Ephesians 6 : 12 that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against the rulers, the authorities, and the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. The problem is that very often Christians fight other people (in the flesh) instead of fighting the spiritual battle. In writing to the Colossians, Paul says that Epaphras wrestled in prayer for them (Colossians 4 :12). The church needs to understand that we are supposed to wrestle in prayer until the promises of God come to pass.
Let us go back to the prayer of Daniel in chapter 10. Having received insight from a vision, Daniel spent 3 weeks in prayer and fasting for his people (Daniel 10: 2-3). As usual, the angel Gabriel appears to him to give him a message from the Lord, but this time there is a slight variation. The angel Gabriel is unable to deliver the message as he had previously because of the magnitude of the opposition until the angel Michael intervenes.
I was deeply touched and impressed by the words of the angel Gabriel when he told Daniel that as soon as he began to pray when it was in his heart to understand the promise of the Lord and to humble himself before the Lord, his words (prayers) were heard. In fact, it was because of these prayers that Gabriel came (Daniel 10:12). We often think that God acts on our behalf after a long period of prayer, but we need to understand that God acts as soon as we begin to pray.
The question is always the same: If God sent an answer as soon as he began to pray, then why did he have to wait another 21 days? The answer to this delay is found in verse 13 where the angel Gabriel says that the prince of Persia resisted him for 21 days until Michael one of the chief princes came to his aide. We could say it this way: Gabriel was practically incapable to deliver the Lord’s message without the help of Michael. This would seem to indicate that Michael is spiritually stronger than Gabriel. Remember that in chapter 9, Gabriel had no problems delivering the message of the Lord, but in chapter 10 it was seemingly impossible without the assistance of Michael. The Bible does not say that Michael is the only prince but just one of the princes of God people, which would indicate that there are other powerful angels that intervene for the welfare of the church. It is this kind of angel that intervenes against the rulers and authorities that we mentioned in Ephesians 6:12.
The intervention of the angel Michael would not have succeeded if Daniel had not persevered in prayer. Many Christians start well in their prayers but somewhere along the line, they become discouraged and abandon their prayers while in reality it is perseverance in prayer that provoke angelic intervention. There are blessings that never reach us without angelic intervention.
