Daniel 10

“And he said, ‘O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.’ And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, ‘Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.’” (Daniel 10:19, ESV)

For three weeks Daniel mourned and ate no pleasant food, meat or wine—neither did he use any fragrant lotions. While standing on the bank of the Tigris River, he saw a glorious man dressed in linen with a face like lightning and arms and feet like polished bronze. The sound of his voice was like the sound of a multitude. Daniel’s strength left him, his face grew pale, and he felt very weak. As the man spoke, Daniel fainted and lay there with his face to the ground.

Then Daniel felt a hand touch him and lift him to his hands and knees while still trembling.

“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. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia.’” (Daniel 10:12–13, ESV)

Daniel was highly favored by God. As soon as Daniel humbled himself and prayed, God sent this messenger to him. But for three weeks he was detained by the prince of Persia. This was a demonic spirit who was over an entire empire! It gives us insight into the spiritual battles being waged behind the scenes. What we see with our natural eyes are the results of spiritual warfare in the unseen realm.

The practical takeaway from this unique passage of Scripture is that we cannot win in the physical realm until the battle is first won in the spiritual realm. Often we attempt to fight our earthly battles with fleshly weapons. But when spiritual forces are involved, this will never work. We must use the spiritual weapons of prayer, the word of God, and perhaps even fasting to tear down strongholds of sin and cast down evil and deceptive arguments.

What battles are before us that require us to put on our spiritual armor, take up our spiritual weapons and fight the good fight? Daniel was weak, but as this messenger spoke to him, he was strengthened. May we also be strengthened in the Lord today to be victorious over all of Satan’s devices.